How do you organize your freezer?

[Tranquility7]

I just cleaned out my freezer and threw away lots of stuff that had simply been in there too long. I do label things, but I just forget they are in there and don't like digging around in the cold.

 

How do you organize your freezer so that that does not happen to you? Looking for tips!

Edited September 18, 2016 by tranquility7

[Suzanne in ABQ]

Top freezer or bottom/chest freezer?

 

[Tranquility7]

Top freezer or bottom/chest freezer?

 

Both freezers are part of fridge combos (no separate chest freezer).

 

One is a traditional top freezer.

The other is a bottom freezer; basically two large drawers that pull out.

 

[Ethel Mertz]

I have an upright freezer. I originally organized it by vegetables on one shelf, protein (fish, chicken, soy, beans, cheese) on another, frozen dinners and soups on another, etc. Then I got the really bright idea of having DS14 be in charge of putting groceries-bound-for-the-freezer away. Guess whose freezer is no longer organized? Once you get your freezer organized, do NOT out-source that chore to a hormone-challenged boy!

[Tap]

We have a chest freezer with two wire suspended racks.

 

Bottom of freezer.  3 boxes.

Box1: for ice cream/pizza etc.  

Box2: Freshest meat on the left,

Box3: older meat so I know which to use first. 

 

One suspended rack is freezer jam and cans of juice

One suspended rack is frozen veggies.

 

 

 

Freezer ontop of inside fridge

ice, open veggie bags, herbs, open ice cream etc

 

[kiwik]

I have a smallish upright freezer. Top drawer is meat, second vegetables and ice cream/blocks, 3rd gluten free bread, 4th other bread, bottom half drawer has the kids slushy cups.

[Miss Tick]

The freezer attached to my fridge has meat/fish in one bin, vegetables in another and baking products/bread on the top shelf next to the ice bin. This gets shuffled around a lot, but since it is right in the kitchen it isn't a big deal to un-shuffle once in a while.

 

The freezer in the furnace room (small chest) stays more organized since I'm usually the only person in there. I have 4 stacking, wire bins which mean some space is lost alongside them, but it is sooo much easier to move things around and rotate stock. That is one of my key things.

 

The second key freezer use helper is a list I keep in the kitchen. It tells me what I have in the freezer that needs to be used. When I'm making my grocery list it is one of the things I start with. I list casseroles, soups, cuts of meat.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I don't.  I have to keep a running list of what is in there.  This is especially true with the chest freezer in the basement.

 

 

[KrissiK]

Not very well, unfortunately. I just consider myself lucky if I open the door and nothing falls out. I need to do a better job!

[whitestavern]

i have three, lol, one as part of my fridge, one upright, and one chest. We buy an eighth or a quarter cow and a quarter pig most years that last us a year. I make my own broths and often cook double of what I'm making and freeze it. I also  stock up on frozen veggies and fruit and other meats when they're on sale.

 

In order to keep track of it all, I have a word doc that I update regularly and print out. I have sections for meat, poultry, seafood and veggie, and other. Every week I make a menu plan from it. As I use something, I cross it off the list. You've given me a great idea to put dates on the word doc too, to indicate when something was purchased or cooked!

Edited September 18, 2016 by whitestavern

[Arctic Bunny]

The freezer in the bottom of my fridge is: opened bags of frozen veggies; butter; things for kids' lunches like bagels.

 

My upright freezer is, by shelf: fruits/veggies/things in bags; prepped food like boxed meatballs, chicken wings; fish, poultry; lamb, moose, elk; the basket drawer at the bottom is ground whatever (elk right now); the door is things like shredded cheese, cream cheese, cranberries, cooked beans.

[KungFuPanda]

My freezer is over the fridge, so it's not so,large that things get lost. I just group like items together and every now and then I pull out a section and put the older stuff in the front so I don't forget about it. I've often thought that a chest freezer in the basement would be nice, but I'd have to be really organized or I'd waste more than I saved. Since this amount of freezer space has worked for 23 years, I guess I don't really need more. There are just four of us and the oldest is off to college.

[Cinder]

Not particularly organized here with a side-by-side fridge/freezer. The top mini-shelf holds ice trays; ice maker broke. Next shelf has a basket of freeze pops and the grease can. Next shelf has ice cream and Ezekiel bread. Next is meat and meat trash--wrappers, cuttings kept in freezer until trash day. Bottom is a bin that has random stuff like extra popsicles, veggies. Since the freezer part is fairly small it's pretty easy to keep track of what's in there. My trouble is the fridge which has a little more room so things get pushed to the back and "lost" a lot more often.

[MEmama]

I'm having freezer envy!

 

We only have a tiny freezer on top of the fridge. 1/4 of it is taken up by the unused ice maker, leaving precious little space. For years I've thought about buying a second freezer, but for 3 people that feels too extravagant to justify. Still, it would give me the ability to make freezer meals for DS ahead of time, and properly put up more produce from the CSA.

 

Off to research upright freezers...

[6packofun]

We have a large chest freezer in the basement and anything that is large/bulk like from Sam's Club OR in a BAG, gets put down there.  The top freezer of our too-small refrigerator in the kitchen contains mainly things that will stack easily or that can fit in a small bin that I put in there to pull out.  Too many squishy shaped things make it IMPOSSIBLE to keep organized because you have to keep moving boxed items underneath. Can't stack boxed items ON the bags of veggies because they fall over or out and it drives me batty.  I hate our regular freezer. ugh.  8 people and our refrigerator is like 19 cu. ft.  NOT enough room.

 

OK, enough complaining.  lol  

 

Oh, our chest freezer has 4 sections in it plus 2 baskets, which is nice.  I rotate older stuff to the front 2 sections and always put new to the back and then rotate on grocery stock up days.  That way I can avoid freezer burn on any meat/chicken for the most part because it doesn't get lost.

[bagel270]

Are you supposed to organized it? I just shove stuff in and hope it shuts.

[Closeacademy]

All lists top to bottom.

 

Upright freezer:

 

Chicken/poultry

Fruit/veggies

Pork/other meats

Beef/Bread

Deer and other wild game

 

Freezer with fridge is side by side:

 

ice packs/frozen treats

frozen treats (dh likes popcycles)

quick meal items usually bagged up (sausages, chicken strips, fish sticks, etc)

drawer #1 boxes of broth or jams

drawer #2 (larger one) open bags of frozen fruits & veggies 

 

[Shred Betty]

Garage freezer - upright

Shelves alternate Hers (mine) and His (DH)

Boxed frozen stuff, raw meats, breads, prepared frozen burritos, etc.

 

Inside freezer: contains small amounts of stuff for ingredients, larger quantities keept in garage freezer.

 

left door - HERS (mine ;))

Bottom drawer - raw meats

Middle - ingredients like frozen corn, frozen mashed banana for bread

Top drawer - prepared meals

Right door - his

Middle Drawer for his breads, fries, pastas

Top Drawer for his prepared meals

 

Unconventional probably but he likes to tell ppl he spent 5k on our fridge and 15k on a kitchen remodel but it's still cheaper than marriage counseling ;)

 

To prevent that waste problem I try to go through all sections periodically, to refresh my memory of what's in there, make plans to use stuff that's getting dated, etc. rotate stock so old comes forward.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Shred Betty