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The freezer is a valuable asset in the kitchen. Its importance in meal planning and meal preparation cannot be overstated. With it, you can maximize the life of your food supplies. It also enables you to preserve meals, preventing them from going rancid in just a day or two.
Honestly, I can’t imagine life without a freezer. It must have been very difficult back then, preserving food without a freezer. Today, our meal prep life is much easier.
So, it’s just right that we be able to maximize what our freezers can do for us. Hence, here’s a post on freezer organization! When we have an organized freezer, it is easy to spot what’s inside. It’s easy to look for leftovers. It is easier to determine what to buy when we go shopping for food. It is also easy to find what we need during meal preparation.
Overall, having an organized freezer helps us save time and money. So, let’s do our best to keep it organized as much as we can! Follow these tips for freezer organization!
1. Keep an inventory of what’s inside your freezer.
You should always know what you have in your freezer. Doing so will aid you much in food preparation because you know what ingredients you already have. This will also prevent food waste as you are updated of what you currently have, hence, buying duplicates or cooking excess food will be minimized.
That being said, if you don’t have a freezer inventory yet, make one now. You can simply write down what you have on a paper then post it on the door of your fridge (if you have a top freezer refrigerator), or on the wall near your freezer (if you have a chest freezer).
Regularly update your inventory. Here are a few ideas:
- Add to your list when you cook a new meal and put your leftover in the freezer. Also include the date when you cooked it so that later, you’ll easily determine how long it has been there already. Remove it from the list when you eat it up.
- When you cook a food item from your freezer, remove it from the list.
- Update your list with any food item that you put inside after you’re done shopping. Include the date when you bought it. Also include expiration date if any.
2. Freeze food items in usable portions.
I used to just dump a whole value pack of chicken, beef or fish into the freezer. Then when I need say, a portion of the beef, I would dump the whole thing in water and unfreeze it, get a few of what I need, then freeze the rest again.
Wrong move…
My husband does it differently. He separates food items in usable portions first before putting them in the freezer. Then when he needs it, he takes one out for cooking. The rest are unaffected and don’t have to be thawed only to be put back into the freezer again. And so, this is our second tip to you.
Don’t freeze a whole value pack of food. Separate them into usable portions first before freezing. It’s more efficient, and definitely easier!
3. Choose the right containers.
Use containers that are freezer friendly. For example, don’t just use any glass container for freezing. Make sure first that it won’t break before you use it in the freezer.
Also, choose containers that are close to the size of what you want to freeze. This will prevent freezer burn.
To optimize storage, use vacuum-sealed bags – they’re more compact. Our top pick is Bonsenkitchen Vacuum Sealer Rolls Bags.
We also like these:
- Plastic food storage containers from Dealusy Store – these are freezer safe, and also microwave and dishwasher safe.
- Glass food storage containers from JoyJolt Store – these are freezer safe, and also oven, microwave and dishwasher safe.
4. Put what needs to be eaten first in front.
When you don’t see it very often, you might as well forget it. So put the food that needs to be eaten first in front so you’ll always see it and you will be reminded to eat it.
This is also why it’s important to have an inventory of what you have in your freezer (tip #1) – so you don’t forget your food (especially homemade cooked food), even if you don’t see them so often.
Also, when you buy new food items, pull the older stuff in front, and put the new ones at the back. This will help you consume the old ones first.
5. Know how long to keep items.
How long should you keep each food item in your freezer? And is it right to put every food item in the freezer?
This refrigerator and freezer storage chart from the FDA will help you answer that. Download and print it, then use it as your guide.
6. Group similar items together.
For example, group food items that you often eat for breakfast – bacon, sausage, ham, waffles. Using a freezer bin will help you do this. Just pull it out when it’s time to prepare breakfast.
Categorizing your food items this way will make things easier for you. You’ll know exactly where to find them! It is also easier to determine how many of each you have and whether you need to restock already.
7. Use bins with handles.
Again, bins will help you categorize your food items (tip #6). The handles make it easy to pull them out.
Here’s our tip pick: iSPECLE Freezer Organizer Bins – perfect for a deep freezer.
Browse this page for more choices.
8. Use labels.
Using labels makes everything easy for the entire household. Everyone can easily know where each food item goes.
Also put labels in your containers of what’s inside because it’s hard to memorize everything. Plus, again, this is helpful for the entire family as everybody knows what’s inside of each container.
9. Store vertically.
Use containers and line up your food items vertically. By doing so, you can easily see what’s inside and take out what you need.
If you’re not using containers, you may choose to freeze things flat as they are easier to stack, and your stack will not be messy.
10. Clean regularly.
A quarterly cleanup of your freezer is a good start, especially when you find it hard to keep an inventory list (which is totally understandable).
So, just like when you’re decluttering any area of your home, you also declutter your freezer. Take out anything expired. Remove food items that you will not be cooking anymore. Put misplaced items to where they should be.
This will help you organize your freezer regularly, and also check on your food items so food wastes are minimized.
Don’t let freezer storage stress you out!
As you have seen, there are various things you can do to organize your freezer and maximize its capacity. So, rather than just stuffing foods in there without much thought, visualize how you can make things organized in your freezer.
Remember, an organized freezer will help you save time and money on food, so it’s highly beneficial for the entire family. And with these tips above, we’re confident that you’ll be able to make it!
So, start now… and enjoy an organized freezer!
For more organizing tips, check out these posts:
- How to Organize the Fridge
- How to Organize the Kitchen
- Life-Changing Pantry Organization Ideas
- How to Organize Canned Goods
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