Is there really a way to organize a chest freezer?
Jasdip
6 years ago
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PKponder TX Z7B
6 years agoRose Pekelnicky
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Handy hint for organizing chest freezer messes
Comments (10)We had a small chest freezer and my dad cut down some sliding wire baskets units for it. He installed them to slide sideways, and used 1/2 and 1/3 depth baskets. Between lifting some out and sliding others around we had access to all levels with very little wasted space. My current upright freezer has a bunch of storage bins on the shelves for various classes of food. And it's organized with the least ready to eat stuff on the bottom and frozen pizzas on the top. I can tell at a glance how the frozen cheese supply is, or if I need to buy chicken....See MoreHow do you organize the frig & freezer?
Comments (13)Let me just say I'm right there with ya--I have a side by side and I just HATE it. I really miss my bottom-freezer drawer I had in my old house. I found with the frige on top we wasted a lot less food. To at least help us eliminate wasting time searching for stuff, I've started LABELING dedicated space for certain items, especially in the doors. I also containerize within the space if possible. The more OCD I get with it, the less we waste! The tippy top door-bin has the plastic cover. I keep butter/lard up there as well as the tube of tomato paste, yeast packets, and that broth-concentrate that comes in a jar. In the top rack of the door I have labels for the mayo, jelly, and the cream/creamer. Other stuff can be added, but not a the expense of the labeled items. The second door-rack down is large enough for a gallon of milk, but I don't use it for that. I've got it labeled "Condiments" since those are the little things that are just too easily lost in the backs of the main shelves and then fall over when you have to shift items. Incidentally, when I did the actual organizing not too long ago, I discovered that we had SEVERAL duplicates opened--presumably because the first open jar had gotten "lost" in the vast wasteland that is the side-by-side. Grrr.... The third rack down is labeled "Salad Dressings" and also holds bottles of wine. Awesome shelf :) The bottom rack is very narrow and is labeled "Syrups" for pancake and Hershey's syrups. Kids can reach by themselves. Great. Now for the main cavity: The top shelf has about 10" of space, and is for stuff I don't use too much, like the buttermilk mix. Cut/cleaned celery and chicken broth live up there too. I try not to keep tiny items there, or they get lost and forgotten. The second shelf has 6.5" of space and is for the eggs, yogurt, sour cream, etc. The third shelf has about 12" clearance and is for milk, OJ, other liquids, and for leftovers. (Your containers make a difference! I finally just caved in and purchased a complete set of rubbermaid that stacks and interlocks so I could save frige space. It was well worth the $20.) The lowest shelf has just over 7" of space. It is for salads, canned sodas, large fruits like cantaloupes, and for a special container I labeled "Sandwich Fixin's." Now, when you want to do sub sandwiches, just pull out this bin (an old refrigerator egg-container w/o the egg compartments) and you have all of your peppers, oils, special mustards, etc. right there. That saves several trips back and forth to the frige and works great! Top drawer is thin. It's for deli meats and cheeses. Middle drawer is for fruit and veg. I use containers to subdivide that drawer or it gets to be a mess and things get lost and rot. The bottom drawer if for raw meats. It does have a temp. control, so at least I can keep the meat partially frozen. I figure that buys me an extra day or so before it goes bad. The other thing I try to do is NOT TO OVER-BUY. I went ahead and took some shots of the interior as it is today. Luckily, it was already pretty clean! Sadly, I cannot say anything nice about my freezer. It is a MESS. Things will fall out and HURT you if not opened carefully. Perhaps I'll work on that next :) Good luck with your project! Here is a link that might be useful: My OCD frige...See Moretips for organizing a chest freezer?
Comments (5)I have two freezers -- one chest freezer and one upright. I use the chest freezer for meat -- ground beef in 3 stacks -- roasts in another stack-- stew beef in another stack -- steaks in another. And if there is a side of pork -- it will be organized the same way. Under the basket -- I keep things I don't use often --- soup bones and short ribs. And then in the basket -- I keep extrememly short-storage items so the turn will be quick -- bread and rolls. In the upright -- I keep veggies -- usually, corn and brocolli on their own shelf -- onions, peppers etc on another. WW flour, extra butter, morel mushrooms, juices and icecream on the door. Often -- there is a large box of ice pops on another shelf. Chest freezers are great for long term storage but not for organization of lots of different items. Cathy...See MoreHappy Day! Bought freezer, now to organize!?!
Comments (18)Cathy, I got your email but was unable to reply to it, and so I sent you an email from here so that you can reply to that with an attachment. Thanks! Dcarch, I have been collecting thermal bags for some time now, and so I have quite a collection already. I saved all the ones that Kevin brought back from Seattle when he bought the salmon, lobster, and crab. I also have gel packs that are supposed to substitute for ice packs after oral surgery, and I keep those in the freezer as well. I am planning on storing stuff in the new freezer that I will not need in case of power outage, so that I will not have to open the freezer door. Although I am storing water in there, I would remove that only as a last resort, and it's always better to have more water than necessary. We have a storage container that holds several gallons of drinking water, which is way more than we will need, and we have the hot tub, which has water that can be used for cleaning, if necessary. Oh, and I will also be storing my ice cream innards, which should also help retain cold in case of power outage. I'm going to have to sort through what I already have in the two freezer compartments that I already had. I am going to be very happy to have open space in the freezer in the kitchen again - it filled up very fast, and I need the open space for chilling things from time to time, such as chocolate molds, bowls & beaters for whipped cream, butter for pie crusts, etc. I probably will buy extra butter just to store in the freezer now. I'm going to keep flours in the kitchen freezer, and I will probably put them in plastic mayo jars. I guess they would be okay in glass containers, however. One of my main plans for the freezer was to store more vegetables so that I can eat more of those, as part of a diet plan. I also will store more fruit and eat more of that. I forgot to mention earlier (in my very long post) that Kevin and I had planned to go to the Lebanese market on Venice Blvd just down the street from Best Buy after appliance shopping, but since we had the freezer on the truck, we decided to go straight home. We managed to get the freezer unloaded and installed in the garage much more quickly than I expected and had time to go back to the Lebanese market, which has very cheap produce plus Middle Eastern specialty products. I bought a large container of Za'Atar (now I won't have to make my own) plus some garbanzo flour, fresh dill in bulk, some carob molasses, falafel seasoning mix (may not need that), more Tahini (They have a huge selection of that), and some Jallab Syrup (made with date molasses and rose flavour--their spelling), which I was unsure about and still am. I does have a strong rose flavor/fragrance but I can also taste the date flavor. I think I might like it better without the roses, but I also might get used to it. We had it on pancakes this morning. I'm going to finish making the falafel this afternoon, and I want to freeze some of the dill. I was thinking I might want to store the dill in lemon juice with some garlic, since I generally add those to dill when I use it. I also need to plan what containers to use for the freezer, and I am thinking I want to get some plastic bottles for hot sauce. I have a lot of plastic containers that I'm not using, but I thought I would save those for leftovers. I like the idea of storing index cards in freezer bags!! I'm definitely going to do that! I have a feeling that the seafood section of my freezer is going to get the most use, but I will also be on the lookout for a cheap turkey. It's going to be nice to be able to shop and not worry about freezer storage space - at least for now. I'm hoping also to be able to cut down on trips to the market. Lars...See Morelucillle
6 years agoDawnInCal
6 years agoyeonassky
6 years agoJasdip
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoJanie
6 years agoDawnInCal
6 years agoPKponder TX Z7B
6 years agoravencajun Zone 8b TX
6 years agowildchild2x2
6 years agojemdandy
6 years agoartemis_ma
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoarkansas girl
6 years ago
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