Organizing Our Freezer
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- Our freezer is an absolute mess. We want to start using it more efficiently as an integral part of our food storage efforts. We share our first step toward getting the frozen food more systematically organized. More videos on this topic will be coming soon.
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Oh my goodness, the Lord's timing never ceases to amaze me!
lol! You made me laugh when you said you didn't think other people didn't have freezers as messy as yours! LOL again. The first thing that I thought was, "Look at all of that room!" The second thing that I thought was, "I'll bet they don't have to worry about anything falling out and landing on their toes!" Great video! I'm feeling inspired!
Those are my thoughts exactly! Totally!!
Your freezer didn't look bad at all. It would be nice if the freezer manufacturer could put more shelves , drawers, etc, like refrigerators, to help in organization.
Our regular freezer did come with an adjustable shelf, but everyone's freezer needs are so different, I don't think they could do too much more. You can buy extra (deep freezer) freezer baskets and make your own system though.
We just got a Hamilton beach one at Costco that is all drawers, it’s sweet!
@@kr15242we recently got one like that. I’m not sure I like the drawer system, but at least it discourages wobbly stacks of items that may fall out when you open the door!
I have one that has two shelves up top and four drawers on the bottom. It's awesome!
You are not alone. Let us all contemplate our freezers. Yes, it’s happening this weekend. Thanks!
No judgment here! Both of mine are worse. Thanks for your transparency. Really enjoy you and Jim!!❤😊
Great job Jim & Pam!
Don’t ever apologize or be embarrassed- we’ve all been there.
You’re possibly saving us from having to throw out freezer burnt food.
Hi Pam, Enjoyed your video.
Thought I would share with you our freezer system. I cook for the 2 of us and we are older than you. I don't want to stand for long hours to prepare meals then cleaning up all the mess at the end. So I make a stock pot full of our favorite soups, stews, chili or Mex meat and freeze the finished food in single serving containers - bags or 2 cup plastic containers. Here is an example below.
I make 16 servings of Tortellini soup at one time and freeze 14 of them in single serving containers. After they are frozen I put then into large plastic bags and label the bag. So when I hunt for what to have for dinner I only have to hunt thorough a stack of similar size bags. We can eat home cooked food every day for as long as we like because there is always a variety. I use the same type of system for stuffing, yams, turkey gravy and the like. It is fun to enjoy a Thanksgiving rerun a month after the big day.
We are in our late 70’s, I love your system. You have motivated me to get moving. Many blessings
Your freezer looks waaaay better than mine! I am in the process of reducing the contents of my freezer (and spice cabinet, thanks to you 🤣). Thank you for more great ideas!
During the pandemic, I spent a lot of time on RUclips. I ran across several organizational videos and refrigerator/freezer organizing was very popular. Have been repackaging and placing things in plastic bins ever since. It has removed not only stress but has lowered our waste by quite a bit.
I also write the date I packaged them on the bag so I can use the oldest first.
Thanks .I never even thought about the reduced waste side of things.
Putting the date on the packages is a great idea - i will be doing that in the future!
I date everything in case whoever is helping put things away neglects to put the new stuff behind what's already there. 🤦♀️
I love your honesty. Your not alone. 🎉
So glad I saw this before I left for town. Now I’ll hit the $1.25 store for containers. You are just what I need on so many days! 🙏🏽
If you want to save a little money and space in your freezer, try using shoe boxes instead of containers.
Pam you are not alone with a messy freezer. It is life. Live it and do the best you can when you can.
Easy enough to generate a freezer inventory sheet.
Hi Pam and Jim, we re organised our freezer 2 yrs ago bc the old one failed..my husband was home recouping from surgery, so he did almost the same idea you demonstrated. It was life changing! Yeah! meal planning for the upcoming week is now a breeze..I cook for 2, but I make several meals for the week..I discovered that it takes the same amount of time to prepare 1 dinner as it does for 3 dinners. I know alot of folks don't care for left overs, well when you come from a large family, on a budget, you learn to change your basic meal into something diffrent or special by adding herbs, spices, or exchanging out your veggie or starch selection. I remember the frozen peas were plain, but once in awhile Mother would put real butter over them. It made such a difference in flavor, yes I'm showing my age..frozen Green Giant Peas were new idea then..now I prefere my own homegrown to freeze. Blessings.
I cook for two also. Large meals to be frozen. Well things like Sunday sauce, chili, different soups all make the first meal and usually the next day for lunch or supper but I have found, for us anyhow, those leftovers are so much better the next day when all the flavors have melded. The second or sometimes the third day is when I freeze the rest into meals for us. The squarish lunch meat containers repurposed are great for this. I just put a piece of clear tape on top, write what is inside and the date and freeze. Long live left overs🎉🙏🌷
@@sharonjones7674 absolutely! 🤗
@@sharonjones7674... I love leftovers! You are right! They DO taste better a day or two after. I usually just eat the food every day till it's gone, or freeze it in small portions. I like to make soup or chili, etc. and freeze in one meal size baggies. SO easy on busy nights. I really enjoy cooking and baking.
Dear sweet Pam, yes many of us are like that too (throw things in the freezer, and forget for 2 years - no judgement here!) Thank you for doing this!
I would LOVE to have an upright freezer because you can see what is there! I have a small chest freezer. Now, you can buy "systems" with sliding drawers that can be stacked; but they are a few hundred dollars. I tired literally everything, but finally found that using colored grocery bags, purchased in a set at Amazon, work the very best. I organize by pork, lamb, chicken, etc. You can do it however makes sense to you. Then you just stack them across the bottom and up in the freezer. Yes, you do have to pull a few out to get what you want, but the bags are colorful and easy to see--I made a small color chart that hangs above the freezer. The bags also accommodate gaps inbetween very well. Cheap, some labor involved, the bags last forever.
Brilliant solution. Thanks. I’ll try it.
😂 oh Pam, your freezer looks great compared with mine! What a great idea, putting veggies in individual servings. I've been waiting for cold weather to clean and organize my very stuffed chest freezer. Keep the ideas coming!
Oh my gosh, what a mess that freezer contains. I'm just kidding...If you thought your freezer was a mess, I shudder to think what you would say of mine. I have a wire drawer in one of my freezers, so your idea of loading in portions in bins is ideal. Gosh, how we do neglect our freezers, don't we? The good news is you came up with a wonderful remedy! Thank you 💜💜💜💜
My mom got me into watching you & Jim's videos, and now I can't stop! I love the ones with Cindy & John as well--when are y'all going to Costco again?!! -Sincerely, Sam (& Gwen his mom) in Texas
Love this idea. I have a chest freezer that I have to dig thru, boy oh boy is there some treasures in that chest. Love your channels, thank you. ❤
This was just the video I needed to see. Now I feel like I can conquer my freezer or at least start to conquer it.❤
Oh Pam, my upright is worse ! A few weeks ago I was looking for something and a zip lock bag of salsa fell out onto my foot breaking a toe !! We organized our chest freezer, and the upright is next
I organise my freezer every month otherwise I forget what I have in there. I also organise my canning cupboard and dry goods so that I know what I can make for meals. We could live for six months at least without doing a shop. We bought very little over the pandemic. I am 69 and my mother taught me cooking and meal planning from her war shortage era.
My favorite find for freezer storage is reusable FoodSaver zip top bags. They have a valve for vacuum sealing with a hand held device. Two servings fit perfectly into a quart size. I use the gallon size to hold "pucks" of broth or other foods frozen into serving sizes using a silicon muffin pan. Get the ones with the black seal, they are the sturdiest.
Yes! I love those reusable bags too. I don't have the FoodSaver brand but another kind I bought on Amazon. They have lasted for over 5 years.
I'm a professional organizer by trade but even my own freezers are a mess!!! And I already used bins for sorting and storing. My big aha watching you? Put lids on those containers and stack them!!! Two worlds colliding here right now. Thank you for the great tips.
This is brilliant. I portioned out all of my meat like this but I never even considered doing the same for my vegetables. I'll definitely be doing similarly for my chest freezer going forward.
What timing! We just had to replace an ancient small chest freezer with an upright which has twice the capacity. I'm a little intimidated by organizing it. Your boxes look like shoe boxes. Time for me to shop the dollar stores, eh. Thank you!
Single eater here and I have only a top mount no frost freezer compartment. Yet it is also a cave of wonder where things disappear . Clearing out, cleaning, and reorganizing won't take long but I already feel better.
Its so easy when you work and have only 1 day week to do all of your cleaning shopping and storing. Be kind to yourself❤❤❤ i just love you both so much!
Boy oh boy did I ever need this video. It’s on my to do this fall. Your freezer looked better than ours. Lol
ROFLMAO!!! "I don't imagine many of you are like that..." (4:44). Too funny, Pam! That's just what has happened to us, too!
I have to say, when you start off with your head just spinning I know we have a great video coming 😊😉
Our chest freezer is organized with "bins" that are plastic milk crates we found at Walmart. We buy a half beef and all the burger and stew meat gets stacked in milk crates, two crates fit side by side down in the freezer and then another two crates fit, side by side, on top of the first two. We can also tuck 10# bags of flour behind the stacked bins. Tetris😊! When one bin gets empty we put it aside which signals when we need to think about getting another half beef. The wire bins that came with the freezer are organized as one for chicken priducts and one for pork products. Our standing freezer is organized with plastic bins much like what you have done. Makes things SO much easier. As always. Thank you you two for a great video🥰
My favorite label for the freezer is a sticky note with some tape. Your freezer looks way better than mine!! Thanks for all you and Jim do!
Great idea. My freezer looks just like yours & of course, you know how much you help others by showing real life situations. Thanks again for all you do.
I do the exact same thing for my upright freezer but I vacuum seal most things so they last longer as I buy in bulk. I have the clear plastic bins as well…..works like a charm! For my chest freezer I use small boxes to separate everything or the hard sided grocery box bags. Makes for great organization.
I love that you will be including videos regarding freezers and preparedness!
Your freezer isn't bad!! I only have the one on top of the refrigerator and it's full and messy! I have 3 plastic baskets to put small items in cause they were always slipping out when I opened the door, right on my foot! OUCH! Baskets work great. What a GREAT idea to put your veggies in serving size baggies! I also wash and reuse my Ziplock bags, several times! What a wonderful reminder to organize our freezers. I just love all your videos! Love to you and Jim.
Yes this will be very helpful! I only cook for me.I have chest freezer and if you think yours is disorganized…you should see mine….talk about things being buried! 😳 Portioning veggies is a great idea
I''d be spending a fortune in freezer bags and bins. My husband used to take a straw and suck out the air from the freezer bag.
I LOVE YOUR VIDEO, and NO need to be embarrassed because id bet my last dollar that the majority of people watching this have freezers that look very much like yours!! lol, mine does thats for sure, I love the veggie organization, cant wait to get started on mine also!! im excited to see what your gonna show us next!
I can’t wait for this series !! It’s just two of us and we have bags open with some missing out of each ! What a mess ! I wish my freezer looked like yours now!! Its way worse !!! Looks like Hope is just around the corner ! Thank you !
Oh dear Pam and Jim. 😂 I wish mine was that disorganized. Mine is oh so much worse. Ugh. Ok today's the day. Mine will be cleaned. Today. Thank you both for the impetus and encouragement to dive into to that dark hole I call a freezer🙏🌷
What a good idea! Once I hear you explain it, it’s so obvious! Yet I never thought about it. Thank you!!!
Love this idea! My freezers are so unorganized I’m excited to see your videos.
I have been busy over the last few weeks. Actually doing all of this organizing. I bought these wonderful freezer safe storage bins and actually took out one of my shelves and those bottom drawers that always stayed full and never looked in! This way, I was able to stack 9 bins. Blue painters tape is a MUST! It stays on in the freezer, and often hangs on in the dishwasher. I have tape on the front of my bins with a note of what is in them. Organizing has also helped me STOP buying things I already have and missing the things I don't. Thanks Ms. Pam!
This sounds fantastic! Thanks for placing it into practice. Jim
I love the idea of breaking the larger bags into smaller portions! Once I open and use part of a bag, the remainder often gets lost in the uncharted regions of my freezer. This will, hopefully, reduce the waste that occurs when I defrost and discover the lost and now tasteless items in the back. Thank you.
Great idea! There's just 2 of us now so this would be perfect way to put our veggies up in the freezer! Thanks for the info!
PAM! I WISH my freezer looked that good!!!😂
Oh…BLESS YOU!!! I will follow you and do the exact same thing!
I dreaded organizing my freezer.
💜💜💜
You don't know how much I needed this! Thank you!
A little twist I do is empty the bags directly into the bin and measure the amount needed when I’m ready to use it. Feels less involved to me 😅
I love your pretty new blouses! And yes, our freezers are stuffed!
Don’t be embarrassed- that’s life- mine looks like that too. I call myself cleaning mine out, and just put it all back inside!
I'd kill for an upright freezer. I have a box freezer. The only way I know what I have is to use coloured bags. I keep pre cooked in one. Uncooked meat in another and so on and so on.
I am so jealous 😂😂 I use containers for all sorts of storage.
Containers make everything neat. Lots of❤❤❤❤ to you both
Believe me will all have crazy freezers. Ours was so small we decided to get a larger one. We also buy in large quantities for just the two of us to save money. We have gone thru many vacuum sealers. We recently got the Weston one you have. Love it. Today is organizing day for us.
I put sterlite crates zip tied together on my freezer shelves. I can pull them out on each shelf at the top. First shelf has vegetables, the next shelf has fruits, third shelf has a mixture of ready made foods. The bottom half has shelves those are closer together for small items like cream cheese, butter, etc. my basket holds bigger bags of food. Just something I like to keep everything divided and placed individually.
Great plan!! I’m stuck at home this week alone without a car and beautiful weather! This looks like a wonderful project!!
Things are always getting buried in our freezer, this is a great idea!
No, not a mess. We purchased a new 22 cubic foot freezer last September. I measured each shelf so I could purchase plastic bins. On the first shelf two bins fit into shelf front to back. Labeled bins beef and chicken. The next shelf did the same thing, labeled those bins pork and fish. The next two shelves have bump in back of freezer, I guess for wires. Those bin were placed horizontally. Labeled those bins misc. Each shelf also has plenty of room for easy freezer meals, also will hold small turkey, pork butt, whole chickens etc.
The door has six shelves for juice, veggies, bread, butter. I hope someone finds it helpful. All meat have dates, oldest out first.
Oh gracious Pam, that freezer isn't that bad. At least you have some space still there. I hit my freezer every couple of yrs and when I do, you couldn't squeeze in anything else. But some areas do require re-organizing every now and then.....freezer, fridge, pantry.
I had thought of the bins, but I had not thought about portioning out for meals. That is a great idea. My husband and I froze a lot of berries over the summer. I did put those bags in bins in the freezer to make it more stable. The ones I used did not have lids and were actually designed for refrigerators. But I saw them and thought they were the perfect size to stand up those bags of berries. I think I'll be looking in the freezer section a bit more now since I saw that we can do it this way. There's only the two of us now to plan for and we forget the leftovers. This makes so much more sense. From your idea, I had another for making it easier to find different types of meat...bins! This will also make it easier to rotate the meat...put the newer packages in the back as you use the meats in the front. Thank you, Pam and Jim! Your content is so very helpful.
I only cook for myself but I use the sandwich folding bags and fit two to three in a freezer bag. If I do onions and peppers I can get four to a bag. It’s worth buying the cheap sandwich bags and saving the expensive freezer bags. Then I reuse the freezer bags as you suggested. 🙂
We don’t have a big freezer as you, but we have our Refrigerator/ freezer in kitchen and a small refrigerator/ freezer in our downstairs basement. I really need to organize my freezers better! Love the idea of freezer bags with just the right amount of frozen food in them that the two of us also eat! So much more room and organization to find the items better! ❤️ thank Pam for this great idea!
The bins work great in the refrigerator/freezers, too! I organized the one in my kitchen with bins and now nothing gets shoved into the back of the fridge and forgotten until it turns into a science experiment gone awry lol. I can also find things in the freezer without causing an avalanche. The last straw was when a block of frozen cheese fell out and landed on my pinky toe. In a twist of bitter irony, I had to ice it down for half an hour before it stopped throbbing! Just be sure to measure carefully before buying any bins, including the height between shelves, and allow space for the ice cube trays and bucket if you don't have an ice maker. 😉
Great idea! Washing and reusing the bags is also brilliant. Save time and money with making lists and buying in bulk or on sale.
That upright freezer is my dream, with auto defrost.
Very VERY timely. It’s just what I’ve been working on. Really like the meal-size baggies! Thanks
Oh my, my freezer is a chest freezer so things get thrown in and literally get lost. Your freezer looks wonderful.
I ordered an extra shelf for my freezer. Then I sort into freezer bins. All beef in one. Chicken in one pork etc. One shelf for thinks that just have to be heated to eat. One shelf for veggies. And a magnetic whiteboard on the door with a guide to where things are.
Your freezer looks amazing compared to how mine is 😂.
But, it gives me hope to see that it wasn't organised perfectly - yet! I'm looking forward to following your lead on this. Thank you! 😊
Wowowowow!!! This makes me smile big time!!! Thank you!!!!
You are welcome.
I use a digital scale to portion servings. Most frozen vegetables packaging suggestion is 2/3 C serving or 85 grams.
Great idea I’ve been using bags to put fruits and veggies in them
Genius! Made me have a 'Duh, I coulda had a V-8' moment. I do this with meats, but never thought of veg. It would be great for fruit, also, especially for berries.
Oh Pam you did make me laugh when you said you send Jim out for corn and he is a long time. My Brian disappears too and I go out to the garage and say what are doing? 😂😂😂
I have never had a handle on my freezer!!! Thank you Pam and Jim!! I'm going to start this process!
Have fun! I know we did. Jim
Great idea
Boxes, bins, and baskets also keep mason jars from falling on our toes when we open the door. I consider them a lifestyle upgrade.
I’m the opposite; I have 6 freezers and know what’s in each one and exactly where it’s at. I may or may not have an organizational glitch, so I have to have a place for everything and everything in its place.
I love your honesty! We lovingly refer to it as freezer diving 😂😂😂. Ours has always been utter chaos at best. But we learned a forced lesson last year. At the time we had 3 freezers full. One failed, and our spare refrigerator failed as well. We were blessed because my husband had put thermostats in them, that notified him that the temperature was above the temperature he set. He had set it for 10 degrees. Then he reset it for 15 degrees to be sure it was a problem. It was! So we started canning, dehydrating and cooking the contents of that freezer. And in between that we emptied and reorganized our other 2 freezers. We then reset our sights on emptying our largest chest freezer next. We had just bought our freeze dryer 2 months before, so we started to freeze dry the contents of the freezer and now we have a small solar powered chest freezer, that we do better at keeping it rotated through, regularly.
I like the organisation of the frozen veges. I have the same problem but on a bigger scale, I have a upright, three chest freezers and a drawer freezer. What I found is when you put the frozen veges in a plastic bag you get a build up of ice in the bag. Maybe moving some of the extra air out with a straw would be helpful? Not sure but I am not purchasing another freezer and want my existing freezers to be more functionable.
I second the request for chest freezer ideas. I have a small one in the house to augment the refrigerator-freezer. It came with one basket (it can be moved from one side to the other) and a cavernous space that tends to be somewhat of a black hole. I’d love suggestions on organizing it as well as the freezer in the refrigerator. Great ideas so far.
I too have a small chest freezer. I am currently using reusable shopping bags with flat bottoms to organize by food types. I used a permanent marker to write on the handle what is in each bag: non-starchy veggies, whole grains, flours, seeds & nuts, beef, chicken etc. Sometimes within each "main bag" I will have a labeled 2 gallon zip top bag containing smaller portions of one type food like 1 cup portions of chopped peppers or onions. The bags stack okay, not super good, but okay, and it is pretty easy to grab the one I want to look through by reading the label on the handle. I keep the ones I use most often on the top but still have to remove them to get to the lower bags that contain products I use less frequently. It is, obviously not a perfect system, but it works better for me than using the types of containers that Pam used in her upright freezer. I tried that but found it a little too hard to get things out of the bottom.
Anyone else have any suggestions for chest freezers?
On RUclips - I saw a woman use milk crates or large heavy duty plastic bins in her chest freezer. Each bin held specific meats. The bins stacked 2 high, I think - and she put the newer meat in the bottom bin. She had smaller flatter bins on the top that she could move around easily. She said those were "use it first" bins. It looked very efficient.
@@brendamarques1555 using the tote bags is a good idea and seems to be the most practical way in order to retrieve what we need without a lot of shifting of boxes and bins. At nearly 73 I’m all about easy.
We've got a side of beef that's going to be ready to pick up in a few weeks, after watching a few different freezer organization videos for ideas I ordered some large sturdy sided tote bags on amazon. Each cut of meat will go in a different bag (ground beef, roasts, steaks, etc) so that I can store them in the chest freezer, see what I have, not worry about the meat just falling all over the place, and easily move them around when I need to. This method would also work great for having a bag for chicken, a bag for beef, a bag for veggies, a bag for fruit, etc.
Oh hell, Pam! That freezer is perfectly normal for me. But yes, you are right, having a system of organization is a good idea. I have a chest freezer and use a clear over the door shoe rack that I cut down so I can hang the shoe racks and fill the pouches with stuff. My freezer looks like a closet!!
Loved this. I use the clear shoe boxes for the upright and chest freezer! Divide the different sausage, vegies, etc. Also store ice in them in chest freezer.
My freezer is stuffed. We started eating it down with the plan to organize. I look forward to your ideas.
Yes, that's what I do. Thank you for all your wealth of information and sharing 😊
Wow! how strange is the timing , I just started cleaning out my freezer from
Bottom
Of refrigerator yesterday! Love it! And your freezer does not look bad! Compared to one of mine .
Great reminder! I think most of us have freezer blinders on, we open it quickly, grab what we want and slam the door shut quickly so nothing falls out. I have started working on the inside freezer first since that’s the one I use every day. I have started using @soupercubes to freeze portions of soups, chili, sauces, broths, etc. they are so much more space efficient than the plastic containers that really didn’t work well. I bought bins to store things in and it’s working out great! But I never thought about the freezer bags of veggies, I’ll be doing that next! Thanks Pam and Jim for your videos.
We have plastic containers more plastic containers coming and we will have to watch for the ones that fail versus succeed. Thanks for your comments. Jim
Pam Thank you and Jim for all the work you put into helping us. Is there a way I might ask a couple of questions that might give you video ideas?
You, madam, are brilliant!
I have the same fridge with the bottom freezer. Would love to see how you organize that bottom freezer. !!
I have a 6' chest freezer... it's much worse! That's one reason I'm working to pressure can & dry food to improve working preservation. Thank you for sharing your education and insights!!
Great idea Pam & Jim!!
That would work great for my chest freezer as well.
thank you , I struggle with my freezer. I am alone now...although I have a big family only one son and his family live close. and with their schedules we don't get together for meals more than three or four times a month. I have lunch with my friends at each other's home several times a month but I don't use my freezer food. I have vowed not to put any turkey in any shape or form in my freezer because I don't use it. NO leftover freezing anymore and I would like to just buy individual meals or frozen steamer bags. my freezer is soooo unmanageable to put things in. I went back to finish watching and got great ideas from you. the mrs. widow of bigjac
Perfect timing again…we have a 1/4 beef coming from the locker in a few days!! 😊
How exciting! YUMMY...
I have and upright freezer, I use each shelf for each type of meat and freezer meal for that meat. IE chicken, pork, beef. The roll out drawer in the bottom is for frozen vegies. Shelves in the door is for homemade broths. Vegie, beef chicken. Pork. Pie dough pizza dough, bread and rolls already to pop in the oven. Yes I know I still open and shove from time time but it still has some semblance of organization that doesn't take too much te to organize.
I found some bins that wouldn’t shatter in the freezer then organized all our proteins by type in their own bin. Vegetables in the drawer at the bottom. Beautiful! 4 months later, chaos 😅😅😅 I’m chalking it up to my squirrel nature-everytime I find a sale……….
Lovvvve how you’ve re packed & divided the veggies - of course!!! Re use hose bags!!!😅
Yes! Thank you! I wash them out, dry them, and back in the drawer they go!
I’m so inspired! I’m going to share on my Practically Prepared Facebook page.