Freezer Organization

[SundayCrepes]

I'm trying to figure out how to keep my freezers organized. I have an above fridge freezer and a small upright freezer (It's about 4 feet tall.)

I make a lot of foods (due to dietary restrictions) that I freeze in ice cube trays then transfer to ziplock bags. Freezing in cubes makes it easy to just use however much we need at a time. However, the bags all end up jumbled in the freezer.

I also have a variety of frozen produce and hope to grow and freeze more. Currently they are stored in ziplock bags.

Plus I have all our gluten free flours. You guessed it, stored in ziplock bags.

I'm trying to figure out if ziplock bags are the best choice. What about glass freezer containers? If so, which containers are most convenient/versatile/cost-effective?

Is it better to stack or maybe use some sort of freezer bins?

Anyone conquered this?

[Lovesong]

Just as with any other organisation project bins and markers will be your best friend. 100% pure fabric bins should work well enough in a freezer to coral things that belong together, a bit of tape and a marker can easily mark which bin is for what (one for frozen spinach, one for herbs etc.) Plastic bins are of course easier to clean, but I don't know of any bigger ones that are freezer safe (most plastic tends to become fragile when frozen).

To start with I would use a bit of tape and mark the different sections of your freezer for different things. So you at least can start sorting according to what kind of product you have on hand. Still things will of course become jumbled, but at least you will know to look for the flour on one shelf and the parsley on another.

The second, very easy tip, is to mark your bags with different coloured markers. When grouping things together on different shelves, use different coloured markers for each sort of thing you have on the shelf. Green for parsley, for example. Blue for the carrots. Black for the spinach etc. I find I usually run out of space on a shelf before I run out of colours. Do keep a master list posted to a kitchen cabinet nearby, with which product is marked with which colour and on which shelf the product goes to begin with. So that everyone in your family has a chance to learn and find things in the freezer.

It might seem very difficult to keep a list...but it really does help. Use the same marker as on the bags to write down the product names, and write down on which shelf they are supposed to be. It doesn't need to be more advanced than beginning from the top of the freezer, working your way down. If you keep a pencil and eraser around, it is also easy to cross over products as your run out of them, making stocking the freezer and planning meals and purchases easier.

Really, the most important thing is to start assigning different things different spaces in the freezer.

[SundayCrepes]

I sort of do that in my stand alone freezer (though not as detailed as you do.) It's my above fridge freezer that's the problem. I store smaller bags of stuff there that get lost in the two shelves. 

I found these metal bins though they're pricey. I'll check out fabric bins, though I'm afraid they'd get dirty. http://www.amazon.com/Storage-Basket-Deep-White-8-75/dp/B003ZX1DA0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I3HDD4N02LHSGR&colid=3N4B03I6ZTMNF

I'm wondering if I get the above bins about using canning jars for my assorted ice cubes. I know the 1 pt are the only ones that are manufactured to be freezer safe, but I've heard the 1 qt don't break for a friend. I wonder about the 2 qt.

[its_betty]

We have a smaller fridge with the freezer on top (apartment size). I put a coated wire shelf in the freezer, which helps organize the space and makes it much easier to see what we have (and get at everything). Even if food is stacked, it's not stacked as high so it's easier to get at, and you could add a bin or two and still have space for other items.

The shelf we use is something like this: http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_ID=RP091884

[SundayCrepes]

In case anyone looks at this thread for ideas, here's what I ended up doing:

In my over fridge freezer, I cut down two boxes that, luckily, fit perfectly on my bottom pull out shelf. I totally removed the top of each box. Then on the side facing the front of the freezer, I cut away the top 2/3.

In one box I put all my ziplock bags of homemade sauces, soups, and gravies (I freeze them in ice cube trays for easy portioning.) In the other box I put all my other homemade stuff--cooked rice and pasta, nut and rice patties, uncooked bread balls, etc.

Between the two boxes the bottom of the refrigerator shelf is oddly shaped so I will have to be an architect to design a box that goes there. Currently in that spot I have a 64 ounce glass storage filled with homemade broth ice cubes. In that area I also have 1 qt mason jars of frozen grapes and one of diced red peppers. 

On the top shelf of the freezer I have ziplock bags of homemade tortillas, freezer packs, a glass jar of flax meal (for our smoothies) and a few other items. All bags of purchased frozen produce are in the doors.

In my 4' tall freezer: The top shelf is for all my gluten free flours. One is in a giant glass jar, others are either in quart mason jars or ziplock bags. The next shelf down is mason jars of home cooked beans (I froze them on cookie sheets before putting them in jars so I only use what I need) and grapes. Plus bags of purchased mango chunks. Next shelf down is bags of whole tomatoes, red peppers, and misc. The bottom shelf is ziplocks of grapes and other produce. The door shelves hold purchased produce.

The canning jars really organized stuff. However, they do take up a lot of room. The boxes in the freezer helped the most. I saw wire baskets that were $15 each. I already had the cardboard boxes. I'm really please with this. I'd like to put more stuff in more jars, I just don't know that it would all fit.