Freezer Organization

What kind of freezer do you have?

I have a deep freeze and a standard inside freezer. I just got a new refrigerator so I am getting used to a different configuration (from a sidexside to a french door) I generally put my meat in the bottom and the veggies towards the top. I also every 6 mos or so purposely try to use everything in the freezer before going shopping again. Leads to some interesting meals :)

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if you are talking about a big freezer, i buy those clear plastic shoe boxes from target/walmart and store things in those. i have it seperated by chicken, fish, beef, etc., and labeled on the front so i don't have to go digging when i want something in particular.

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I bought several small plastic baskets. I use one for chicken, 1 for ground beef, 1 for pork, etc. Also, I have peaches and strawberries that I buy in bulk, slice and freeze in ziploc bags. So I have 1 basket for peaches and 1 for strawberries. It's really easy to tell when I use the last pkg of ground beef, etc.
I'd love to hear any other tips you get.
Good luck.

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I keep bakery items on the top shelf. Vegetables on the next shelf down. Dinners and pizza next. Extra butter and shredded cheese will usually fit on this shelf, too. Meat on the bottom with some of it in coated wire baskets(stew meat and ground meat).

I put nuts and chocolate chips and shredded coconut in plastic jars and fit them in somewhere where there is space. The jars have colored lids so they are easy to see.

The door is for small leftovers that I want to use first. I freeze broth from cooked vegetables. It is interesting to put the broth in a see-thru container and watch the layers freeze one on top of another. When the container is full, I make soup.

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One of the best things I do is have meals in my freezer instead of meat. I do that by seasoning and cooking my ground beef when I get home and freezing it in one pound ziplock bags labeled Taco Beef and Garlic Basil Beef (as these are my two favorites!) Then I put up whatever meat I purchased again in Ziplock bags and labeled as to what they are (Sunday Roast, Garlic Lemon Porkchops, etc). It really takes no time to do this when you get home from the store and then you are ready to cook in the crockpot, over or grill by just taking out the bag! (This is a Homemade Gourmet concept called 4 Meals in 4 Minutes and it really is that fast!)The ziplock bags lay flat to freeze so you can get lots in your freezer and they are easy to pull out when you are ready. You also don't have to wait on it to thaw so you can season it because all that was already done! I keep my flatish (:)) freezer bags on one shelf and then any frozen vegetables on the other. If you have any questions, I would love to help!
K. Sharp

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Well, I love everything to be organized and i'm obsessed with rotating. So the bottom of the freezer has the meat, what i just bought on the bottom and I stack the packages and the rolls of ground meat i cut up into 1-2lbs portions and put them in freezer bags, saves tons of space. then the middle section (basket) is for bigger stuff and like hams or containers of whipcream, or leftovers that I have put in baggies. the top section, which gets used a lot is for frozen veggies (again, what i just bought in back) and frozen fruit. top section, the coldest part is for ice cream. on the door i put frozen juices and more frozen leftovers and i leave a section empty to put drinks to get cold faster. I do not buy ice, we make our own, so we have that on the door as well.
Good luck.

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Forget about the baggies, they cause freezer burn and don't eliminate cross odor and sometimes flavors depending on the quality of the bags you buy. I highly recommend Reynolds Freezer Paper Roll. Its like butcher paper but it also has a protective lining on the flip side. I've had stuff in the freezer for close to a year and when I use it, absolutely no freezer burn. Here's a few tricks that I use. I buy in bulk from Costco. Then I take my meats out of their original packaging, and I individual portion size them. I'll wrap steaks one by one using the freezer paper. Then I use a sharpie to write what it is, the date that I freezed it. I don't use tape bc I wrap at an angle so when I roll the paper it closes on itself. With salmon, I cut it the day that I have bought it, I cut it into serving size, then I wrap in cheap baggies, then I put all of them in the freezer paper. When I am ready to use I dunk them in water to defrost. Freezer paper also allows you to defrost in the microwave without worries that the ziploc bag may melt into your meats.

I've started using those plastic (shoe sized) boxes with lids...at Wal-Mart for $1.00. I use them to 'catch' all the smaller stuff in the freezer/fridge and in our cabinets.

In my pantry I have all my seasoning packets, sauce mix, cornbread (pouch-type items) in one labeled 'bin', and I have pasta in another, and flour/sugar/baking items in another, etc.

In the fridge I have everything to make a sandwich in one, that way when the kids want a sandwich they can pull out the bin, and put everything right back. It has definitely lessened the amount of time they stand looking through the fridge with the door open. They stack easy and look nice. Not to mention living in Tx you tend to get some pests...my food is safe :P Hope this helps.

Loved some of the responses - I also keep a running list of what's IN the freezer and where. Because I have both a chest type and a side one, I have 2 pages - one for each. For the chest one, I keep track of what's in the basket and then what's on the right side and the left side. When I remove something, I cross it off. When I buy, I write down where I put it (I leave space between the catagories so I only redo the list when all the space is gone). I do the same with the side by side. Top shelf, 2nd, 3rd, bottom and door. then kids can find stuff and let me know if they've used the end of it. I keep it in a drawer (next to the fridge) and everyone knows where it is.