How to Organize Your Deep Freezer
May 22, 2017 13 Comments
If you have a deep freezer (AKA a chest freezer) it is important to organize it.

As you can see from the photo above, my freezer was a mess and I couldn’t find anything (which led me to try to figure out the best way to use it).
My chest freezer is a GE 7.0 cubic feet chest freezer and it costs about $230.00. The freezer is incredibly energy efficient if you keep it full and it saves me money.
I precook meals that I can store there and buy food when it is on sale (and store it until I want to eat it).
For example, I stock up on frozen fish because I learned how to cook salmon from frozen in December.

The upstairs freezer in the bottom of my fridge was also incredibly disorganized (see above). I lost it and finally committed to a solution. I knew that milk crates would be perfect but I wasn't going to steal any (like I did in college).

These Target crates are PERFECT for my 7.0 cubic foot freezer.
You can find these milk crate storage bins in a variety of colors and they cost a whopping $3.49. Their dimensions are 10.500 inches H x 13.625 inches W x 15.5 inches D.
I used three of them in the freezer because you can’t stack 4. There is a space for the motor that would block four crates.
After spending $11, I got to work on tossing old food and assessing what I actually have.
Now how to organize it all?
I decided to make categories:
1. Frozen fruit and vegetables
2. Meat and fish
3. Premade foods (such as frozen potstickers and my own chili)
4. Bread and staples
5. Desserts
I put the things that I use the most – frozen fruits and vegetables, and bread, and food that I was going to eat very soon – in my freezer upstairs.

Then, I got to work. One crate with meat and fish went deep into the freezer and on top all of the food that I use the most. Viola!

Now, when I want something from the bottom all I have to do is lift out a crate to get it.
Tip – I hid the desserts where I couldn’t see them every time I opened the freezer. They are tucked away on the top shelf of the upstairs freezer next to the ice. My kids can get to them – but I will (hopefully) forget that they are there (I’m thinking of you Klondike Bar).
Have you organized a deep freezer? How did you do it? What are your categories?

13 Comments:
Sue G. on May 23, 2017
Jo on May 23, 2017
Sue on May 23, 2017
Diane on May 23, 2017
Robin on May 23, 2017
VERILLE HANSON on May 23, 2017
Nancy Thrower on May 23, 2017
Patsy Cruse on May 25, 2017
Nancy Thrower on May 26, 2017
Susanne on May 27, 2017
Carol Gehringer on May 27, 2017
Nonarae on April 15, 2020
Neel Ahuja on December 16, 2020