Would you like to see how I organize my deep freezer? My freezer and extra fridge are out in the garage of death, so I'm not showing you a picture of that. I'll draw you one:
{Click on it to make it larger. I'm very excited because I got a scanner on freecycle — yes, free! — and it works very well. I had to get a USB cord, and they are not very cheap, but still… this is fun!}
My freezer is one of the smaller models, but the principle of organizing it is the same as it was when I had a super large one. I'm going to show you what to do.
First, note in my schematic that a shelf or table next to your freezer is awfully handy. I don't know what I'd do without mine (which is a yardsale freebie). Any old thing will do.
But you need a place to put things as you are stocking, restocking, and finding things.
Next, you need some very sturdy cardboard boxes. The kind that berries come in at the supermarket are perfect. And now is getting to be the time to snag them!
Just be there when the guy is setting out the blueberries, strawberries, and bananas, and kindly ask him for a couple of boxes (I have three). He will be more than happy to give them to you, and they are fabulous: sturdy, deep, and with hand-holds! (The shallower wider ones aren't as handy, I think, but try it!)
What more could you ask!
Just stack them in the freezer with your stuff loosely organized in them. I have one that I keep frozen veggies in, one for stuff I've already prepared (like stew, casseroles, soup, etc), and one for raw meat. (See the sidebar post about Save a Step Cooking for more ideas!)
Ignore the frost in my pictures! My goal is to use up most of the things and then someday, when it's actually warm out, do the defrosting.
A chest freezer that doesn't have automatic defrost is the most cost-effective to run, so that's the one I got when the old (free, enormous, also non-frost-free) one died.
What's scary about a chest freezer is the idea that you would ever get to the bottom of it in order to
a) know what's in it and
b) defrost it.
But with my handy method, you can do it.
I have found that there is no way to avoid frequently moving things around in the freezer. It's much easier to do when you can remove a bunch of things in one go, putting them on the handy shelf that's right there next to you:
By all means make use of the basket that comes with it. I keep breakfast meats and other little items in mine, and bread and rolls underneath.
I must say I had been put off by the thought of a large chest of food with everything all tumbled in there, covered in frost, unidentifiable, only trackable by the use of a clipboard and inventory.
I'm very visual, so the extra step of recording was annoying me. This way, every week or so, as I'm making my menus and grocery list, I lift out my boxes to see what's in there (it's easy if you remember to label, which is easier if you have a sharpie handy in the kitchen).
To me, that's simpler than keeping up a written inventory.
When things are first put in there, they should be put in random, separate places to freeze quickly. Obviously if you stack a bunch of raw meat near the top, it won't freeze very well. It's actually not very safe to do it that way.
So the day after you stock up, you need to go out there and reorganize the now-frozen items.
Like I said, mine is nearly empty at the moment, but even when it's full, I have no trouble knowing what's what, nor did I when the freezer was almost twice this size.
{How many times can I say “handy” in one post? 🙂 }
HappyHermit says
Oh I like this , I thought I was the only ine witha garage of death (we also say the freezer is full of dead things as well) LOL
Erika says
I remember my mom doing the box thing. I kind of did, but never quite well enough. Yours looks so tidy 🙂 I had, until recently, a rather old non-defrosting chest freezer that would build up ice terribly. So one afternoon I started to defrost it. I had unloaded everything into laundry baskets (finding a few things labeled 2006 in the deepest recesses…)when my mother in law stopped in. She took a look at me teetering on the edge of the freezer trying to reach the bottom, with the lid propped up by a piece of firewood (the lid didn't stay up anymore, and the light would only stay on–for about 15 seconds–if you banged on the lid just right, but hey, it still kept things frozen…), and declared she was buying me an upright frost free freezer. She was sure the lid would fall, hit me on the head and knock me out as I fell into the freezer and subsequently froze to death. I protested but she insisted, and 3 days later they delivered the new freezer and took away the old one. I must say, I am greatly appreciating the big fancy new freezer–though with an upright there is always the risk of a frozen chicken or something falling out onto your foot! Happily, the electricity bills haven't gone up. Well, any more than anything else…
Cheryl (Copper' says
A shelf next to the freezer? Happy thought, indeed! How can it be that that idea has never even vaguely entered my brain? I'll be unfolding the card table we store in our own "garage of death" and setting it up next to the freezer a.s.a.p. Thanks for the tip! I love your blog and have been reading regularly for a month or two.
Out Back says
Your garage sounds like ours, not worthy of showing to the public.Thank you for the chest freezer tips. Those boxes are a good idea. I have one of these freezers and like you say we never know what is at the bottom. You have motivated me to go and sort mine out now.I enjoy reading you posts.Tania
Esther says
Alas, we don't have an extra freezer, just a tiny one with our fridge that gets filled up with only a tub of ice cream, a loaf of bread and some meat. I would love to get one so I can buy lots of bread when it's been marked down at the end of the night and so I can buy more meat in advance.
Debbie J. says
Great ideas that I really need to implement in my freezer in the garage of death! The garage is on the 2009 to do list, so no pictures here either. Not even to show the "before" ones.
Leila says
We should start a garage of death league or something, just to console each other.Erika — good story! It would indeed be a horrible way to die. I can see the headlines now — "HOUSEWIFE FREEZES IN GARAGE OF DEATH: FAMILY FINDS HER WHILE LOOKING FOR BAGEL BITES"Let's remember that my freezer looks neat because there's not much in it at the moment! 🙂
Leila says
I also apparently don't know which way my doors open and I wonder how I get in my pantry 🙂
Barb says
I love the idea of using berry boxes to organize the freezer. I'm blessed with a humongous upright freezer, but things do fall out. The quart freezer bags have a tendency to slide if not stacked correctly. The berry boxes would help contain the bags and maybe keep my dh from moving things around when he's looking for stuff.
Decadent Housewife says
I had to go find a paper bag to breathe into, after seeing your freezer. I don't think I've seen the lower third of mine since 1990 something.
list mama says
Makes me want to get a deep freeze! I have never been a stockpiler, but sometimes I think it would be nice to have a few things in reserve. My freezer is tiny! This is a beautiful concept for a blog, by the way. This is my first visit via 50's Housewife. I will definitely be returning. Jenhttp://www.ListPlanIt.com
Lindsey in AL says
I read your map and cracked up laughing out loud (yes, actual LOLing) and then had to read bits to my husband, who also laughed, mostly because it sounded like stuff I would say. You are crazy!I hate the freezer because I hate, no, despise, no LOATHE touching frozen things. Please do not chew on ice in front of me- it makes my brain hurt to even type that. Yikes! I have a giant upright freezer and have a hard time keeping it organized. Maybe I need some strawberry boxes. I wonder if the vegetable stand will give me some. Thanks for the tip!!
Ann Kroeker says
I guess I'll have to call my garage something different…"Garage of Doom," perhaps, or "The Quagmire."Anyway, I have a large chest freezer and it is the Chest Freezer of Death until I get your box-method going. I'm very visual, too (vs. clipboard inventories), so this is going to work a lot better than the Slob Sisters' method of 3×5 cards listing everything in it.I'm heading to the grocery today. I may sidle up to the stock boy and ask him sweetly for a couple of boxes.
Leila says
The stock boy is our friend :)Seriously, I have literally taken a box out of the poor kid's hands. But it saves him breaking it down. And they are great boxes! I bet you smart ladies can think of other uses for them…
sunnymama says
This is a very organised freezer! We don't have a chest freezer but if we ever do I shall use your suggestions!
Kirby3131 says
I wish I had a freezer. I live in a condo. I do have a garage but it is in another condo community about 10 miles away LOL The box idea is AWESOME! My mother has milk crates in her freezer and those work, too, but they aren't wide enough. I'm over here from Make-Do-Mondays.Kristin
Sharinskishe says
I love this idea. It is so simple and easy to do. Boxes! I hate getting things out of my freezer, it is an upright, but you still have to move things around. I move a small this and four small thats and still have not reached what I am going for. It I put all my smalls in boxes and moved the box off the shelf, I am certain I would save time and be able to find my treasure a lot easier.Thanks so much for sharing this with us. I am sooooo going to do it!!!Sharinskishe
Margo says
yay for freezer organization! I got mine under control last year with the same box method! I forget when I heard about it, but it works GREAT for me. I use the freezer basket for bread, then I have 4 boxes: meat, fruit, bulk grains/nuts, coffee/tea/other oddities.One thing I learned from my dad who is in refrigeration: try to allow the air to circulate as much as possible (I have 4 milk crates, not cardboard boxes) AND the freezer operates best at 3/4 full. So when I first got my big freezer, before I stockpiled food, I froze water jugs.Love your hand drawn pic! Envious of your free scanner 🙂
Leila says
Hi Margo! You are right about air circulation — my boxes do have holes and I do freeze the things all over the freezer before packing them into the boxes, which don't take up all the room. And I also sort of stagger them. Crates are a grand idea, but I never have any :)And it is a very good idea to have jugs of water in there. I took mine out a while ago when the thing was very full. I should put some back in. They are so clever when you are packing a cooler — goodbye plastic bags of ice cubes dripping all over! And then you can drink the water 🙂 (I use well rinsed juice containers with screw tops — those things are gold — I don't buy very many, but they are made of very sturdy plastic.)
patches of me says
I loved this post. We can all use ideas in this area. Sometimes I look in the freezer and what a befuddling mess. I try to keep it fairly organized, but things seem to scramble overnight. I like your idea of the berry boxes. I use plastic crates (is it the same as Margo's milk crates?) – crates that the kids once used for toys. You are right – you MUST label. Things never look the same after hanging out with other frozen packages for awhile.I've tried the written inventory and no matter how hard I try this just does not work for me. The list is always out of date or misplaced.I'm short and can't reach the bottom of my chest type freezer – even when I stand on a chair and dive in. I've often thought that I should put the foods on the bottom of the freezer in a bag attached to a rope of some kind. Somewhere there must be an answer for this.A word to the wise. I once bought an ice cream cake and after bringing it home realized my freezer was too narrow (side by side).
MOm says
Also – either keep a pair of old oven mitts or winter gloves beside the freezer at all times, or take a pair with you from the kitchen when you go out to "shop the freezer." Cold hands is enough to keep me from organizing my freezer!
Leila says
Mom, that's an excellent idea!
Anonymous says
I have been looking for a way to organize my freezer without spending too much money. This is perfect. Thank you!
Jerald says
Looks amazing!!!! /I look forward to your feedback /thanks for this man it was very helpful.Freezer
Penelope says
Thanks for the tips! We use paper grocery bags in much the same way you use the berry boxes, but we don't tend to have large, heavy items (those would be loose, if we did). If we come home from the supermarket and we've packed frozen items all together in a bag, the bag can go straight into the freezer as is.
Shannon says
I love this, I have been using reusable grocery bags, to seperate and contain at least smaller items. I'd love to organize the bigger stuff as well!