Chest freezer organizing

[DaveD]

Hey folks, I'm wondering how those of you with chest freezers go about organizing, especially those who, like me, have a top-opening model like this:



Here it is under current load (yes it's due for defrosting, I'm embarking on a cook-a-palooza soon to draw down the inventory for that purpose). I've got most of the space under the hanging basket occupied by freeze-packs that came with various meat shipments for when I need them (e.g., we get weekly delivery of dairy, and I put a couple in our dairy box out front on delivery day).



I've been using various carboard boxes to stack in there as a way of organizing, but eventually they start to weaken and no longer stack very well and so forth. So I'm looking for something more substantial, some plastic trays or bins. Obviously the dimensions of the chamber will dictate what can fit, but I'd appreciate some suggestions of what has worked well for folks. I am pathologically incapable of just tossing everything in there and rummaging every time, just not wired like that

Thanks!

[Mosca]

First, throw the basket away.

Im out of town right now, I’ll add more later.

[DaveD]

I actually use that to store my beloved Trader Joe's Mac n Cheese packages... my guilty pleasure. Added a pic of the chestie's current load to the OP.

[jfmorris]

I find the hanging basket to be useful for storing stuff above whatever you’ve got sitting on the compressor hump.

[Steve R.]

I bought some stackable plastic milk crates for mine. Works pretty well for containing the smaller stuff that will fit inside them.

[Steve R.]

I couldn't find any that allow me to neatly fill my freezer with almost no empty space. But that leaves me room to stack ribs on one end and put bigger stuff like briskets on the other end.

[jfmorris]

Yes - I do the same. The square crates (2 high) leave me room to put tall items like ribs or brisket standing on end next to the baskets, and a few roasts or such on the compressor hump.

[Red Man]

I do the same. One crate for raw meat, one for cooked leftovers. Then long things like ribs or brisket go on end next to the crates.

[Uncle Bob]

No matter which vessel you use for containment it's only proper that you place whatever you're going to want next all the way at the bottom.

[DaveD]

Murphy at work!

[gboss]

And the commissioning engineer's corollary: The least accessible fastener is the one you definitely need to make sure is tight.

[pkadare]

I use cloth grocery bags in mine, and keep like with like, so for example, a bag for beef, one for pork, one for chicken, etc.

[pkadare]

I should mention that when the current chest freezer expires, I'll be replacing it with an upright. I get that they are less efficient but I'm ok with the convenience trade off.

[radshop]

Great minds think alike. I use cloth grocery bags in my current freezer, but will be upgrading to an upright when I can.

[MBMorgan]

I'm still working on getting my 10 cu.ft. chest freezer organized. We've had it for about a year and it's probably half full of ... stuff.

My current attempt at bringing order out of chaos involves 4 stackable plastic milk crates:
1 for red meat (beef, pork, and occasional lamb), 1 for non-red meat (fish and fowl), and 2 (because I've got a lot of this stuff) for "prepped" and frozen things like sliced portion-sized meats, cooked and frozen items, frozen sauces/stocks/soups, etc.

I also use the two hanging freezer baskets for "grab-and-go" items ... e.g., things like DaveD's Mac'n'Cheese, bread loaves, etc.

The space above the compressor is devoted to a basket containing anything that I just can't figure out how to classify ... like veggies from my wife's sister's garden that we'll probably never eat ... but that I'm forbidden to throw out for a minimum of 3 years (so far).

So far, the system is working. I always know where to find what I need ... it's in one of the two bottom milk crates ... specifically, at the bottom of one of the two bottom milk crates.

[TripleB]

Stack the meat inside and rubs & beef/pork/chicken fat in the door. I also have to catalog what I got in the freezer. I really should get a top opening chest freezer.

[TripleB]

DaveD Uhhh yeah, but like so what....

[DaveD]

It doesn't have a door you can store anything in, that's what's so what.

[TripleB]

DaveD - You asked about organizing. Does not matter if it is a top opening model or not. Think outside the box (pun intended). I gave you pics and how I inventory my freezer. What I have in the door is not inventoried.

[Huskee]

I can't help because as Uncle Bob & you state we always had Murphy's Law happen and what we wanted was 'gone' until we found it 3 years later on the bottom, so eventually we switched to an upright freezer and couldn't be happier. Yeah we have the risk of stuff falling on our toesies if we're not careful, but at least we can spot everything.

[Draznnl]

Your upright must not be as stuffed as mine if you can spot everything. I need to go back to maintaining an inventory spreadsheet.

[tbob4]

This is what we did this year. My wife had things nicely organized in the chest. When we converted over we found a whole rib-eye cut into steaks in the bottom. We had completely forgotten we had it.

[WillTravelForFood]

Stackable beverage trays, like this. Shorter than milk crates. These are typically used by the beverage distributors to lug around 6-packs or liter bottles in their trucks

[Michael_in_TX]

I have only had my 7 cu ft one for two weeks, so my scheme is very much evolving. I do see a need to keep track of what is in there as, even when organized, all those vacuum-sealed packs start to look alike.

I use two of these 6 gallon recycle bin thingys that stack. As you can see they fit perfectly. (I got the idea from Mosca.)

Right now I've got most beef/steaks in the bottom on and chicken/pork/turkey in the top one. In the open space to the left, I have...well, everything else...bags of shrimp....bacon...pork tenderloins....beef fat for tallow. Above the compressor shelf I have a lot of deli containers that have frozen pineapple and apple juice (for marinades), pizza sauce, and what have you. In the two baskets I have all my of fish (tuna, salmon, primarily) and flank steaks.

[DaveD]

6 gallon recycle bin thingys look perfect! Any more detail on where you got 'em?

[Michael_in_TX]

DaveD Absolutely! I got mine at The Container Store: https://www.containerstore.com/s/blu...uctId=10032152

You can also find them on Amazon.

[dwlacroix]

I use the same thing. Bought mine from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Redwng]

My wife bought some smaller plastic containers from Walmart or BBB when we had a chest freezer. It was at her "urging" we went to an upright, still use the plastic crates and it stays pretty organized. Chicken in one, pork in another, fish in another, sausage in another, ground beef in another. The large stuff like briskets and ribs are one the bottom. She keeps it pretty together.

[Bob's BBQ]

Chest freezers stink! My 1970 something Sears Coldspot upright died recently and the only thing I could get quickly was a chest freezer like yours. Can't wait to get rid of this thing and get another upright. Takes 1/2 hour to find whatever it is I'm looking for.

[Donw]

I wish my brother in law Johnny was still with us because he would have great suggestions. He spent 30 years in the Navy as a cook. He and his crew could stuff 60,000 lbs of food into a ship’s reefer designed to hold 50,000 lbs, and then find what they needed in a few minutes.

[MsTwiggy]

The organized cook can outcompete any freezers lacking.

[USMCCrashCrew89]

I filled my bottom with layered ground beef and then have the fold up baskets filled with other cuts of meat. I move the ground beef into the inside fridge/freezer a layer at a time.

[FireMan]

I have two 5’s. I open the lid depending on how I feel about each one & I throw "IT" in. About once a 2-4 weeks I”ll dig a little & 2-3 months a lot, to see what’s in there. I’m as organozes as a street fight. You all woulda never guessed that would ya? I eat some things that are freshly frozen & something’s that are pretty cold fer a long time, yessir.