Refer Shelves

[C Martinson]

I was just reviewing the refer management link in another posting and everyone mentioned shelves in the refrigerator.  I am not the original owner and am wondering if there are better shelves that the improvised cut wire closet shelving that came with my boat?  I've always made due for our family of 5 for our 10 cruise (we use a cooler for the drinks) but never gave much thought to better organization.  I'm the one who manages the refer and where things are.  Thanks for any info.

Chris

[Ken Juul]

When a PO installed the cooling plates in the fridge he covered one side of the top shelf bracket, so I had a big hole.  The lower shelf was also missing.  I use a combination of acrylic cutting board and a piece of marine plywood for the lower shelf, made a support system of 1/2"pvc and use a piece of plexiglass to make a top shelf that covers about half the lenght.  That leaves room for tall things like 2 liter sodas in the back half of the fridge.  I have seen some that have full length top shelves, I prefer the half, can reach just about anything in the fridge only having to remove a few items from the back side.  Use your imagination, just about anything will work. I thought about the wire shelving, but wanted something with a flat surface and no holes.

[Phil Spicer]

I am thinking about trying wire or plastic baskets this year. May need to put some runners on the sides for support. Lifting out a basket would be better than unpacking 1/2 the cooler to get something down low.

[Roland Gendreau]

I made shelves out of the wire shelving material but then I use small plastic baskets/containers on top of the shelves.

The baskets allow me to take everything out of the top or bottom shelf very easily

The wire shelves promote air circulation within the refer.  And I selected baskets that had holes in the sides to also promote air circulation.

You can find small plastic baskets in all kinds of sizes at places like Target or WalMart.

I purchased the wire shelving materials at Home Depot.

[Jim Hardesty]

This is a bit off the subject.  But, I think that a beverage can holder, dispenser would be real useful in the fridge.  Does anyone use one, know where to get one?

[Mike and Joanne Stimmler]

The only problem with can dispensers is that they dispense from the bottom. Would that work?

[Mert Gollaher]

We use two wire closet shelves that the PO had, and added plastic baskets with holes from Walmart.  The baskets make it easier to locate things and move them around.  I tried a can dispenser from home last summer and it worked pretty well.  It holds 12 cans in two layers horizontally.  It keeps the cans in one place and is a reasonably efficient use of space.  We do spend time rotating the cans through the dispenser to find what we want, but that hasn't been too much of a problem.  If we have a large crew or are out for more than a day, we end up with a cooler as well.

Chris, I noticed you're from Niantic.  I grew up there. Hope it still has the small village character.

[C Martinson]

Mert:

Niantic is great....I actually live in NJ and drive the 3 plus hours to the boat almost every weekend in season.

Chris