Bottom shelf of the fridge

I don't think bacteria 'run around' but I wouldn't put anything cooked near raw meat , just wouldn't want to risk it..maybe put the raw meat into a proper container then it would be ok if you are really that stuck for space.

I agree with tanith. My raw meat is wrapped so is not a problem but I am still careful.

I am thinking, perhaps wrongly, that if bacteria do not run around across the shelf, then there is not a problem.
I have tried googling, but couldnt find anything.

Raw meat is on the bottom shelf in case it drips onto food on the shelf below. If it is on the bottom shelf, covered, and everything else is in a container or on a higher shelf, then the raw meat and the bacteria that may be on it can't touch anything else or drip onto it.

I now have a picture in my mind of the bacteria - purple and green and shaped like angry aliens, like in the ads for disinfectants - swarming across the shelf and hammering on the containers, shouting "Let us in! We are hungry! Selfish b*****ds"

soontobe any liqued leakage from the meat (blood/water) could run across a shelf thus contaminating something else that is sitting nearby.. why can't you just put the raw stuff in a container then there would be no leakage..

Elegran

I expect that if you open the door really quickly you might catch them running to hide behind the milk and juice cartons!!!!

Are there such things as large turkey fridge containers and poultry containers?

I did used to put smaller meat in containers, but then that raw blood etc ends up in the sink etc, so decided just putting it on a plate was best.

I agree that there could be run offs. I am careful about those.

But if say you have a box of eggs just sitting on the bottom shelf, cant other things be put on the other side of the fridge?

*I now have a picture in my mind of the bacteria - purple and green and shaped like angry aliens, like in the ads for disinfectants - swarming across the shelf and hammering on the containers, shouting "Let us in! We are hungry! Selfish b****ds



This is what I mean. Do they actually do that, or not?!

kl


I dont know the answer to that either.
If they crawl or run across, do they go upwards as well? Presumably not??

If I was that worried, I'd go veggie!

We are talking of possible contact here, not just being on the same shelf. The bottom shelf rule is to make sure that nothing drips down

You get containers of all sizes, but a turkey-sized one would leave no room for anything else in the fridge at all!

If the turkey is still in its plastic wrapper, you could put it on a plate on the bottom shelf and not unwrap it until you are about to cook it. If your garage is cold it could go out there. The weather is cold enough now that it is unlikely to overheat and go off over a couple of days.

I am not sure what danger you think the eggs are to anything else? Or are you afraid the eggs will get contaminated? Not unless their container got soaked in blood or meat juices.

The main thing is that everything should be wrapped or in a container - it is better anyway, things dry out in the fridge.

As long as the eggs are kept in the box they won't contaminate anything else even if its closeby.. eggs can carry bacteria inside or on the shell.. so in the box or the egg compartment is best.

My friend allows her frozen turkey to defrost in a big plastic storage box in the boot of her car.

You don't need to keep eggs in the fridge at all.

I sometimes keep eggs in the fridge, sometimes not. Depending on room. But I seem to find they last a few days longer in the fridge, so I find room for them if I can.

I did buy a fridge freezer with more fridge room about 4 years ago.
I shall buy an even bigger fridge department next time. But meanwhile, I will keep shuffling things round in it.

From what has been written here, it looks like bacteria keep to whatever they are already on.
So I think it must be safe to use some of the left over bottom shelf a bit more productively than I have been. Good.

Going off thread a bit but probably relevant, it is important not to wash poultry as that can easily spread the bacteria.

65 years old and never too old to learn. I had no idea that you had to put raw meat on the bottom shelf of the fridge. All of the stuff in my fridge is covered so if something drips where it's not supposed to, I wipe it!

When I was a young child (6) my granddad used to keep chickens and I'd go and collect fresh eggs, and my gran would crack them there and then (in her scrupulously clean kitchen). I remember they would often have a stray feather stuck on.

On my uncle's dairy farm, we'd stand next to the chaps milking and they'd squirt milk straight from the cow's teats into our mouths (and of course often miss their target). So how come we were always so darn healthy back then?

Not sure about the image of green and purple alien lookalikes scrambling around the fridge . Surely common sense is to put any meat likely to drip juices into a container? I put my turkey in a washing up bowl, or if too big I use my largest roasting tin and wash it before using it to cook. I also have been known to defrost it in a black big bag!

Oops! Bin bag not big bag.......

You can buy a very large turkey roasting foil tin for a pound. Sit the turkey in one of those for defrosting. Why this panic about bacteria in the media? Keep washing your hands is the answer. My bottom shelf is the veg compartment and I always defrost in containers. Egg shells are porous .

This thread, with its images of bacteria running round the inside of people's fridges, is reminding me of when I was a student and my flat-mate thought electricity would continue to flow out of the socket after you had unplugged something

In which case, why isnt the health advice to keep raw meat from touching cooked meat.
Cooked meat can be put on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

Sadly admit to being an owner of a very unorganised fridge.........(make note to self to reorganise fridge asap )