I have a fridge/freezer in the kitchen with the freezer on the bottom (Love that!). I use that freezer mostly for more day to day type stuff like muffins, ice cubes, ice cream, etc. Things we are likely to want once or more per day.

I have an upright freezer in my laundry room (all of 5 steps away). My "preserved" stuff, meat, and extra bread, milk, cheese etc. goes in there.

Organize??!?!? What's that?

It's sort of arranged by food type. Bread is usually on top, beef and pork, fish and veggies, then berries in the bottom compartment. Mostly by ease to find. I don't pull out berries every day, so they are the hardest to reach.
When we need a loaf of bread, everyone knows where to find it. Sounds good in writing. In reality, stuff does get tucked in where it will fit. We often buy meat in bulk (1/4 beef, 1/2 hog, stock up on fish, etc.) and I usually defrost before it arrives. I toss the few things that escaped detection for too long and reorganize the rest. Usually about once a year.

It's not perfect by any means, but I can always find something to eat!!

Deanna

I like to freeze liquidy or even chicken breasts or ground beef on a cookie sheet inside the bag, so that they freeze perfectly flat. That way I can stack or sometimes I "slide in sideways".
The things I need to grab often or use alot, stay in freezer side of my side by side in the kitchen...the storage or surplus go in the garage upright freezer.

Berries, nuts, baking ingredients, a canister of coffee beans, popscicles, frozen bananas (so I don't loose count of how many I've collected!), french fries, 1 loaf of bread, bread leftover baggie for bread crumbs. Leftover baked goods wrapped in individual servings in plastic wrap, then into a gallon ziploc, a few containers of chicken stock, that type of stuff is in the kitchen freezer.

The garage freezer: a turkey, meat packages, freezer jam, extra bread loaves, KA ice cream bowl, more chicken stock jars, the big bag of coffee beans.

DG - care to elaborate on your reasons for loving the bottom freezer style fridge? We talk sometimes of getting that type of model in the near future. Have you ever had a side by side to compare to? I just feel like the door side of the freezer is so hard to utilize.

Terri - I freeze things flat like that, almost always in ziploc (generic) freezer bags so that I can maximize my side-by-side storage. We are considering buying a chest freezer for our basement, though, for the big things, Christmas cookies, turkeys, extra bread, etc.

You said you keep a bread leftover baggie - so do I! I make croutons with the larger pieces. Have you ever tried that? They come out delicious!

Yes, GW, I have made croutons..but usually I just use it for fresh bread crumbs.

We have a chest freezer in the garage...just reorganized it today....we also have a bottom freezer in the house; which I love. I keep veggies and frozen fruit and basic items I use all the time in there. Ice cream too of course! LOL

Linda

We have a side-by-side in the kitchen, but it actually doesn't have a lot of room for food. The top is a "quick freeze" section which I never used until I decided to start storing blue-ices in there for the coolers. The icemaker and water dispenser takes up a lot of food space. Then I have 2 shelves and 2 wire "drawers" which get full of food, as well as the door. One wire "drawer" is full of single serving meats that have been packaged for the freezer. The other has ice cream and treats. The door is full of flour, margarine packages and (don't laugh) film. (Film is forever when frozen, I think.)

We have a chest freezer in the garage which I'm always reorganizing. There are 5 baskets in there for different types of items, then frozen dinners, ice cream, pizzas, and other items get stashed on top of the baskets that sit on the bottom as organizers.

DonnaR/CA

Organize??????
I have a side by side, 22 CF a small chest in the basement and the top part of a very old refrig freezer also....and none of it is in any way organized.

Like LindaC, I didn't know you were supposed to organize, sheesh, that makes things harder. (grin)

Actually, I have a large chest freezer in the garage which holds a whole pig and half a beef each fall when we slaughter. Chickens, locally caught fish, homemade sausage, they all go in the "big freezer". I try to keep beef on one end and pork on the other, but I'm not usually successful.

I have a smaller chest freezer, also in the garage, that holds frozen cherries, blueberries, rhubarb, peaches, breadcrumbs, basil/pesto, sliced green tomatoes for frying, cranberries, strawberries, asparagus, whatever.

The old fridge in my kitchen has a small top freezer which I try to keep for my bowl to the ice cream maker, any ice cream, leftovers that have been frozen, etc., but sometimes I have too much home pressed apple cider and have to move other things into the chest freezers.

Oh, darn, and I just remembered, I still have the cactus pear sorbet that I made with Sol's recipe in my kitchen freezer, I never ate it. Maybe for supper later this week...

So much for organization.

Annie

There are some great ideas here that I would like to incorporate! Let me add to them. Just like on the refrigerator side - I use freezer baskets (Lowe's) and labels.

If I could edit my OP, I would retitle this question something like:

"Finding room for frozen foods"

That is really the essence of my struggle. I don't have an extra chest freezer (would like one) so I was thinking, if there anyone else out there that stockpiles and freezes things, but has limited space, such as ONLY the left side of a side by side?? Thats when I thought organization might come into play - to condense things and make room.

I didn't think anyone had their contents alphabetized or anything... LOL!

How many of you do have that extra chest freezer? I priced some out recently but wonder if they're worth the extra $$$ (including the electric bill increase) Plus, I'd have to keep mine in my basement - too bad I don't have room closer to the kitchen. What a lazy lass I am, huh??

When the fridge in the garage went out four or five years ago we moved the side by side out there. I never liked the SbyS. It just seemed both compartments were too small. I have a fridge with a bottom freezer in the house and I like it better because my refrigerated items are at eye level. In the bottom freezer is the ice-maker, all my frozen herbs, nuts I have already toasted, white bread, wheat bread, containers of lemon juice and lime juice and some odds and ends.

I had a 15 foot freezer in the garage which had to be defrosted. It stayed so packed that I could never find what I was looking for so we just sold it and bought a new self defrosting 21 CF freezer. It holds a lot more and I have vowed not to get it junked up with bits and pieces of items. It has one pull out tray the width of the freezer. It isn't deep and I keep things like frozen BBQ, the small amount of beef I buy, and various sausages in it. There is a bin in the bottom with a drop down closure where I keep boxed items for the grandkids such as corn dogs and other misc items. ONe shelf is devoted to frozen veggies. Large bags of nuts and ice cream go in the door. I bought 3 plastic bins from Wal-Mart. In one bin I placed packs of chicken parts, one has packs of all of my boneless, skinless chicken breasts in it and one contains pork chops and pork tenderloins. The top shelf contains a country ham which I had sliced and I used the Food Saver to put each slice in a separate bag. The Food Saver is great because anything frozen in those bags last a long time and doesn't get freezer burn.

I kept an eye on the classifieds and craigslist and found a 20 cuft upright freezer for the garage for $200. It was almost brand new and in perfect condition. The money I saved over buying a new one will pay for a lot of electricity to run it!

In my inside freezer I keep things like popsicles, nuts and ice cream. Stuff I want more regularly or don't want to put in the "deep freeze." My outside freezer (all of 8 feet from my inside one) is organized by product type. I have shelves for meat (divided by type), vegetables, fruits and bread. Plus I have a miscellaneous shelf for things like the ice cream maker bowl, girl scout cookies and the occasional turkey breast. I know the chest freezers are more efficient, but with the shelves in the upright I have a better chance of knowing where everything is and what's in there on any given day.

Bri

I don't get too complicated but just try to put all like things together. Meat and seafood on the bottom, bread on the top rack, all nuts in the same place, all vegetables in the same place, etc. I make myself label things but it doesn't come naturally.
I purposely bought a manual upright defrost thirteen years ago and haven't once regretted it. I rarely ever have freezer burn unless I keep something for 3 years. I defrost in the cool spring and early winter. It's a bit of a pain but it helps familiarize myself with the contents.
This forum is making me want a Food Saver though. And a Z. bread machine :(
When I got married, a big freezer was one of our first purchases. We're on the second one now.

My side by side freezer is a mess, thanks for the prod, I will clean it out and organize it today!

dgkritch you mentioned freezing cheese and annie you mentioned freezing pesto. My DD and I had this conversation just last night when she was making a pasta/pesto toss. She asked if she could buy a large chunk of parmesan and freeze it, and if she could freeze left over pesto. I told her that I didn't think cheese froze well and you can freeze pesto as long as it doesn't have cheese and nuts in it. Don't know where I heard that, something about the cheese and nuts getting an off(rancid taste) after being mixed in the pesto and frozen. Am I wrong? Can you freeze parm cheese and pesto and still have a good result?

Being with Cathy (Mustangs) has rubbed off on me. I have a large upright freezer in the basement and every 3 to 4 months I pull everything out, do a defrost and then reload. As we reload, I list it all on an Excel spreadsheet with "food type", description, what level it is on and how many I have. Example: Pork, level 2, chops-bone in, 3 packs. Then I sort it by "type", print out 3 copies (1 each for kitchen, on the freezer and at work).

Sick, I know but at least I can send Dad to grab something and he knows were about to look.

And freeze flat in Foodsavers.

I love my 'bottom freezer' in the kitchen because I'm in and out of the fridge a dozen times a day and it's all at eye level. No bending over. Crisper drawers are at my waist so I can really see what's in there! LOL
I only access the freezer maybe once a day.
It just makes sense to me I guess to have the things I need most (i.e. fruits, veggies, milk, cheese) at 'grabbing height' rather than below.

Yes you can freeze cheese, most types of medium and hard cheeses. The texture is changed somewhat and becomes more crumbly so if you want nice slices, don't freeze. But when I found shredded, fat free cheddar on sale for $.99 package (normally closer to $4), you bet I stocked up and froze it!

Parm keeps so long in the fridge that I usually don't bother, but if you got a great deal or buy in bulk....

When I had 4 teens at home, I also froze milk. Pour out a little to allow for expansion and freeze. We went through 4-6 gallons a week and live quite a way from the nearest (reasonable) grocery store. Thaws on the counter for 3-4 hours, then the rest of the way in the fridge. Just have to plan ahead as the "chunky" milk isn't good on cereal. LOL

Deanna

I have an extra fridge in the garage with a freezer on top. I fill it with vacuum packed meat that I get on sale. It is a complete mess when I try to take something out of the middle of the pile. I never even thought to add baskets or shelves. What a great idea!

I bought a used 20CF upright off craigslist for $50 a couple years ago. Have been very happy with it. We have it in the basement laundry room, so that's kind of a pain sometimes, but it's doable.

I try to keep like items together, and for the most part it works. No labeled bins or trays, no spreadsheets. LOL

My side by side in the kitchen is not very big. If I were going to replace it, I would opt for the "freezer on the bottom" just to give myself a wider space to store large items.

Linda

diinohio, I freeze cheese all the time, it's less crumbly if thawed in the refrigerator than if thawed on the counter but something like parmesan is usually shredded, grated or crumbled anyway. Freeze away! I freeze shredded mozzarella too, and cheddar.

My basil always gets frozen either in the form of pesto or just chopped in the food processor with olive oil. I don't find any problems in freezing pesto with the cheese and nuts in it, I do use walnuts instead of pine nuts, but still have some pesto from last year that's good.

Annie

I have a bottom-mount freezer as well. Love it! Things don't get lost at the back anymore. Everything is in pull-out drawers. Much easier to find things. The only problem is that the ice cream is much more accessible to the short guy in our house. ;-)

I have a little chest freezer in the basement as well. I really don't like it. Small items get lost and squished on the bottom, and it's a digging expedition whenever I'm looking for something specific. I'm currently shopping for an upright freezer and hope to have one by the fall.