Food in freezer

[KnittyGritty]

We just got a 7 cu. ft. chest freezer. It only came with one wire basket, and the rest of the freezer is deep and cavernous! Any tips on containers to use to keep things organized? Maybe plastic square tubs, or more wire baskets, or.........? I don't want to just start piling stuff in there and have to dig through it all to find what I want.

 

[Marianne]

Congrats!
I'd suggest even cardboard boxes if that's all you can get your hands on.
In my upright freezer, I have one area for vegetables, one for pork, one for beef, etc etc

I'd suggest the most used stuff be towards the top. Even putting empty cardboard boxes at the bottom, then your box holding froz vegetable on top of that. By keeping food in small totes, even with lids, would that help keep food organized? Probably would have to be frozen first, or just one layer at a time... My friend was surprised to find two really nice roasts at the bottom of her freezer when it shot craps. :/ She constantly has to dig for stuff.

My SIL has small plastic totes that have open holes on the sides, to stack her veggies, another for packages of burger. She got them at the dollar store a long time ago. She said it's not a bad system, the small totes are easily lifted out and she can get what she's looking for.

Other folks might have some better ideas...?

 

[TanksHill]

One thing I can think of is to label and date. Sometimes I will find a wrapped or zip-lock package in the bottom and have no idea what it is.

g

 

[moolie]

I use cardboard boxes (from Girl Guide Cookies--I can get new ones every six months if anything wears out, but this set has been going for two years now) on the bottom and bought two extra baskets to organize the top layer, that way if I need something in the bottom I just lift out the basket above and can easily find it.

I keep a white board list of what's in there attached to the wall beside my freeze too--it's kind of a map of what's in the 3 bottom boxes and the 3 top baskets.

I don't have a very big freezer, but it's pretty much always chock-ful!

 

[baymule]

What about plastic milk crates?

 

[Justme]

Card board boxes are good for the bottom layer that aren't going to get move a lot. Otherwise any plastic or wire baskets are good. Watch the wire baskets - if the wires are spaced enough so that your packages fall through then they really are no good. I also use large bags like 25# onion or citrus bags and such. Keep in mind the weight of each full container. If you are having to move it often they can be really heavy when full and while it seems easy when you are first putting it in as frost builds and things shift a bit they sometimes seem to be glued in and you feel like you might need a jack hammer to beta basket out to get to things below. dollar stores are great places for baskets and bins.
How you organize it kinda depends on your variety and how you use it. Of course the more variety the more containers or dividers you want. Frequently used times of course should be in easy reach. You don't want the lid to be open any longer than it has to be. Personally I like putting bulk stuff near the bottom then keeping a easy reach bin at the top with a few (like at least a weeks worth) of everything in it for easy daily reach. Then when it empties I pull the bins out all at one time refill the quick supply basket then reload everything back in.
As someone else already stated always label and date everything. It will amaze you no matter how well you organize how mixed up things can get and how a year or so in the freezer can change the appearance of a package. A chart of everything in the freezer than you can update the counts as you use it is helpful too. Very frustrating to dig to the bottom in search of something only to finally remember you used it all or to find that something you thought you were out of has worked it way to the bottom and become lost and forgotten.

 

[Team Chaos]

Yup, we have plastic milk crates- big and small- that make it easy to organize categories and access all the spaces in the freezer. After our freezer went out on us the last time, we've made a point of "eating down" the freezer rather than stock piling and letting it sit- so it's made it a lot easier to navigate.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I use crates and boxes but eventually everything is a mess anyway and I have to pull everything out and start organizing again. Its something I should do more often because after that, I feel rich.....I have all kinds of food I had completely forgotten about, so I have several meals planned ahead. Good luck. Hope you do a better job keeping it organized than me.

 

[Wannabefree]

I found enough meat to last us two weeks a few weeks ago when I reorganized mine :/ It was good, but I should have used that stuff already. I'm liking the milk crate idea!!

 

[SSDreamin]

DH sorted our freezer into milk crates. I love it - so easy to find/move things now!