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Original poster

To think there must be a better way to use a chest freezer?

40 replies

JellyFlooding · 22/01/2025 13:55

Got a chest freezer recently and I love it. But it's quickly descended into complete chaos and I have no idea what's at the bottom any more.

We have a wire basket at the top on either side, but what can we do to organise all the stuff below? I started off with sections for meat, veg etc but it's all slid together and it's a complete hash now.

Does everyone just tolerate this? Or does anyone have any genius ideas for doing it better?

OP posts:
YoureSpreadingShitInsteadOfSunshine · 22/01/2025 16:01

Our stuff is in easy lift out carrier bags so we don’t have to bend and rummage, eg Sainsburys bag is meat, Asda bag is veg, Tesco bag pot products etc. it’s a PITA tbh.

I like the sound of pp baskets if they could provide a link.

mindutopia · 22/01/2025 15:54

We sectioned off with cardboard into 4 sections with a lower section and an upper section in a wire basket, so it’s portioned into 8 sections.

GasPanic · 22/01/2025 15:51

SpringleDingle · 22/01/2025 13:59

Use it to keep the bodies of your enemies?

How big is this freezer ?

whatsthatbloodycatdonenow · 22/01/2025 15:46

I keep mine in small supermarket bags - meat in one, ready meals / batch cooked in another, potato products, and veg. Put the “box” shaped bags towards the bottom and then the veg / potato ones on top.

BarnacleBeasley · 22/01/2025 14:04

Assuming that you also have another freezer elsewhere, I'd keep all the frequently-used stuff like frozen veg in that one. When we had the chest freezer, it was mainly for batch-cooked meals in tubs, so we organised it by size of tub (then failed to keep our list up-to-date), and used the baskets for bread products and meat/fish.

Original poster
JellyFlooding · 22/01/2025 14:03

Nutsabouttopic · 22/01/2025 14:00

I use storage baskets that stack on top of each other. One for each type of food ie meat in one, pizzas in another, veg in another. Be ruthless and don't over buy or your freezer becomes chaotic.

Which ones do you use?

I'll put my hands up to the over buying. I think the excitement of finally having lots of freezer space got to me so I definitely have gone over board on stocking up.

OP posts:
Original poster
JellyFlooding · 22/01/2025 14:01

Sorry, I should have said that we tried a list on a magnetic whiteboard and we just didn't keep it up to date at all, so ended up spending ages scrabbling around for the mythical bag of carrots before realising they'd been eaten.

Cardboard boxes though, that's a potentially good idea. Do you need really tall ones?

OP posts:
Arlanymor · 22/01/2025 14:01

SpringleDingle · 22/01/2025 13:59

Use it to keep the bodies of your enemies?

😂🤣😂 Excellent idea - you can store mine too if you like, I’m peri and hating everyone at the moment!

Nutsabouttopic · 22/01/2025 14:00

I use storage baskets that stack on top of each other. One for each type of food ie meat in one, pizzas in another, veg in another. Be ruthless and don't over buy or your freezer becomes chaotic.

Arlanymor · 22/01/2025 14:00

There’s some really god videos on YouTube on this exact topic! Basically a combination of internal compartments/bins and a list on top - like they do in commercial kitchens.

SpringleDingle · 22/01/2025 13:59

Use it to keep the bodies of your enemies?

InveterateWineDrinker · 22/01/2025 13:58

Cardboard boxes, something like six bottles of wine come in. You can keep stuff bundled together in categories. Don't use plastic chests - too brittle if they haven't been designed for it.

BarnacleBeasley · 22/01/2025 13:58

We never quite managed to keep it up to date, but we tried to introduce a system where we just wrote on the side of it with a dry-wipe board marker.

Brefugee · 22/01/2025 13:58

we got one of those blackboard-things that you can stick to walls etc. We used one of those white pens to divide it to sections (meat, veg, desserts) etc
and were scrupulous about crossing things off when we used them, or adding them back when we put something in in chalk.
A whiteboard would also work.

You have to be ruthless about it though, and once a quarter i used to rummage in the bottom and we'd eat anything frozen before that quarter.

Helped by being a) married to a chef and b) my daughter loves organising stuff.

Would that work for you?

Jadedpersuaded · 22/01/2025 13:56

What you need is some sticky backed whiteboard paper on top of the chest freezer lid to list what is in it. And so do I!

From a fellow chaotic chest freezer owner.

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