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Farm Kitchen:  Organizing Your Chest Freezer  |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 18 2014 : 11:13:42 AM
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Hi girls!
Well, I bit the bullet on Monday and cleaned out my chest freezer... What a chore! And to my horror, I am ashamed to admit that I found several outdated packages of food. Quite a bit made its way to the garbage cans and compost pile. Ugh. We only have a small chest freezer, but I can't get over how much got lost in there over the years. I really thought I had been on top of this!
This week, I've been busy packaging up meat, prepared meals and veggies for the freezer and really wanted to organize it better - especially so foods wouldn't be toppling over on me. I hate digging through the freezer, don't you? I didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on organizing bins, and I just hate grocery bags all over the place. Ugh. What is a girl to do?
Here's my solution:
I have quite a few half gallon Ball canning jar boxes on hand. A lot of the jars are filled and vacuum-sealed with dried foodstuffs for longer term storage, but they don't really need to be sitting in their boxes awaiting use. I took the jars out of the boxes and found that if I can get four of them to fit perfectly in the freezer bottom. I have them so that two are touching short end to short end in the back, with the wide ends facing me, and then two in front of those, laying the same way. I filled the bottom ones with meatloaves, pork roasts, hams, ground beef patties, and pork chops. I have stacked the package meats on their end because it's easier for me to pull them out that way. On top of those boxes, I have two more boxes filled with chicken breasts, meatballs, stew beef, shaved steak, shredded mozzarella, and pepperoni. I still have room for two more on the second tier, and can probably fit two more on top of that! The boxes are very easy to lift out of the freezer, they organize things beautifully, and the best part is that they were free - I had them on hand anyway! LOVE them!
There are also two hanging baskets off to the side in which I have cans of frozen orange juice, baggies of frozen garden veggies and fruits, and packages of American cheese, again with all the bags standing up on their ends. Everything is now ready at my fingertips and easy to see without everything toppling over! Phew! What a relief!!! And I've started a chart for myself that lists everything that's in there so I can check off what we use and add what we put in. This is going to be a much, MUCH easier system to deal with. Priceless is peace of mind!
How do all of you organize your freezers? I'd love to hear more ideas! Next I have to tackle our refrigerator's freezer. It's a side by side, so the canning jar boxes won't fit. But I still have to deal with foods sliding all over the place and getting lost. I hate it! I could really use your input!
Thanks so much, girls! Have a great day!
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Jul 18 2014 : 6:12:07 PM
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That is an awesome idea! I haven't thought of using the canning jar boxes for organizing the freezer (but I do use them in the pantry). When we get another freezer, I will have to remember that. I've always hated having to dig through stuff in the freezer to find what I want.
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realised-- His Holiness the Dali Lama
www.madameapothecary.com |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jul 24 2014 : 10:11:41 AM
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Thanks, Rachel! I'm SO excited. It's been almost a week now, and we're absolutely loving the boxes in the freezer! Everything is so neat, tidy and easily accessible! Plus, like you said, now I don't have to dig around - I know where everything is - and nothing's toppling over on me when I dive in! LOL!
Good things must be shared, right? ;)
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Simply Satisfied
True Blue Farmgirl
427 Posts
Emily
Montana
USA
427 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2014 : 12:33:15 PM
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So it is funny but my husband and I totally disagree on how to organize our chest freezer. We hunt so our meat comes all in a few months for the whole year. My husband organizes our chest freezer by animal. This is similar to how you did it, and yep we use boxes too. This unfortunately is the part I don't like. I would rather have each box filled with a variety of steaks, roasts, burger, some elk some deer. Then I can work through one box and move on. I find lifting 2-3 boxes out of the way to find something hard and very cold. Then I have to stop and get out work gloves so I can feel my fingers while I continue to rummage around. We still don't agree but he is trying to make me a misc. box on the top of the freezer so I can have a little of the freezer my way. He is even getting pretty good at refilling my box when it gets low. It saves time. As we have a big chest freezer, I have to climb in it to clean it when we defrost it so things definitely get lost without the box system.
Emily
Farmgirl # 3591 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jul 26 2014 : 6:39:02 PM
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Emily! I love your idea! That is just SO smart! I'm going to have to do that! Although, I think what I'll do is separate most of the meats like your husband likes (as I have them now), and then keep one or two boxes on top with a variety to make things easier! What a great, GREAT idea! That will actually be very helpful when it comes to meal planning! Thank you for sharing! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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Edited by - Ninibini on Jul 26 2014 6:39:34 PM |
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Daizy
True Blue Farmgirl
992 Posts
Daizy
Talladega
Alabama
USA
992 Posts |
Posted - Aug 03 2014 : 05:34:16 AM
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Hay ya'll,
I am so proud of you. Will ya'll come to my house and do my two freezers? I have the refig freezer and every time I open it something falls out. And the upright freezer is in bad need of purging. I hate to do that because I hear the cha-ching going off when I have to let something go into the garbage due to age or freezer burn. But with your posts I am encouraged to tackle them both. Hunting season is upon us and I do my own hunting so I need the space. I hunt whitetail deer and dove and ducks so better get started. Thanks for the push!!
Hugs and prayers, Daizy
Daizy #1093
Poor House Farmgirl Chapter {A virtual chapter open to everyone.}
A good day is when you find ALL your ear tags! I wonder how my cows would like my Farmgirl apron??
www.poorhouseparadise.blogspot.com |
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country treasure
True Blue Farmgirl
452 Posts
judy
SK
Canada
452 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2014 : 10:30:52 PM
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Hi Laides,
Love the topic! I agree, what a job!
I clean our freezers out spring (to see what I need to plant in the garden) & after I finish canning. I tend to be in a hurry during canning & quickly put things in the freezer not worrying about organizing right then. Maybe if I took the time & wouldn't have to clean twice a year.......slow learner! LOL
Anyways use the boxes too. Sort by the animal then vegs, soups/sauces, bread/baking then the quirky stuff.
When we get our animals butchered I put some of our fav cuts at the bottom of each box so that when the meat starts to get low there's always a treat waiting for us. A steak sure tastes good when you least expected one. YUMMY
One of freezers didn't have dividers so we cut thin plywood, sealed it well & use that. Works great.
Judy
country wishes! |
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country treasure
True Blue Farmgirl
452 Posts
judy
SK
Canada
452 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2014 : 10:33:25 PM
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Sorry I forgot to mention:
I put a poster on each freezer saying what's in it & where to find it.
Sure saves on the yelling up the basement stairs from hubby....."which freezer & where do I look"!
Smiles Judy
country wishes! |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2014 : 07:38:01 AM
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I love your poster idea, Judy! I actually have a running list of what we've got in there in the freezer, but maybe I should do something more like a map, similar to your poster. Although right now I know what's in there and where, I'm already finding myself piling stuff on top - that's no good!!! That's how I lost food to begin with!!! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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danyel
True Blue Farmgirl
350 Posts
Danyel
Robertsdale
PA
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - Aug 07 2014 : 5:14:54 PM
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Brandi one of our farmgirl sisters told us she organizes her freezers with the stackable milk crates that the college kids use to organize their rooms, that way you can organize by color, pink for pork, white for chicken, brown for beef. sounded like a great idea to me, easy to handle, lets the sir circulate and stack great without falling over. I hate to clean the freezer because like Daizy, "cha ching" when items go out. maybe its it time to tackle with a plan to not repeat.
love the ideas
Danyel
farmgirl sister 4202 |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2014 : 2:31:16 PM
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What an excellent idea! I just used what I had on hand, but I really love Brandi's idea! And yes - I heard the "cha ching" when I cleaned out our chest freezer, too! SO disheartening! But now that I've got the new system, I pray it never happens again! Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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ceejay48
Farmgirl Legend/Schoolmarm/Sharpshooter
13776 Posts
CeeJay (CJ)
Dolores
Colorado
USA
13776 Posts |
Posted - Aug 08 2014 : 4:31:15 PM
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I just had to do freezer cleaning and organizing. We have a chest freezer in the house and and upright outside on the north side of the house. We just had a beef butchered (made him into hamburger!) We still have a few cuts of the last cow we butchered so I put all of those in boxes that fit into the chest freezer. There is also a box with baking supplies in it (nuts, choco.chips, coconut, etc.), another one with dried tomatoes and herbs (they would be okay outside the freezer but I keep them in there if we have the room). There is a section where other meat such as fish and chicken go as well as my breads, tortillas, etc. Two hanging basket trays that hold shredded apples, fruit juice, berries, etc. And I drew a chart listing and showing what was where, especially if there are layers. That is also for my hubby's benefit in case I'm not around for him to ask "where is . . . ?"
Just today, we were able to pick up over 400 lbs. of hamburger from this last butcher project and it all fit perfectly into the upright freezer! What a relief! (Too bad you girls are so far away . . . you could come over for a hamburger cookout!)
I too had to toss some things! Chest freezers are more efficient but they sure are a pain to get in and out of.
CJK
..from the barefoot farmgirl in SW Colorado...sister chick #665.
2010 Farmgirl Sister of the Year
Mother Hen: FARMGIRLS SOUTHWEST HENHOUSE
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from my hubby - www.aspenforge.blogspot.com |
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Peg Graham
True Blue Farmgirl
281 Posts
Peg
Chesapeake
Virginia
USA
281 Posts |
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Farm Kitchen: Organizing Your Chest Freezer |
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Organizing Your Chest Freezer
