Freezer is a ridiculous mess!

[Purpledefector]

My inability to sort my freezer out is driving me crazy.
I actually have 2 freezers, a large upright one in the garage which is fairly easy to sort, and then one as part of a large fridge freezer in the kitchen.
I've attached a shameful picture showing the state.
I have tried... there are storage baskets/ boxes in there in some kind of order but I can't get to anything without pulling the lot out.
Please someone share wisdom... what can I put in there to organise stuff. I've taken measurements but I don't know what I'm looking for.

What I want to be able to do is easily access things like herbs, onions etc if I'm cooking. I want the kids to easily access easy stuff for them to heat up. And things like ice cream and meat fish can go in the fridge outside.

Don't buy any more freezer food until you've used some of that up. How many people in house and how old?
Our freezers can be stuffed to bursting after a big shop but then we can use a whole bag of something to feed all of us sometimes.

You’ve got a massive amount of food in there OP! And this is one of your two freezers! Are you a massive household?

Use half of that up and keep it down to that level, you’ll be able to get stuff out with much less hassle.

The first thing you need to do is take everything out! see what's actually there and what's likely to be eaten. I hate food waste as much as the next person but if you've got a five year old packet of waffles in there, then take the hint: no-one wants to eat them!

My freezer is the same size as yours and I do squidgy packs in the bottom drawers (veg, chips, etc). Then the next shelf up I have all the flat things, I do always have wraps, parathas, pizza and naan so that's usually half that shelf. More squidgy things can go on top.

then the rest is usually in tubs or packs so I just stack them up. Herbs/garlic/little bits go in the side pockets. Things like falafel I take them out of the box and stick in the side pocket too.

But also eat some food and don't keep buying the same things automatically unless you need them. Once a month or every six weeks or so I make a concerted effort to 'eat the freezer' and try and really get through a lot of the food.

6 of us ... 2 teenage boys, 2 adults that are into the gym, and I have just topped it up and got stuff in.
I did a big clear out a few months ago....
But I agree and am laughing at the fact all of you have commented how much food there is in there, and can now see that might be half the issue!
I will sort through and meal plan around some of it, and move things around a bit.
Love the idea of squishy bags in the bottom....

Wind down the freezer - use the food, then when nearly empty clean and buy freezer bins to put on the shelves. Like these but can get cheaper: iDesign Clear Recycled Plastic Divided Fridge and Freezer Bin : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen
Make sure you measure shelves first.

You can then organise these and stuff wont fall out. Also when putting shopping away - you can pull them out to fill up, which is quicker than playing tetris with the freezer.

Make sure you don't overfill the bins.

I might try to reorganise mine more like yours is.
currently mine is top to bottom

ice cream and puddings
bread based products
fruit and veg
stuff I’ve cooked
crap food (chips, veggie burgers/sausages/fake duck etc, fishfingers, nuggets, spring rolls etc)
meat

But the meat would stack better on the shelf than the fruit and veg does so might try swapping them.

Which freezer is this? So much space!

Definitely start using stuff up!
My fridge freezer totally died randomly and I lost everything in it - £250 food shop for Christmas plus all the meals I had cooked and frozen
If there hadn't been as much in the freezer I wouldn't have been as gutted

I don't understand your freezer! Every upright freezer I have ever had has massive drawers which are the same size as the shelf they are on or has a flap door thing at the front. If you did have that but have broken them, get yourself onto eSpares and replace them.
Then I think you need to do an audit of what is actually in there. And work out what you actually eat. And whether your family life as evolved so that things you once needed you no longer do (so no one in our family will drink defrosted milk any more, if we run out, they would prefer to wait until the shop opens and can now take themselves to the shop to replace the milk; likewise, no one will eat frozen cauliflower so I've stopped buying it)
Our shelves are

• fruit and veg
• bread related items (no longer any milk)
• batch cooking/meat
• batch cooking
• beige food
• pizza
• ice cream

I don't do it any more as the freezer is less full but I used to have a list on the front of what was in there and tick stuff off as we used it or as more went in.

I have 2 full sized freezers plus an American style FF like yours. (Family of 5, with teens, who live rurally.)

Drawers really make it easier to store things, so you should try to replicate that in your freezer.

The bins you have already on the open shelves are simply too small. Measure and try to find larger ones that fit better. It's fine if they aren't wide enough, as you can slot boxed items down the side upright, like books on a shelf. Just make sure you keep any vents clear, because blocking them can make the freezer shut down.

My freezer like yours is the only one I have in the kitchen. (The others are in Utility.) I keep frozen veg bags in the bottom drawer and bags of chips in the other drawer. The shelves usually contain more rigid items like packs of meat, bread, and some bins to group smaller items.

I love rubber bands for closing open bags of food. I can fold the bag really compactly arpund what's left in the bag, with the name or picture of the product clearly visible and wrap a band around it to keep it closed. It takes up much less space in the freezer and you can see what the item is easily.

My other tip is to not keep smelly things in that freezer, as you seem to have an ice-maker. So no chopped onion, garlic bread, strongly marinated foods, etc, as they might taint the ice.

You need a magnetic white board and a pen on the front to list what is in the freezer. If you can’t see it you’ll never eat it!

I had cleared out, defrosted, chucked mega old stuff out for the compost and sorted both mine by 11am on New Year's Day.

Take it all out and pile it up in batches of 'like' things, so all the sausages and burgers and stuff together, all the potato products together.

Keep all the stuff you have alot of together and pack the freezers back up using the biggest space for the biggest collections and keep the stuff you use often nearest to/in the kitchen.

I go though the freeze and anything that is more than a year past its use by date I cook and eat, had frozen prawns bought in 2021 tasted ok.

When ours was like that we had a list on the front and ticked stuff off. You need less food in there and storage bins. I have ‘my’ shelf on the bottom which has odds and ends I’ve frozen for soup, or half a tin of chickpeas (decanted), or herbs etc. basically stuff DH won’t use.

Replace the plastic drawers, if they have broken, I cant see from the picture what keeps the food in the sections, most freezers have freezer drawers

Then just do an inventory and start to eat your way through it.

I dont think its a massive problem, just dont do any freezer shopping for a while

Unlike others I wouldnt throw anything away

You need drawers. My bottom drawer is ice / ice cream / kids ice lollies. Next one is meat, next one beige shit, next one vegetables and herbs.

Is it actually quite narrow?
My parents have one like this with a full height & width fridge and a full height but pretty narrow freezer, which isnt all that easy to arrange. They also have a freezer in the garage.

I agree with others that more drawers would help, albeit that a drawer in the top shelf (or 2) might be more difficult to access.

Allocate types of food to each space, bread, veg, meat etc. Don't mix them up.
I tend to have bread at the top, as if the door gets left ajar the higher shelves defrost quicker - and bread items can be refrozen.

I'd also have an audit of what you have, and use up stuff for a week or 2 rather than having another shop - although woth 6 of you maybe this isn't actually an issue.

I have the following drawers:

1. meals I have batch cooked
2. ingredients (Soffrito, frozen peas, prawns etc)
3. DH's drawer of processed convenience foods eg frites, fish fingers etc
4. ice creams
5. ice packs/ injury packs in small drawer at the bottom

Take everything out.
Throw out everything beyond its best by date.
Throw out everything that looks freezer burned.
Throw out mystery leftovers.
Throw out packets that are already opened that are close to expiry.
If you've been mistakenly buying (for eg.) frozen peas every week for the last month, make a plan to prioritise those items in meals for the next two weeks.

When you refill the freezer, pull- out bins are very handy, but you need to make sure you pull them out and load them from the back if you restock. That way, the older items will be at the front and it will all move toward the front as time goes on.

Also, make sure you leave room for air to circulate around any new freezer containers you buy. Look for containers air can circulate through too.

Don't buy anything else for the freezer until you've eaten your way through it.

Same for the other freezer - there's no point in keeping the freezer bulging.

I go through my freezer every two months because it's small.

Maybe start to eat out of the freezer for the next month so you can clean it out when it's empty.