Organizing Your Freezer

I was rooting around in my freezer the other day and had to throw out some items due to their advanced age. This prompted me to better organize my freezer so items would not get lost under other food items.

The Freezer door: This is the warmest part of the freezer. I use it to store hot dogs, vegetables, butter, juices and the half-gallon milk jugs filled with water for picnic coolers.

Shelves: I used 3 plastic "bins" to sort my meat (purchased in bulk and shrink vac'd). One bin each for chicken, beef and pork. At a glance I can see if I need to purchase more ground beef, pork loin or bacon when is is on sale. Meat is portioned out into meal size servings and wrapped for proper storage.

When wrapping meat, be sure and label with an indelible pen (on the seam or on a label) the date. Use the oldest first.

I purchase items when they are on sale and when I have a coupon. I keep stocked up on frozen meals for "brown bag" lunches - much cheaper and healthier than fast food at work. I ALWAYS purchase butter when it is on sale, sometimes 10 pounds at a time. This especially comes in handy for holiday baking!

For more freezer advice:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/...

By Diana from Prospect, KY

Feedback:

RE: Organizing Your Freezer

I have a small chest type freezer and I keep it very full, basket or bins would not work for me, they would take up too much space. I use colored plastic bags red is for meat, a target bag is for pork, chicken is in yellow, Frozen tomatoes are in pink, I have 3 different shades of green which my vegetables are in the lighter the bag the lighter the vegetable, I have even found a pink plastic bag to keep my fruit in for smoothies.

I make prepared meals and they're all stacked alternating types of dishes in the front right hand corner, I vacuum seal everything so I don't worry about things going bad, I have food which is up to but if not more than 5 years old and is still good as long as the seal is not broken.

Now I do organize my refrigerator with baskets, hot sauce in 1, jellies and jams in another, mustard, Mayonnaise, Ketchup, pickle relish and salad dressings in another, I have several baskets with fresh fruits or vegetables and I keep my rice, popcorn and pasta in the refrigerator also and they have their own basket. There is a catch all basket for the little odd things. (07/09/2008)

By Babette