I've had my giant up-right for a couple years now. It has pull-out bins...fish, meat, veg and fruits. Open shelves hold stocks and soups and one for dog food, (we grind our own). The bins pull out so I can sort on the work counter. A top shelf bin (Ikea) I use to place meal ideas or what needs to be used...I also have a big hunk of moose I'll use soon.

Just went through it as I do this time every year. Also summer crops are being used up and fall stocks and soups, chili, bolognese, etc. Anything 2016 I have to toss a coin if I'll ever use it. Or pups food.

I get pork and beef every Spring from a friend that has a farm so I'll have plenty of room for that.

No broken seals since I started double sealing the food saver. I have noticed too much shuffling frozen foods can poke holes in the bags hitting each other.

At the Newfoundland home I have a horrid chest freezer. Hate that deep-thing-hole-to-China. I cover the entire bottom with gallon water jugs, (emergency drinking water) and it still is hard to organize. I started using the medium Ikea bags and that has helped a lot. Short and long handles make it easy to pull out. And a shoe box size basket where I freeze flat pack stuff and anything else coming in from the sea, then they go into the designated Ikea bags when frozen solid.

I have an Ikea nearby but all the bags are on eBay. Really strong and don't stick together in the freezer. I think I have the small ones. 3.5 gallon seems right.

(can't wait to get some of the new colors, lol. I'm so sick of that blue). They are everywhere...in the garden shed, back of our cars....

Annie, I'm having much better results w/ my Foodsaver since I switched from genuine Foodsaver bags to generic ones. The generic ones seem more pliable compared to FS brand. Was having problems with bags losing vacuum either within minutes or, worse, within a few days where the failure goes un-noticed or you find it and have to drag the machine out again & try rebagging. Doesn't help that the freezer is in the basement, either.

These are the bags that I have now. Will definitely buy them again.

Generic Foodsaver Bags

I double seal all of mine also. When I do the second seal, I move the bag over a little in case there is a spot that isn't just right. It seems to do the trick.

We do our chest freezer twice/year. We're in and out of there so often, ice seems to build up quickly.

We try different things/ideas trying to organize the meat but nothing really works. Right now I'm trying to find something better than masking tape to label the packages. I wrap all of our meat in plastic, then aluminum and seal with masking tape. I write on the masking tape. I've tried different brands of masking tape, and often they'll come off the package and then I've got mystery meat. I've even wrapped it around the package so it sticks to itself, and it still sometimes comes off.

Someone mentioned painter's tape, but I thought they didn't stick as much as masking tape (so it doesn't peel the paint). Others mentioned packing tape. That should seal it!

The bags are a good idea, sleevendog, thanks. Right now I'm using plastic milk crates, but they are not flexible and so sometimes they just don't fit where I want them to be. Plus, I have to lean in to grab the handles.

So, those who double seal. You mean you do the vacuum seal thing first, then seal the end again, just with a seal and not with vacuum?

jasdip, the packing tape ought to work, but I don't know. Some things just don't like the cold. I'd write directly on the foil with a black sharpie, that way you at least know what's in there, even if you lose the tape.

Thanks for the link, Cilantro, I'll definitely try those. FS bags are so expensive anyway, then when they don't seal or lose their seal, and the food spoils anyway, it's frustrating. I've wasted my time, my food AND the cost of the FS bags. (sigh)

Annie

On the rolls, when cutting and sealing, I just seal the bottom again, just the heat seal. After filling and it seals on its own, I pull the bag a 1/2 inch and seal again, with my eyes rolling, lol. (impatience). A double seal on both ends.

When I put them in the freezer for the freezing process, they are placed on a top shelf and sometimes I have a stainless lasagna pan on that shelf so flat-pack items freeze 'flat'. Sometime later, a day or three, I move those recently frozen to where they belong....that way I can check the seal.

I like the off market cheaper brand idea. But Costco is so convenient.

I don't FoodSaver as many things as I used to. Cherry toms from the garden freeze great just whole, then grab a few for pizza, frittatas, etc. Pop them on frozen and they thaw an heat during cooking. 'FlavorBombs', I call them, are just in thin small bread bags tied tight without air, then into a gallon zip-lock. Roasted toms, garlic, onion, are lust in quart freezer zip-locks. Again, easy to seal without air being so soft and liquid.

I miss my freezer! There are a few downsides to downsizing, darn it. When my old upright died, we opted for a chest freezer. It's amazing how quickly it became a Black Hole. 3 years after we bought it, we emptied it out completely. What we found was pretty similar to what you found in yours, Annie! (Boy, did we have one happy dog, though!) And I vowed never to let it get that bad again. Yeah, right ... when we were getting ready to move a few months ago, it was "second verse same as the first!!" Only by then, our dog had passed away so we just had to throw all the older things into the garbage can. Ugh.

I bought one of those dry erase whiteboard sheets and stuck it to the freezer to keep track of the contents. The sheet is maybe 1/4" thick at most, so it does not stick out and get bumped. It was pricier ($20 for 9x13) but has better erase tech (40 days touted, but it seems to last work for much longer). Freezer additions get noted by month and /// slash marks noting number of packages; after removing one, I just erase one /. That way I know the oldest packages and how many there are in the freezer at a glance.

I had a big chest freezer, I found it easy to organize with boxes & upper baskets. When it died, in order to get the same cubic ft. of storage, I had to get an upright-I hate it. I ordered wire baskets from A. to help organize, but that's not perfect.

For labeling packages I have found that Dermilite II, paper tape, the kind used for skin, works really well and easy to write on. Good for labeling lots of things because it leaves no residue.

Thanks gyr-falcon, that might work better. I have three full sized freezers, and I try to keep a notebook telling me what's in the freezer. Since I put a whole pig and either a half or a whole steer in there, from 2 to 4 dozen chickens, plus all the berries, rhubarb, homemade sausage, shelled beans (68 pounds of them last year), I keep separate pages in my notebook. But the notebook gets misplaced, or coffee gets spilled on it or someone needs a piece of paper for something and there goes the list. (sigh)

Plus I have to break my husband of the habit of picking up beef at the processor and just upturning a box and dumping into the chest freezer....

Annie

We have an assortment of freezers. Thinking the 40+ year old giant Montgomery Wards upright would be dying soon we bought a smaller upright and a small chest. Then I decided it would be handy to have one on the back porch for the things I use most often.

I use dollar store plastic baskets and cheap small storage totes with labels on the front in the uprights. Most everything we freeze is foodsavered and hard to corral (yep, double sealed and dh says he likes the generic rolls of plastic best). Right now none of the freezers are full and I could get everything into two, but it's so nice to be able to see in there. Giant, still-running upright is beef and three slabs of pork belly I need to bacon-ize. Small chest has a turkey and cloth grocery bags of pkgs of fruit and lots of corn. ...it was the last year for corn from our favorite u-pick so we stocked up. Other upright is pork, lamb and chickens. The back porch freezer is full of vegies,fish, stock, store bought stuff. Leftovers and things that should be used soon go in the fridge freezer.

Sounds so organized. Ha. The best I can do is make myself go through them every few months. I tried an inventory taped to the door...was really bad about marking things off. I have gotten much better about labeling and dating, though. Even so, I always seem to wind up with a batch of 'dog soup' when I clean them out.

What I do when freezing food is write - using an ordinary pen - the name of the food plus the date on a piece of paper (I simply tear an A4 sheet into 8 sections). Once the food is wrapped for freezing, I put the packaged food into a simple clear plastic bag, insert the piece of paper into this plastic bag, with the written infor facing out, twist the bag close, and freeze it. Wish I could take a photo but I'm at work right now. It works. The ink doesn't run. Been doing this for years now.

If the food is not solid - say, soup and suchlike - I freeze it first and them insert into a clear plastic bag with the slip of paper.

"Plus I have to break my husband of the habit of picking up beef at the processor and just upturning a box and dumping into the chest freezer...."

(lol) : )

We have two 'organized' kitchen 'everything-else' drawers that need organizing once a month when it gets to look like a dump/junk drawer...after I collect all the contents from all over the house, lol.

I keep a small folded card stock credit card sized note paper in my wallet with shelf hight, width and depth sizes for pantry, closet, linen closet, freezer....and anything else I'm searching for. I so dislike shopping, but when I see something that might work I have the sizes on me at all times.

Put in an extra shelf in the pantry that holds two boxes of flat packed parchment from the Webstaurant store, 4 sheet pans on top of them and the food saver and bags, just by luck, has an easy access slot next to them. Real estate is tight.

I need to finish the freezer soon. One shelf needs to be moved up a bit waiting for a couple baskets I found cheap to use as slide-ins. Perfect depth. Like this...straight sides so they will not waste space. Similar, but longer.

Most of the organizers specific to fridge/freezer are way over priced.

I love my Foodsaver. In fact, my last one died two weeks ago and I was at Costco for the new one the next day. I pack all freezer items into the thin produce bags, pull them tight and knot the end shut. Freeze until I am ready to vac seal. When ready, I cut off the excess from the knot end and snip a small hole in the plastic. I put it into the vac bag and seal it up. Label with the item, how many, price, date and where I bought it. By double wrapping, the FS bag stays cleaner and if the seal fails it is still wrapped.

The upright freezer is organized by product on the shelf....top is ready-made meals, the second level is chicken and pork, then fish and finally beef. It works for us.

Annie, Moose for me?? Thank you! Can't wait to try it........

I've had a chest freezer... never again! My fingers froze trying to find things... and some things remained lost forever.

Annie, you make me feel so guilty! I've not emptied/cleaned my upright freezer in... far too long! I've seen a pic of sleevendog's freezer - wish mine was that organized! I'd love to have a Food Saver... {sigh} maybe someday! Looks like you found some good surprises that you were able to use! And I'm sure your dogs are living it up!

Peppi, I'm saving the moose, and I checked to be sure it was still sealed, I'd have sealed it again if it were compromised. I do wrap things in other plastic bags, as you brought me that whole roll, but it doesn't always help, they still come unsealed and get freezer burned. I even pre-froze those sausage patties, but it didn't help them stay sealed. (sigh) My Foodsaver works about half the time.

The dogs LOVE the Foodsaver, though, it gets them some darned fine meals, LOL.

2many, I have a pair of gloves that stays on top of the freezer, specifically for "excursions" to the bottom!

sleevendog, that's a good idea about the measurements. Right now I have meatl disposable pans stacked, one atop the next, with packages of Canadian Bacon stacked in like file folders. A deeper basket would allow me to put it all in one spot, and not have 2 or 3 shallow pans.

KatieC, I was just sure, with you being a librarian and all, that you would have a very good system. (grin) You just need file clerks for your frozen food!

wintercat, I don't usually have a problem with labelling, most of the meat is labelled by the processor and I just write on packages with a black Sharpie and it stays pretty well, most times. I'll remember your suggestion for any leftovers that get frozen, though, thanks.

Annie

I avoided any shopping all week. Cleaned out the crisper drawer of all ick. Washed and bleached. Put back in what was 'fresh'. Freezer is getting empty but still good stuff. This happens every year about this time...

We are having a Nor'Easter hitting tonight for 24+ hours...I've decided to plan the next three days with what we have instead of shopping. So much to choose from!

Just seems the right thing to do. A challenge but we will eat good. A fun and economical way to plan meals.

Tonight will be the last of the meatloaf with porcini risotto balls on a bed of fresh collards, side salad. Tomorrow will be the last of the tomato soup with last weekends frozen Boule...grilled pesto and mozzarella grilled cheese. etc. For the weekend, Smoked salmon spring rolls, etc. Lots of choices....time to let the Fall frozen produce become meals. Maybe a favorite Summer corn fritter for Sat or Sun morning....