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I just got a smallish (7 cubic feet) chest freezer.
What are your ideas for keeping it organized and not "losing food" in the bottom? Do you use baskets / bins? Any suggestions on the best size of bins? Seems I've also heard of folks using different colored containers for beef versus poultry versus fruits/veggies versus soups/stews? What has worked best for you to be sure you use what you have before it gets too old?
Label and date everything. Keep the most expensive cuts deep in the freezer ... they will be last to thaw if the power goes out for an extended period of time. Less expensive items (vegetables, etc) go toward the top, but keep it as full as possible to keep everything well insulated in case of outage. Keep a dry erase board above the freezer to keep track of what's in there, particularly meats and prepared meals. List items as they're added (with date added) and wipe off when they're removed.
Ours is small also and we actually keep a list of what we have and dates so we dont have to rummage through to ever see. Just keep the list updated. We have one basket which doesnt hold much and isnt that useful to us. Color containers would actually be a good idea to seperate different meats, will maybe try that. Otherwise we dont have much method. We seperate my stuff on one side and my husbands on another and thats pretty much it.
I've always found it impossible even with baskets and other means of separation. I'm getting an upright next time.
I had a chest freezer and swapped to an upright. Never again. Not enough room for my food, too energy hungry. The milk crates in my old GM chest freezer worked great. Kept all the food separated into like kinds and made it easy to grab. I can't believe I swapped..
I had a chest freezer and swapped to an upright. Never again. Not enough room for my food, too energy hungry. The milk crates in my old GM chest freezer worked great. Kept all the food separated into like kinds and made it easy to grab. I can't believe I swapped..
Yeah they both have their good and bad points. Chest types are more efficient as they don't let all the cold escape every time you raise the lid for a minute. Uprights get pretty much a total change out of air when the door is opened. Then there's the difference between conventional and frost free's to consider.
I prefer to have both a chest for longtime storage and an upright near the fridge for convenience.
Last edited by SATX56; 05-25-2015 at 07:50 PM..
Reason: frost free's not fres :D
I have stackable bins with handles to "freeze" my stuff. It keeps meat with meat/veggies with veggies and doesn't fall over etc. Plus it cuts back on them picking up odors from the freezer. They look like these but I got mine cheap at an Asian market and labelled kimchi containers. But I am sure you can find something similar.
It depend somewhat on what you are freezing. Years go I had mostly locally butchered pork and chicken. I divided it into baskets: bacon & sausage, ground meat, chops & chicken pieces, roasts and whole chicken.
I still try to separate by type, but it is more difficult now with packaged food in there. So about every month I sort through and put all the "must use" stuff together and start bringing it into the kitchen freezer. I quit freezing homemade soups etc because too much went to waste.
Good luck! It's kind of a trial and error game really.
I've always found it impossible even with baskets and other means of separation. I'm getting an upright next time.
I agree with you. I have tried a million different ways. That is why we sold our small chest freezer years ago and bought an upright. Then we remodeled the house, decided we didn't really need one that large even, so we gave it to a young couple just buying their first house and starting their family. We got a french refridge, and put our side by side in the garage. Now we don't have enough freezer space. I am tempted to sell the side by side and buy a reaslly small freezer, but it will be an upright for sure. Anyone that can truely organize a chest freezer I give them a lot of credit. The advantage of a chest freezer is cost to operate. But I will spend that extra few $$s a month for the convenience of finding that steak I want easily rather than having to dig to the bottom of the freezer. It seemed everything we needed was always in the bottom of the freezer, regardless of how many separaters we used.
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