Are you a FLOP? Who has the most organised freezer?

Pitlanepiglet

Thanks all, that's the kind of info I was looking for. Grunnie, what sort of big bags do you use? I was thinking of trying to get hold of some of the big clear refuse sacks?

Butterfly Brain, I wondered about boxes, I was thinking about the mid sized Ikea boxes that stack - I was worried that somehow it might make the freezer less efficient but thinking about it, it's no different to freezing something in a freezer box?

Slinky_Malinky

You could buy something like large shopping or trolley bags and colour code them, green for veg, red for meat etc. then you can quickly grab the bag you need rather than having to sift through bags that all look the same.

Also shops like Poundstretcher sell plastic toy boxes, no lids but they have a sort of lip inside that allows you to stack them on top of each other ( they nest together one way then stack if you turn the crate 180 degrees IYSWIM) again you can colour code these as they come in lots of colours.

se999

My last chest freezer was brill. It had baskets, and I did sort them basically as people have said. One thing I realised I needed to do was maybe once a month go through the freezer and put the things that needed using up due to being in there too long, or because I'd overstocked, into a use up quickly basket, right at the top and easily visible, so I looked at them first.

I already did the equiv of that in my fridge with a space for must use, and a shelf in the kitchen for jars/packets getting near end dates.

grunnie

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Thanks all, that's the kind of info I was looking for. Grunnie, what sort of big bags do you use? I was thinking of trying to get hold of some of the big clear refuse sacks?

Butterfly Brain, I wondered about boxes, I was thinking about the mid sized Ikea boxes that stack - I was worried that somehow it might make the freezer less efficient but thinking about it, it's no different to freezing something in a freezer box?

I just use bag for life ones you get from the supermarket. The rest just fall apart and tear. You need something with strong handles to lift them out full of stuff.

Pitlanepiglet

Fab, I've got a collection of some of the flat bottomed (French) bags for life somewhere, I'll dig those out.

I might go for boxes with joints of meat, chicken etc. at the bottom, then a layer of bags then the baskets sitting on top.

I'm going to draw a freezer map to remind everyone where things should be, there is no point attempting a freezer inventory, none of us are that organised!

stilernin

In the 80's when we were all earth mothers I too had one of these coffin like chest freezers. 20 cu ft!!

I managed to find supermarket cardboard boxes that were just the right size. Four fitted along the bottom, four on top of those and the wire baskets hung to make the top level. To get to the bottom level it was easy to lift a box out of the way.

The boxes were free of course but I can't remember ever replacing them. Perhaps the cold kept them strong or were they much thicker in those days?

I would be nervous of using the plastic storage boxes in case the plastic became brittle and it cracked when something a bit too big was pushed in. Also, they are not usually perfectly 'square' and some storage space would be lost.

I'm beginning to hanker after that old freezer now. A bit big for just one though.

Pitlanepiglet

Thanks all, we had a good sort out of the freezers yesterday, we tried putting the blue and red Ikea boxes in the bottom but they didn't fit very well and, as we have an awful lot of joints of meat and whole chicken, trying to box them meant a lot of wasted space. In the end we went for putting the joints and chickens loose at the very bottom. Neither my Dad or I can actually reach that far but hubby is the main cook and he can reach that far!

We've then put three bags for life, I think they are either Decathlon or Carrefour, the ones with flat bottoms. We've packed one with raw meat bits so chicken portions, chops etc., another with fish and the other with home made "ready" meals so spag bol, chilli, soup etc.

The right hand side section has things that come in bags so chips, veg, bags of fruit etc.

The left basket has more meat portions so that they are easily accessible, the middle basket has dessert stuff and the right basket has odds like breadcrumbs that I want to use up.

Primrose

Our giant upright freezer has become so jumbled that this morning indesperation we emptied it, defrosted it and have now packed everything back in an orderly manner. We're also going to create a new spreadsheet inventory so we can be more organised.

But what horrifies me is that I've been eeking out the strawberries, gooseberries, and other soft fruit in my menus because I was worried about running out. And I found that we have about 25 lbs of strawberries in various bags and a similar amount of gooseberries which were so buried away I didn't even know they were there :eek: Do other home growers get in a similar muddle or are you all organised with your freezers?

jaxx46

Lucky you! All I ever find in the bottom of my freezer are bits of sweetcorn and the odd oven chip lol

Linda32

I do try to keep reasonably organised. Veg in the second drawer, we have an allotment, so we do have alot of runner beans and courgettes. Batch cooked food goes in the top drawer.

Ice cream (our raspberries :j ) and puree strawberries in the bottom drawer. I can't remember whats in the third, but it is labeled and fairly well organised.