Fridge: chiller section: how long can I SAFELY keep food in a "chiller" drawer?

APennySaved

We have a brand new fridge-freezer. And what a bargain too: was on S.O. last summer at £350, shortly before Curry's bumped the price back up to £500. Yey! :money:

All sorts of state-of-the-art features. And it even does what our poor old f-f had stopped doing: i.e. it actually keeps food COLD!!

One of the best new features the f-f has is: it has a section we didn't have in our old f-f, called a "chiller" drawer. This has the great advantage of being a drawer that is set to just 1 degree C: this is a SUPER invention as it is thus far colder than the standard 4 degrees of the fridge incl. even the "crisper" drawer on the shelf above.

The question is: exactly how long can I keep food in the chiller section?

In other words: if - with our old f-f - I kept a pack of sausages on a 'normal' shelf (4 degrees) for the stated numbers of days, then surely(?!) - with our new f-f - I could, on occasion, keep the same type of food in this new colder "chiller" section (1 degree) for a few more days i.e. for slightly longer?

OR COULD I NOT?! i.e. :eek: would that cause food poisoning etc. etc.?!
I'm not YET going to risk keeping an item of food any longer than the BBE date or the days-since-opened-pack date, until I know if it is safe to do so. Ha-ha: don't want to risk any food nasties!

I have had a look at the FSA (the UK's Food Standards Agency) website (food.gov.uk), but cannot see any advice re this particular issue. Also I have Googled the same query, but with the same result.

In any case, maybe the "chiller" concept is just an advertising gimmick, so the extra stated 'feature' could/should be ignored?? Especially as I seem to remember hearing that the bottom of a fridge has always been the coldest part of a f-f anyway.

Any good advice, or weblinks I could read?

happy35

I don't keep anything longer than I should but I do use it for fresh meat that I would have frozen, I now keep it fresh to use during the week

Meadows

It makes no difference if your new fridge has a different setting you should still use things by the end of the use by date especially raw foods. If you can't use by this date the better to put in the freezer.

Linda32

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/guides/fridge-freezer-features-explained/

Hi, I found the above link from Which? scroll down to Chiller Cabinet and Chill Compartment.

HTH

Glad you asked the question btw, I'm going to bookmark the site myself

suki1964

I sometimes find if I put a joint or chicken in that part, it comes out partially frozen


I used chicken thighs yesterday which had been in their since the previous Saturday, they were perfectly fine

pigpen

until it jumps out and bites you.. if its not gone off its fine.

Though if you're not using meat within a few days freeze it.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

What is a chiller drawer. Our stove keeps curries for up to four days, cheese never sees the fridge and butter does not go into it either.

And fifty years on, I am still here!

APennySaved

Hi all

Lots of lovely advice - and nice & honest, too!

It's so helpful to hear other people's ideas and practices. :T
So: roll on storing all those super reduced-at-supermarket! :j meat products.

APennySaved

Linda32 wrote: »

http://www.which.co.uk/home-and-garden/home-appliances/guides/fridge-freezer-features-explained/

Hi, I found the above link from Which? scroll down to Chiller Cabinet and Chill Compartment.

HTH

Glad you asked the question btw, I'm going to bookmark the site myself

Thanks for the link, linda32.

It's good to see that at least the Which org has covered this new area/concept of fridge storage, even if the FSA themselves have no info on it yet! . . . And the FSA are supposed to manage/monitor food safety in the UK?! - LOL!