How To Manage Your Freezer • Kath Eats

When all issues pattern towards chaos, the freezer is not any exception. Listed below are tips about methods to arrange your freezer and one of the best equipment that will help you keep organized. 

Transferring into our new freezer

As we ready for our transfer right into a rental cottage, we tried to make use of up as a lot of our freezer meals as attainable. Whereas our fridge stays pretty organized, our freezer storage stresses me out! 

I feel as a result of the objective is all the time to open and shut it as quick as attainable to keep away from leaking any chilly out, we have a tendency to only stuff meals again in with out a lot thought as to the place we’re tossing them. 

Regardless of our greatest efforts, right here was our outdated fridge on transferring week:

See that purple lid container on the suitable? That was Birch’s leftover birthday cake from October. All of us loved it the evening earlier than we moved! 

Drawer vs. Aspect by Aspect

The fridge at our cottage is a aspect by aspect French door fridge and freezer, and we’re form of liking it! I want a “two doorways on the highest / freezer drawer on the underside” total as a result of I feel the width is invaluable at instances for storing fridge meals (like make-ahead meatballs), nevertheless, we actually just like the side-by-side freezer. It’s simpler to see with out bending over. 

Organizing your freezer may also help you maximize its advantages, ensure you’re utilizing meals up earlier than it’s previous its prime, and aid you meal plan and meal prep extra successfully. 

If you’re somebody with a really messy freezer (or perhaps you have got a second one in your basement or storage) you’ll profit from a freezer declutter and getting some group instruments!

Whether or not you have got a backside freezer, prime freezer, chest, or a aspect by aspect, listed below are sensible ideas and organizing concepts that will help you preserve your freezer(s) tidy on a regular basis.

How To Manage Your Freezer

Maintain a list

Retaining a list checklist is a good way to pay attention to what’s within the freezer with out having to blast your face with chilly air! You can also make your individual or obtain a printable one like this one from Etsy. 

Embrace the date bought, the use by date, presumably the date you opened the bag/field, and what number of you have got inside. 

You’ll need the checklist to be simply accessible within the kitchen so you’ll be able to cross issues off as you utilize them. Contemplate storing beneath a magnet on the aspect of the fridge, in a close-by drawer, on a bulletin board, or in your cellphone or laptop. 

Manage gadgets by expiration date

If you happen to’ve heard of FIFO earlier than as an accounting precept, that idea applies to freezers! FIRST IN, FIRST OUT. It means use your oldest meals first! That is difficult to do in a freezer the place you’re dumping meals on prime and burying the oldest stuff, so once more, having an organizing system the place you rotate by means of can actually assist with this. 

You need to use bins or baggage to group like expiration dates with like, or use a vertical storage the place you’re transferring left to proper. 

Use labels

Ever peeked right into a bag or container and haven’t any clue what was inside? Haven’t all of us! Clearly labels are the clear resolution for this. 

There are a bunch of various labeling choices, from Sharpie on a disposable bag (much less environmentally pleasant!) to Scotch freezer tape to labels that dissolve off with water!

If you happen to’re labeling ready meals, you’ll be able to embrace the components and fundamental cooking directions that will help you bear in mind methods to cook dinner or reheat. 

Have meals zones

When organizing your meals, I prefer to group by class: breakfast (like waffles), smoothie components or Every day Harvest smoothie cups, desserts (popsicles, ice cream), lunch meals (Every day Harvest bowls), dinner components (frozen veggies, floor beef, rooster nuggets, or frozen pizzas), extras (like ice packs). 

Freezer bins may also help you kind by class. Our backside freezer had a moveable divider that helped preserve the sections separate, and our new fridge has pull out drawers which can be good! 

Labeling may also help right here, too, so your loved ones members can inform what gadgets are speculated to go the place. 

Put most-used gadgets on the highest or door

Have you learnt what’s most used at our home? The ice cream! Second is probably going smoothie making provides like frozen bananas and berries. 

When utilizing a backside freezer, we put the most-used provides on the highest the place they’re best to achieve. In case your freezer has a door, that’s the apparent place for them. And since this stuff are most used, they’re most likely additionally probably the most often changed, in order that they received’t be as impacted by the fixed opening of the door. 

Decant

Similar to when organizing a pantry, decanting may also help you save house in your freezer. I can consider a number of merchandise we purchase on the common which have an outer field however are nonetheless individually wrapped on the within (salmon patties, No Bull burgers, frozen waffles). I’ll usually take these out of the field to avoid wasting house. Simply be aware that you just’ll have to recollect methods to cook dinner them and would possibly wish to label the expiration date on the skin. 

I additionally all the time decant popsicles and ice cream sandwiches so you’ll be able to extra simply see the flavors of pops and know if you’re getting all the way down to the previous couple of – time to placed on the checklist! 

Seal tightly

Freezer burn is the WORST, and air is frozen meals’ worst enemy. Make sure you’re resealing your packaging effectively to keep away from the dreaded job of tossing out freezer-burned veggies. You probably have the house for one, a vacuum sealer may also help you get all of the air out. Second most suitable choice – double wrap! 

Follow minimalism

Evidently, the less gadgets you retailer in your freezer the better it is going to be to wash. Join this again to the stock checklist that will help you bear in mind to really eat what you have got inside! You probably have an excessive amount of additional house you should utilize ice packs to assist your freezer preserve within the chilly.

Do a quarterly clear out

A frequently scheduled clear out is all the time a good suggestion too. Put any misplaced gadgets again the place they belong, and toss out something expired.

If you happen to’re feeling tremendous up to the mark, vacuum the crumbs from any bins or drawers and provides them a wipe down. I’m all the time amazed at what number of crumbs (and hairs – gasp!) find yourself within the backside of my freezer on condition that it’s solely open for one minute at a time. 

Freezer Group Concepts

Use bins 

Bins are nice for grouping baggage of frozen fruit or unfastened, decanted popsicles. You’ll be able to put all the child meals in a single, all of the breakfast gadgets in a single, and many others. 

The Container Retailer has quite a lot of nice choices like these baskets, together with this vertical stacking one, however you can too use journal holders or fundamental white bins such as you’d discover on the Greenback Retailer. Stackable bins are nice for chest freezer organizing. 

Stasher baggage

We LOOOOOOVE Stasher baggage!!! Not solely are they washable and reusable, however they’re legit nice at sealing and straightforward to open. The one draw back is they’re costly per bag, however they’re one thing you’ll hopefully use and reuse for years. We use the large Stashers for bagels and frozen bananas. 

Tip: freeze berries on a sheet pan

If you happen to’re freezing one thing contemporary, like hand-picked strawberries within the early summer time, you’ll be able to freeze them on a sheet pan and then put them in a Stasher bag – this manner they received’t stick collectively! Usually, the smaller the meals, the extra you’ll want to make use of this spreading out flash freezing methodology. Massive banana halves don’t actually need a separate freezing course of to be plucked off each other to be used. 

Depart house to broaden

Frozen meals broaden, so when you’re utilizing a glass container, jar, or popsicle mould, make sure you depart some house so that you don’t create a goopy overflow. These are my favourite silicone popsicle molds that we use to freeze additional smoothies or make do-it-yourself pops. They’re nice as a result of they received’t drip, there aren’t sticks to make use of, and they’re dishwasher secure. 

Freezer Group Equipment: Store The Put up

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