Tell me how you use your freezer

[dontcallmemam]

For the first time I will soon have a proper big freezer. At the moment I've got 3 drawers in the bottom of the fridge will peas, oven chips, decidedly odd chicken breasts, some bread rolls.
I'm wondering how to get the best use of it.
I'm a keen cook but usually shop every couple of days & rarely batch cook.
Any top tips?

[stiffstink]

Wow, that's not much at all in your freezer!

I have two freezers with very specific drawers, but no one else complies with my requirements.

First freezer, from top to bottom: 1. carbs (pizzas, waffles, chips, bread), 2. Miscellaneous (the drawer front is missing so it tends to be mystery food in tupperware that goes in a 'mystery tapas tea'), 3. Desserts (ice cream, lollies, frozen leftover fruit)

Freezer numero dos: 1. Herbs (its a tiny pullout of herbs I have bought cheap and frozen, such as mint for mojitos or lemon thyme which I can't buy as dried, plus sage leaves), 2: lunches (soups, tupperware leftovers, the occasional frozen sandwich!), 3: vegetables (I also use fresh but bag up wilting bits to make soup - nb, always put green with green and red with red because brown sludge veg soup is unappealing), 4: fish, 5: meat.

Boom!

I have a serious problem with over-organisation of my freezers!

[Mrsgrumble]

I have a drawer of frozen veg ie. onions, peppers etc. so handy. Keep frozen Yorkshires Etc too plus I batch Cook frozen mash and store (maybe only one or two dinners worth)

Then I bulk buy sausages and cut up and freeze in packs of three or six. Chops, salmon darnes.

Then I store baby dinners about 20 different flavours

Bread and mill. Keep two loaves and pancakes or brioche or similar.

Bach cook curry, bolognese etc

[WhispersOfWickedness]

I have two freezers too
Mine are hopelessly disorganised though
I have 'big' stuff in the single chest freezer to minimise the chance of peas rolling round in the bottom of it veg, loose lollies/ice creams, small pots of herbs etc go in the freezer attached to the fridge. Oh, and loaves of bread so they don't get squashed before they freeze

[dontcallmemam]

Thanks. The lessons I'm learning are
Bulk buy, presumably when things are on offer. Divide into portions and label.
Freeze herbs, in what?
Buy lots of ice cream
What else can I freeze?

[InAnotherLife]

Lots of bags of different veg (carrots, corn, sprouts, green beans etc), plus chopped peppers and onions that I freeze myself.

Ice cube trays with frozen garlic in olive oil (run through the food-processor so finely chopped). Ginger and chilli done the same way.

Those things alone make it really easy to whip up a Bolognese or slow-cooker stew, or sauce etc.

Then I keep some convenience foods for the days neither of us can be bothered: chips, fish fillets, potato waffles (can be done in toaster!), and always frozen bread as well.

[starsandunicorns]

Don't forget you can freeze cheese and milk I buy discounted bread and use it for toast just pop under hot grill forzen
i freeze milk when dds were younger they went through wanting loads then not wanting any so I would buy pint size or two pint milk but after use wash out in old water and then buy a big 6 pint and place in the smaller bottles and freeze I buy discounted cheese and just freeze I make homemade apple sauce and freeze into portions plus bulk make
Chilli,bolgense, shepherds pie the meat section plus do a load of mash and freeze in takeaway tubs just deforst in microwave and then heat good when dh is on nights or later

[starsandunicorns]

Old = cold water

[ComeHeather]

my freezer goes. ..
Top- homemade stock (I boil up everything and use it to make soup later on)
next- veg and fruit
next- bread, rolls, wraps, chips
next-meat and fish almost all bought when on offer
next- batch cooked meals portioned up
little drawer- cheese butter

[dontcallmemam]

Thank you, I'm impressed with your organisation.
I love the olive ice cube, stock & frozen veg ideas.

We grow some veg but I haven't successfully frozen it before. Do you blanche it first?
We have access to lots of soft fruit ( neighbour gets a glut) so

[dontcallmemam]

Instead of jam I can freeze some.
Thanks

[PigletJohn]

If you have a big freezer, you can do a big cook of something wet (casserole, big soup etc) and freeze in several meal-size tubs. It will keep better if covered in liquid and the lid a tight fit with minimum air gap.

You will have to write what's in each tub, or you will forget.

You can freeze sauces and gravies in ice-cube trays, so you can use the amount you need, and defrost quicker. Once frozen, you can tip out of the tray into a bag with minimum airspace.

small tubs freeze (and defrost) quicker than big ones. Square ones pack easier than round.

Use cling film or baking parchment to divide sliced stuff like ham or bacon, or you will have to defrost the whole lump.

[QuiteQuietly]

I like to freeze fruit - mostly berries, rhubarb and cooked-down apple. Make friends with people who have apple trees/rhubarb and go on blackberry missions.
To go with the fruit, I freeze crumble topping in freezer bags - 1 crumble-worth per bag. I do a mountain of it in the food processor now and then.
I freeze reduced food bargains, hm stock and double-upped cooking meals like soup, bolognese, meatballs in sauce, curry, shepherds/cottage pie (freeze innards separately to the mash topping) etc.
I freeze my own garden gluts. I blanche nothing, but freeze berries on a tray then tip into a bag once frozen so they are free-flowing. Things like apples and rhubard that we don't eat "as is", I chop and lightly stew first.
Bought frozen veg is useful and I'm particularly keen on frozen spinach which comes in small blocks. I stick a block or two into most things I cook, just for sneaky extra veg.
I freeze things in two square plastic boxes - single portion and family sized. I line the boxes with a freezer bag, fill, knot bag as air-tightly as possible, label bag then freeze. Once solid, I pop the bag out of the box so I can reuse the box for the next batch and the frozen blocks stack nicely in the freezer.
I aspire to having a freezer inventory list so I know exactly what is in there and can use up older stuff. But I am not there yet.

[dontcallmemam]

This is exactly what I wanted to know. Really useful

[Selks]

I buy stuff.
Put said stuff in freezer.
Forget about it for months on end.
Discover said items looking frazzled and covered in ice.
Put in bin.

Do not follow my example

[mrsminiverscharlady]

We bag up any leftover roast potatoes/parsnips and freeze. You can re-roast them from frozen at a later date.

I don't tend to batch cook meals because I have a big family and so a container with enough food to feed us all would take up masses of room! I do try and bake double batches of cake, bread etc. A small loaf will defrost in 5 minutes in the microwave, then 10 minutes in a hot oven crisps it up so it's like a freshly baked loaf.

[Icelollycraving]

I have three freezers.
Integrated one in kitchen:
Ice,ice blocks for cool bags (lunch bags).
Frozen rice/chips/peas/garlic bread.
Ice cream & ice lollies.
Tiny drawer of frozen shallots,garlic,chillis.

Freezer 2 (garage):
Lardons,bacon,sausages.
Mince,beef products.
Chickens (whole).
Chicken breasts & thighs.

Freezer 3:
Pizzas
Chips
Batch cooked stuff
Ready meals
Puddings.

[BauerTime]

I'm loving the idea of freezer bag in tupperware then remove once frozen to re-use tub! Why didn't i think of that, genius!!!!!

my freezer is bread products top shelf, then portioned up meat, then batch cooked meals (bolognaise, chilli, vegetable pasta/gnocchi sauce, Sheppard's pie sans mash), then convenience foods such as pizza, breaded fish portions, oven chips etc. Two drawers at the bottom are frozen veg and home made baby meals. Shelves in the door are for ice lollies, ice, frozen fruit leftovers for smoothies, emergency pint of milk, coffee.

[atticusclaw]

I freeze everything. I have a large american freezer and a separate chest freezer and I freeze, bread, milk, cheese, butter, eggs, cookie dough and cake mixture. We always have a couple of joints of meat in plus BBQ stuff and home made ready meals.

If there are ever any dregs of wine left in the bottle tip those into a little bag and freeze for use in cooking. Likewise scraps of cheese past their best can be frozen for topping a lasagne or shepherd's pie.

Freezing coffee is a fab idea. I didn't think of that!

[Icelollycraving]

Wine left??

[atticusclaw]

Only when its bottle number three and I fall asleep!

[fussychica]

I buy anything I use which is discounted that can be frozen & freeze it. I never batch cook though
I have a 3 draw freezer inside and another in the garage which I have just purchased so I can buy even more stuff! Freezer 1 will be bread, chips, veg for regular use and meat, fish and meals outside so I only need to access it once a day.
Someone has wine left???????????????

[fussychica]

oh and I do an inventory when I defrost/reorganise/have a clear out but it usually goes to shite fairly quickly

[BauerTime]

I always keep my coffee in the freezer atticus as i don't drink it much so just scoop a bit when i want one and the rest stays fresh! (well, fresher than it would be if i stuffed it in the cupboard).

I wish i could be arsed to do an inventory for the freezer as its got mainly shelves rather than drawers (American style thing) and so isn't easy to keep organised. I toyed with the idea of some baskets for the shelves but thought they would take up too much space.

In my next house in having an additional freezer in the garage or shed and its going to be the most beautifully organised thing you have ever seen! Probably wont happen, or the 2 side by side dishwashers, or utility room, room for a pony etc etc.

[Happy36]

We don´t have one, but can use my parents-in-law´s (they live close by) whenever we want. We used it for New Year´s Eve when I made some large dishes in advance of our extended family dinner. I don´t think we´ve used it since then.