A Beautiful Chest

[Labrat407]

Alright, I have to clean and reorganize our chest freezer (a bag of blueberries broke when being taken out ), So I am looking for tips and tricks on organizing a chest freezer.
How do you do yours? Tips for rotating stock to how to keep everything in place and other ideas.

[MTplainsman]

Alright, you got the attention of everyman on here. I of course was thinking freezer as soon as I saw the title

Now than, I don't have much of a system ironed out yet, but by seperating food, and grouping them together in cardbord boxes with flaps cut off, you can find the right sizes to make them fit on your freezer's bottom. Make sure they are all the same height, as you will want to set 1x2 wood stringers across the top for the next row. I wouldn't stack to many levels, as it can me a pain to get down below. The best way there is, is to use stackable mil crates or stacking wire baskets. Of course the milk crates are bulky and take up a lot of room. The wire baskets without handles are perfect, but I havn't really found many of these yet. Obviously you don't want to fill the boxes, crates, basket so full the bottom of the next can't slip in level. Not much of a system, but it beats everything in a massive heap of frozen headache. Joel

[Cornhusker]

Freezer?
You brought me in here for a freezer???
I don't have any ideas, our freezer is a disaster.
I'm thinking an upright is the way to go.

[suitcase_sally]

I do what Mtplainsman does. I don't bother with the stringers and such though. The big things like whole chickens and ham (if I'm lucky enough to have one) doesn't need a box because they are so big they are easy to find. Fish fillets in one box, vension in another, pork in still another, ect. Makes it easy to see what you are running low on. I don't have very many veggies in there because I can nearly all (or root cellar them). I have a few hot peppers in a bag.

[Beeman]

We fixed our organization problem by selling the chest freezer and buying an upright. In the chest freezer we used baskets or plastic milk/soda crates to help organize.

[paulaswolfpack]

What Beeman said milk crates

[Tracy Rimmer]

I solved my freezer problem by getting a second one. One is for meat and dog food (raw diet ) and the other is for fruit and veg. I process all of my frozen fruit and veg into medium sized freezer bags, and stack them flat to freeze. Once they're frozen they're pretty easy to keep organized (one stack of corn niblets, one stack of corn on the cob, one stack of carrots, one stack of spinach, one stack of sliced peaches, etc...

The meat/dog food freezer is loosely organized into quadrants. Beef, pork, chicken & fish, and dog food packets.

[sisterpine]

If you have a large chest freezer you might try placing two stacks of boxes or crates opposite each other at the ends of the freezer with a small space in between like: crate space crate and stack the crates up to the top on each side with the crate opening to the middle. then lunch meat in one , green beans in another etc. This leaves a space in the middle (which helps the freezer work better) and you can just reach down to the bottom crate to pull out a sack of beans without moving the meats? sis

[L.A.]

Freezers? Oh you guys can be so cold.

[Jan Sears]

We save the oblong flats (boxes) that you buy the 24's of coke pepsi etc. in. We then freeze our whatevers in bags & then stand them upright in the flats & stack the flats one on top of the other. Really small things go into the baskets that come with the freezer. Hope this helps. Where do you live in eastern Ontatio? We in North Grenville.

[Labrat407]

Originally Posted by Jan Sears

Where do you live in eastern Ontatio? We in North Grenville.

I am in Aylmer, but work in Ottawa.

We only have space for one freezer. I have tried the milk crates and they are too bulky. I am loooking to find something my wife can also easily lift out and move. I am looking for wire crates but have not found any in a good size. It is an old freezer and the original baskets are not there...

I will see what I can do ith boxes.
Thanks for the help

I kind of liked the title...

[Up North]

Originally Posted by L.A.

Freezers? Oh you guys can be so cold.

[RichieC]

This turned out to be nearly as disappointing as the "Video of My Buns" thread.

[quadcam79]

*sigh* friggin freezer??... I thought...ahhh nevermind
WIHH, I havent heard anyone use the term "pasteboard" since my grandma lol

we're going to have to get a chest freezer when we move, i just don't know where we'll put it, theres really no room inside for it, wonder if it would survive outside up on blocks under a small lean-to type until we can build a permanent covered patio area
It's Florida so no worry about snow/ice, just the occasional rain

[hotzcatz]

Well, I had thought it might be about a cedar chest and linens and such so it's not just the guys!

Last week we were at a place that refurbishes old appliances and sells second had stuff. They had loads of old wire freezer baskets, refrigerator shelves, plastic food bins, etc. If you had a second hand appliance place in your town, perhaps you could find some baskets and shelves to fit your needs?

[Missy M]

Try milk crates of different colors. Make each color be for a different type of food. Veggies, fruit, meat ect.

[MWG]

I read all the way to post #17 and this thread it still about freezers... what gives? I did quickly scoll down trying to find the photo first... but none!!!

We just pack it all in and search. We at least try to put the green stuff on one side.

[quadcam79]

well...sometimes is make my GF go look in the freezer....just because *grin*
example photo not attached for I would be in trouble 2x

[Wolf mom]

That's why I have an energy saver upright. Organization couldn't be simpler with less time rooting through stuff to find what you want.

True, more cold air is lost when the door is opened, but if you use it in conjunction with the refrigerator/freezer, it doesn't have to be opened every day.

I'm glad you'all got that chest thingy figured out. I's about ready to take a picture of my hairy chest and post it on here for comparison.