Freezer Organisation - Your top tips please

[FreezerOrgReq]

I have two, a tall drawer one, and the smallest chest freezer. Just the two of us, we live pretty rurally and I used to pop to the shops for odd things in the week but that’s getting financially insane so I’m super hot on our home delivery order being planned meticulously.

I have to cook pretty much all meals from scratch due to allergy issues.

The problem I have is they are both rammed full, I audit them about every three months and make sure I use things, I have a lot of random things (which part of me just wants to bin but then I know I’ll be annoyed because I’ll need it). I want there to be space so that when I have a food delivery I’m not worrying I can’t get it in.

Looking for tips on whether you use bags or tubs for storage, keeping track on what’s in there etc, and anything you might do that’s a game changer for freezer use and organisation.

I think your problem probably is simply too much in there rather than lack of organisation, I had same and now rather than occasional audits and 'eat the freezer' weeks, every week is eat from the freezer week! Ie I keep a constant running audit on my phone (of specific ingredients and meals, not things we always have in there like bread and chips) and at least once if not twice a week we have a meal where the main component is from the freezer, for me it's the only way to keep on top of it. I also have gotten a lot stricter on the purchasing of random/one meal ingredients that then fester in the freezer for ages (looking at you, impulsively purchased edamame beans!) and on DH's main love, trips to the cash and carry, which we are now only allowed to do when genuinely running low. Also I used to often stick one person/lunch sized portions of leftovers in there but now try wherever possible to eat those the next day as once they went into the freezer they just didn't come back out as opposed to two-person portions which are genuinely a meal in themselves. Finally a sharpie and labelling everything well is a godsend as I hate rummaging round the cold, crowded drawers and pulling out mystery portions of brown stuff that could equally be stew, bolognese, chilli, curry!

Oh, and the other benefit of always having an audit/list of what's in there is it cuts down massively on duplicate buying. So where before we DH would simply stick e.g. frozen chopped onions on the online shopping list because a cursory glance into the freezer didn't reveal any, which led to hundreds of one-third full bags accumulating at the bottom of the drawers, now we can simply glance at our phones and see that we do or don't already have them. Like I say I don't audit things which we always have in stock like sliced bread, buns, chips so these do slightly accumulate because DH still always opens a new full bag rather than using up the half empty old one which does give me the rage but it's at least much more controlled than it was...

I use boxes. We have a bread drawer and a veg drawer and a list on the door of the freezer like a mini white board. In theory, Everything gets written down and crossed off when used. When it seems too full I have a tidy up.

My top tip is rubber bands to reseal packaging. I neatly roll up bags with some of the picture or name of item showing on outside and secure my little package with a rubber band. This works with so many things frozen veg/ bread rolls/ chicken dippers/ chips etc. Even little cardboard boxes like fishfingers get folded up too. The items are easy to find without all of the excess packaging flopping around covering other things up and helps to prevent freezer burn.

Transferring to tupperware boxes is OK too, but sometimes these can be half empty and take up a lot of space. I do use them for freezing leftovers and batch cooking though. Everything is labelled on the end with a little piece of masking tape and sharpie. This way I can stack KonMarie style and see the contents at a glance.

I separate sausages/chicken breast/multipacks etc onto a baking tray then freeze the tray. Once they are frozen they can be out into freezer/sandwich bags as separate items (like a bag of crisps!) and can be taken out individually not stuck together.
I also freeze liquids and sauces in a bag that’s placed in a container so it makes a brick or book. Then you remove the container and stack the bricks. I saw it on a Nadiya Hussain cooking series where she cooked “normal” quick family food.

My freezer has 4 drawers. The top is meat and protein, the second is frozen veg and rice, the third is ready meals and things like pastry, fish fingers, sort of typical freezer food.

The bottom one is a half drawer and 'belongs' to my carer, we tent to eat together on days he is here but not always the same thing.

We occasionally play, 'freezer tetris' and try to sort things out.

I also take things out of boxes if I can, so this morning I got some chock ices, they have gone in the bottom drawer but not in their box.

In the days when I was more organized I had a list on the freezer door and ticked off things as they were used.

Thank you all, yes I think I have too much in it’s too, I try and go shopping in the freezer before I do an online shop but it’s not easy. I’m thinking about only getting bread, milk and eggs basics next week and trying to cook from the freezer instead. Thanks for the rubber band tip, that’s a helpful one, I do de box things and try not to freeze i portion meals too. Having the list on the phone is a good one as I can refer to it as I’m online shopping on my iPad and then haven’t got to keep shopping apps.