Chest freezers 😂 Everything you need is in the bottom!! Say “Honey hold my feet so if I fall in you can pull me out!!!” My next freezer will not be a chest freezer!!!
For chest freezer use either wire freezer bin and you can lift bins out to search. You can also use those bags that are flat fold down reinforced bottoms in the chest freezer.
When it comes to bread, there is another possibility. You can make your bread and let it go through the first rise, then shape your rolls and put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Then once they freeze, you can put them in a bag, and take what you need out when you are wanting fresh baked bread. You need to pull them out about 2-3 hours before you want to bake them, and put them in/on the pan you want to use and prepare as you do normally. Let go through second rise in warm spot. Or, take them out the night before and put in the refrigerator over night, and then take them out an hour before you want to bake them and do the same. This has worked for me over the years. It may be something others might want to try to have fresh baked bread rolls.
Yes, that is a great idea. I think there are commercial bread companies that are doing exactly what you are doing. I understand the results are very good. Jim
In the past, I despised chest freezers. Now I love ours. About two weeks ago we purchased a 21.7 cu ft chest freezer from Lowes. It came with two rows of sliding bins that are amazing. For the entire bottom, I ordered nine large totes with handles from Amazon. I have everything organized. Ground beef, roasts, chicken breasts, whole chickens, pork, sausage, fruits, etc. are all separated in different bins/totes. I can slide the bins and then lift out an entire tote if needed. It is life changing! For our upright freezer, I bought large, clear organizers and also keep like things together. An unorganized freezer is basically a casket for most food! Organization is the key to using, rotating and replacing!
I also had a chest freezer your size.But standing 4ft 11 in its not practical for me.One day I lost my balance, so I was hanging upside down in this freezer. Could not get out,thank goodness my neighbor heard me hollering and saved me.I tried and tried but couldn't get out,never let my kids(6)get anything out again.
I worked for Super Suppers for a year. It was a food preparation company that allowed people to come in, prepare meals and then take them home to use. One huge thing I learned was the proper storage of meats in the fridge and freezer. Raw poultry always goes on the bottom because you don’t want any poultry juices to drip down on any other products in the case of power outages that lead to defrosting. One step above that is any animal that walks (ie: beef, pork, lamb, deer, etc). Next step up is seafood. And cooked meats go on top.
I have two chest freezers. One for meats the other for everything else. I put those reusable grocery bags to use and put sort with sort together in a bag. I also put some of the foods in 2 milkcrates that stack nicely It is not as easy to organize as an upright freezer but doing it this way has improved my organization.
I do the same, but I have replaced most of the cheap reusable grocery bags (handles kept breaking) with heavier duty freezer bags that zip from my local butcher. They work great, but I sure would love to not have to pull everything out all the time!
I love your organization of your freezers! I have a chest freezer and struggled with getting it organized. I finally have it “working for me” by using cloth hard sided bags with handles. I sort them into like things, keeping the heavier meat ones on the bottom and veggies and sides in the top ones. That way it’s easier to pull off the top one to see my beef and chicken and then slip the bag right back in place. Can’t wait for the new book of meals!
I have really large things in my chest freezer that I only use for special events and I buy them when they are super marked down like full briskets, corned beef, turkeys, and ice packs. If I end up with extra room I put jugs of water to improve efficiency of the freezer and it keeps the freezer cold for a power outage!
She could be going elsewhere and pies were hers to bring. Or, like my sister does, cooks and debones the turkey the day before and other dishes. 😂 it stops the chaos.
I have a massive chest freezer, and I absolutely love it! I purchased bins from Target called "Small Woven Rectangle Storage Basket Gray - Brightroom". Dimensions: 8 Inches (H), 10.5 Inches (W), 16 Inches (L). They are soft enough to nestle into one another side to side, and sturdy enough to stack on top of one another. The handles are strong, and quite a bit of food can be stored in each bin. I have stacked 3 rows of bins on top of one another. Each bin holds different things: Chicken, Beef, Veggies, etc. Organization, keeping like items together, keeping track of inventory, and rotating through the food are key. Things can very easily get lost in a chest freezer.
Becky on Acre Homestead uses large square fabric totes with handles in her chest freezers. Then she organizes by type of meat, frozen vegetables, etc. Then if you need something in the bottom, you just lift out the top tote.
I love that Costco freezer. I wish all freezers had the drawer method. I found open weave baskets that fit my shelves and marked them "meat. veges, bread, meals" etc. It has helped for stopping waste of food. I have a chest freezer and found good bags that are fairly hard and I use them there as well and the baskets. I do still have to pull them out to get to the bottom but pulling out a bag or bin sure is more efficient than pulling things out a piece at a time.
I have a small freezer for just me, in it, I have wire baskets, each basket a category, chicken, fish, ground beef, etc. I saw the small one you got at Costco and tried to figure out how I could justify getting it, no luck on that score yet. I buy on sale and I cook larger batches. My best tools are square plastic containers that I use to freeze foods with sauces and liquids, before moving to vacuum bags, baking sheets for flat freezing, a food scale for portioning, and a vacuum sealer. Doing things the way I do, I typically spend much less at one time on groceries than most of my peers, and I eat much better. This is not new for me I have been following this system since my children were young in the 1970s. Keep up the sharing, you are helping so many who may not know how to get started.
My freezer has drawers except the top two shelves. , I use the top shelf for bread , puffpastry , wonton wrappers ect , next shelf is dog food ( chicken breasts ) that I buy in bulk and divide into a day portion , the first draw is pre-made meals , I put the frozen meals in serving size portions ( one person ) . I find it is easy to keep my freezer neat and tidy and well organised ,
I have dividers in the bottom of my chest freezer that were there from the factory. There are also 3 baskets that slide along the top. In my chest freezers that don't have the dividers, I use the plastic milk crates, which also stack on top of each other. I have a freezer for beef and fish. one for chicken and venison, one for pork and seafood, and one for extras. I also have 2 refrigerators with huge freezers, one is for vegetables, and the other is for butter and cheese. I lay an index card in the top of each freezer, with a diagram of what is in which section, My freezer inventory is in the same book as my canned, freeze dried, dehydrated and store bought foods. This has worked for us for years.
Just a heads up for anyone wanting a upright freezer. I checked out the Hamilton 11 CF freezer with the drawers that Pam shows in the video and it was currently on sale at Costco for $299.
I have a magnetic white board attached to the side of my freezer. Upper left for poultry, upper right for red meat, lower left for veggies and grains, lower right for pork (the same location as the food is in the freezer bins). Then I use colored white board markers. Yellow - poultry, red - red meat, green - veg/grain, orange for pork. Then I list the item e.g. breast written in yellow, the date, then simple tick marks for the quantity. When I use something it is easy to erase one of the tick marks.
What great ideas for creating eals from left overs. I am the same as you Pam, havong to make the bunas for dinner os enough to go a different direction! But having some frozen, pwrfect!! Thank you!!
Love this! I always call my leftovers in individual bags, "Fast Food" So much cheaper than going out for fast food. Helps me with time management because I'm working. Thanks for sharing. Still working on my freezers too.
I have 1, & I saw a Lady on UA-cam put her food in Tote bags, (the ones that a bit like tarp fabric.) 1 have 6, & I Sharpie on them what's in them, Fish, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Pork & a Vegetable one, it works really well. I have an upright 3 drawer one in our Kitchen under the counter, it's full of Fruit, Sauces, Breads, Pies & Pizzas. 👍
I have used your idea of breaking up big bags of veggies. It has worked so well🎉. I also love that little freezer. Stopped myself from buying one so far, but…….. My chest freezer is where the unknown items go to never be seen again. Needs work. Thank you both!
I have reusable grocery sacks stacked three across and three deep. I have a white board that I labeled squares representing each bag. So when I'm looking for chicken I can look and see it's on the left two bags down.
I want to tell you what we do with grilled burgers. I make patties out of 10 lbs. of ground beef (80% lean, you know all of the flavor is in the fat, lol) and season them. My hubby grills them to med. and I cool and bag them. I stack them in a bread bag and they fit in the door of the freezer. We take two out for a meal and re-heat them in the microwave. They taste like they just came off the grill. You can add cheese before you cook them or before you re-heat them. It doesn't take much more time or energy to make 18 as it would take to make two. Enjoy!
I’ve been doing this for a few years now. Going to make, meatballs, chicken pot pie soup and beef stew to freeze, this weekend. I will make my lasagna over the holidays, and freeze a batch in portions for the rest of the winter. I also bake pies and store bought pies and make individual portions and freeze them for a quick holiday treat in March, lol. This is wonderful Pam and Jim! 😊
I do something very similar with bins in the freezer, but I love, love, love your idea of using graph paper and posting it on the outside of the freezer on the door. I am going to try this. Awesome ideea!
Awwww! I want a Costco little freezer! What a find! What a pleasure it is to open your freezer and being able to find exactly what you know it is there! I have to hunt for my stuff. I have a small/medium chest freezer and it is not frost free. It is what I have, but I don't like it. Cleaning it is painful.
I have a chest freezer. I organize perfectly with IKEA Hallbar bins, a hack from another UA-camr. It's technically a garbage bin that comes in various sizes which are stackable with handles for easy access. They come with different round stickers of various colors to keep track of freezer contents. Take a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
I learned the hard way to always freeze raw meats in the bottom, just incase! That way the berries, breads and veggies don't need tossed from blood seepage.
Chest freezers are both a blessing and a curse A blessing because they hold so much, a curse because you have to stand on your head to get to anything. I have a chest freezer that I got for free and I do like it. What I have done is taken those heavy duty square milk crates and I'm able to stack 4 the freezer 2 side by side and I can put stuff in each crate and I'm able to lift out each bin to get stuff. That's about the only way I can live with it. I also have an upright like yours that I also use. I mostly keep Beef and large items, 2 Turkeys that I got and a large bag of flour in the chest freezer and chicken and other things in my upright
I have a chest freezer and until the funds allow it’ll be all i have. I scored a chest freezer years ago on clearance at Menards for $150! It’s big enough to hold 2 broken down/processed deer and much more garden harvest items. What works for me I found, is I put like items in reusable grocery bags. This way I can pick them up easy, rotate, and keep things semi organized or best I can given that it’s a chest freezer. Thank you for sharing your super organized methods! I sent it to my momma who has an upright freezer. I plan on going Big next year with gardening, and fully intend on filling her freezer too so this really gave me great ideas!!
It sounds like you have a nice system set-up for your frozen foods. You could also label each bag with contents and organize them into meats, seafood, dairy, veggie, specific meals as well as other sections. Jim
This video is so awesome, Thank YOU! I struggle with organization of freezers and it irritates my Hubby like crazy! Wonderful tips on using grid paper and numbers to mark off what's there and what's used! Thank you again from AZ
Thank you. This information will help us better re-plan & implement our freezer storage, & your system will also carry over to the labeling & organzation of our other storage. The visual aid of using sheets on the storage container (freezer, cabinet, etc) is one of those things that in hindsight we wonder why that never occured to us.
I made up about 4 dozen biscuits with cream and White Lily self-rising flour recently and flash froze them on cookie sheets. Then, I put them in Ziploc bags of a dozen each. Now, when we want biscuits, all I have to do is pull them out of the freezer and bake! I love that you made buns ahead and froze them!
I have one large chest freezer and one small one. I put items in the reusable grocery bags and designate areas in the freezer for chicken, beef, pork, etc. I then stack the well packed bags in the freezer. It is then fairly easy to pull out a bag if I need to get something out of a lower bag. I also keep my frozen veggies in the smaller freezer. ( I can most of my veggies.). It all seems to work pretty well for organization. But I have not found a good way to consistently inventory it. I may try to adapt your “bin” system to my “bag” system. I look forward to the book coming out for Jim’s birthday sale. Thanks again for all you do and God bless!
I already have 3 stand-up freezers and 2 chest freezers, but I think I need that freezer with the bins lol. Wow, what a deal on that freezer, and it already has the bins built in and smaller than the ones I already have. I have fought and struggled with freezer organization with different types of bins, dividers, etc., and it’s been maddening. Thank you for the tips! I’m a little jealous of your knack for problem solving.
I hesitate to invest in a freezer, in the event of a power outage. I live close to a major city, so outages are rare. But we have had them occasionally. We don’t have a generator, again because of where we live. My worry is civil unrest, supply chain issues, etc. so not sure what to do. My prepping so far has been to put aside basics for long term storage. It’s just two of us, older and retired. Plus I am now better prepared for short power outages, and have an available cooking source for the first time. Watching you has made me think I might be falling short of my own goal, which would be your short term storage plan. Might have to look at that freezer idea, although our electric rates are near the top of the country, and I know it would add quite a bit to our monthly bill. I am 70. Want you to know that I have learned so much from watching your videos. It’s quite the education. As a retired nurse, teaching was a large part of what I did. Now I am teaching my friends who think they are safe from disruptions a bit about what I am doing, so your lessons are far reaching.
I use bins to organize my chest freezer makes it so much easier to find and get to your goodies I agree my next one will be an upright I may need to go to Costco for the deal On the upright with bins
On Acre homestead channel, Becky uses shopping boxes or bags to organize her chest freezer. She puts her different types of meats, vegetables, etc in each bag or box. I don’t have any chest freezers but I like how she has organized hers. The boxes have handles and are rare sided so you can stack them.
I love that little freezer! Those bins are phenomenal! I’ve got two upright freezers and a darn chest gfreezer, I’m scared I’m going to fall into it and be lost forever. I despise it. Amazing ideas for freezer meals! I’m taking notes.
Oh, I so despised our old chest freezer. No more digging, unloading, loading and defrosting. The uprights today are Way more efficient than the old ones.
I added two 7-8 cubic ft chest freezers last year. I bought plastic containers, like yours , and made sure they fit accordingly in the freezers. I labeled the tops of them with whatever was in them. I put the items least used on the bottoms and most used on top. I am very pleased with it and use the top lids to freeze my freeze dry trays prior to freeze drying. I also have two upright freezers I utilize. I love your organization of your freezers which puts my organization lacking. Great video.
I love how you’ve co-ordinated the checklists with the interior shelves!! That’s a real ‘eureka’ moment! Our little freezer in the garage is basically all raw meats, bought in bulk and vacuum packed into ‘for two’ portions, and I desperately need to organize the mumble-jumble on each shelf. I NEED some of those plastic containers. Dollarama here I come. Thanks a bunch☺️
The Costco Hamilton Beach Freezer is on sale till 12/10. Got one today. Timed it with outside cleanup and the workers pulled it out of the car and into the basement for me. It's been a good day!
Oh I love your new Hamilton Beach freezer. So perfect. I know a homemaker had to give them the idea of the bins. You have done a great job, no more guess work. “What’s for dinner “ 😂
This has helped me out tremendously. I am always trying to organize my freezers but it always ends up a mish mash of forgotten items. This is a great idea and will help a lot. Since my husband passed away, it us hard to cook for just one and I end up with a lot of leftovers that I freeze. This is a great way to organize those small packages. I make dozens of tamales at a time and this would be great for keeping them together. As to the chest freezer, I haved cone to the conclusion there is no way to effectively organize them. I have tried buns, boxes, partitions etc. Found them too heavy to lift to get to the ones at the bottom. Partitions, things still get forgotten at the bottom. The only thing I have figured out, is that the chest freezer us only good for freezing a whole beef or whole animals, in packages of course, the partitions work great for that. Otherwise the upright is s better choice for everyday freezer needs. Thank you for all your teachings. I learn a lot from your videos.
Really liked this video. I love to organize, and knew my freezers needed help. I started w my regular refrigerator freezer. I freeze meals, fruit, whatever and stuff it in the freezer. I emptied completely, washed it down, then put like items in clear ziplock gallon bags and labeled. It worked! They stand upright two layers deep, 3-4 across. No more pulling everything out or things falling on toes while digging for something to cook! Will work next on my small chest freezer in garage. Thanks so much for the encouragement and inspiration to get started! Bless you both!
I love your freezer with the drawers,no wasted space.I just bought a freezer not to long ago,if I had seen that I would have probably got two.I love it.
I have two chest freezers. I have frozen vegetables and fruit in one and in the other one I have meats. We bought a whole beef a few months ago and so I invested in crates (from Lowes) and separated each cut of beef into the crates. Because there was so much ground beef I took a thin box and put between the crates for space and stored the 1 lb rolls in the box. I use one end of the freezer for chicken turkey and ham also in crates. Even though I like upright freezer best I found the chest freezer holds a lot more.
Excellent information. We bought a new chest freezer about a year ago. The depth front to back is less than a traditional freezer by about three inches. It has two levels of bins that slide side to side. We bought additional bins so it is easily organized. In the bottom I keep my larger cuts of meat, always working left to right in alphabetical order - beef roasts, whole chicken/turkey, boxes of fish fillets, pork roast. The next bins up are smaller cuts - beef steaks/ground beef (repackaged in flat vacuum bags), chicken parts, pork chops/tenderloin. In the top bins are hamburger patties, freezer jams, frozen fruits and a bin of various items. I have an additions upright freezer in the garage where I keep prepared meals, bread items, grated cheese, butter and vegetables (which I just changed over to your method of smaller meal sized portions in plastic shoe boxes! Best idea ever!!!) Thank you for your videos and the encouragement you give.
We have a huge chest freezer plus a small one. It's so difficult to keep them organized but I am currently using different colored grocery bags to organize beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, etc. The problem is still that the older items end up on the bottom but it's better than just throwing everything in together.
I have a chest freezer and an upright. I do the same as you with one difference. When we get our 1/2 of beef every year, I put it at the bottom of the chest freezer in "milk crates" I get from Walmart/Target. Three fit across the bottom. Bin 1 - Hamburger, Bin 2 - Steak, Bin 3 - Roasts. I have a second Bin of Hamburger that sits on top of the 1st one. On top of Bin 2&3 I have heavy duty reusable grocery bags (2 for each category) of chicken, pork, then over flow of veggies and fruit from upright freezer. I've tried bins for these but the amount of these items fluctuate so the bins get disorganized. Bag 1 is the older purchased items of each category. Bag 2 is the most recently purchased and it has RED Duck Tape on the handle so that I "STOP" and go to bag 1. My upright freezer has my home garden veggies, pre-made meals and individual meal ingredients. As I go through my garden veggies in the upright freezer I move the veggies & fruit from the chest freezer to the upright. Hope this makes sense and is helpful to someone.
Love your organization system. I have a small chest freezer that I have a love/hate relationship with. Even though it's small...I'm short and if I want something from the bottom, I still have to use a step to reach in without falling in. Grrr. Been using a couple of baskets to help control packages. I was telling my 93 yr old father that I was planning on getting an upright frzr next and he reminded me that cold air sinks so the chest type is more efficient for retaining the cold, that every time I would open the upright, cold air would spill out. Dementia be damned! He made sense. Now I'm hesitant.
Thank you for sharing this. I have 2 of the chest freezers plus the 2 freezers that are on top of the fridge. Hopefully some on will share how to organize the chest freezers. I will say, they are a pain in the butt.
I don't have a freezer yet, but what wonderful organizing and space saving ideas. Thank you! I was thinking about your inventory lists since you said you were marking things off in pen as you use from your supply. What about marking off in pencil so that as you replenish your supply you dont have to rewrite, just erase the pencil marks. Also maybe use sheet protectors and mark off with a dry-erase marker and just wipe off when replenishing.
I read a really good tip when I was shopping for a deep freezer. Bus Bins. The restaurant kind. They are stack-able and fit very nicely in large freezers.
In the 90’s I started doing this with my hamburger in quart bags. My first real apt. and I had friends over, and like friends do, they went through everything in my place lol they laughed and laughed when they saw my thin stackable frozen tiles of beef in a plastic shoe container in my freezer.
I have chest freezers as well as an upright and use collapsible crates on my shelves. I stand the items on end for maximum storage. I got them on Amazon. They are a game changer. I also have one in the refrigerator freezer.
Since I live in an agricultural area I have access to those waxed cardboard boxes used to pack fresh produce for shipment. They fit perfectly along the bottom of my big chest freezer and the fact that they have interlocking folding tops means that i can stack plastic dishpans on top of them. I put longer term foods into the waxed boxes and then stack packets of food that I freeze flat just like yours into the dishpans. Both these items fit perfectly under the hanging baskets that came with the freezer. It is all easy to lift out when I need items from lower layers. In the small chest freezer, I use a couple milk crates like someone else mentioned below and on top I stack "coke crates" similar to the milk crates but only the depth of coke cans. It helps if you know someone in the beverage distribution business as that's the source of these items for me. Chest freezers are not as convenient as the other type; but they have two very distinct advantages: they are much cheaper to operate and in a power failure they will hold their temperature much longer. Hope this meets your request for organization ideas from chest freezer owners. Thanks for sharing your methods.
Great, informative video. I have two large chest freezers and I use a stacking bin system. I don’t have any issues as long as I make diagrams and I inventory much as you do. I do use Souper Cubes (silicon trays that have volume portions) to freeze items in portions and once frozen I pop them out and place them in freezer bags. That system allows so much flexibility. As an example: you can use their 2 Tb cube tray for minced garlic, freeze and then pop them out and put all of those portioned cubes in a bag OR place the small frozen Garlic puck into a whole “Raw Meal” bag together with the other meal components to cook fresh. I also keep a large tub for chicken/turkey bones to make bone broth and stocks and a large container to store leftover veggies and herbs for soups (which really eliminates so much waste). I hope you research Souper Cubes! I can’t say enough good things about them. Again, I appreciate your knowledge and account so very much ♥️ Karen
I got one of the Hamilton Beach freezer about a year ago. I love it. I keep my frozen vegetable, cookie dough, my stir fry vegetables, etc in each of its own bin. I labeled each bin the same way so it is easy to find what I am looking for and my husband does not have any trouble finding anything either.
I have two chest freezers. I've been trying to keep like with like, within cardboard boxes, which makes it easier to lift out stuff to get to the things below. But then as you use things, you end up with half-empty boxes taking up space, which isn't efficient. So I'm still looking for better ways to organize them. I like chest freezers just because they retain the cold better when you open them and seem to keep well during power outages, but yes, it's hard to get to things. An inventory is vital so you don't forget what's in there. The only thing I'd add is a numbering system on the packages themselves so you know which items are older and need to be used first. There's a danger with chest freezers of always using the easy-to-reach stuff on top and never digging down to the older items.
I bought small see-through, (7 x 10 x 16") plastic bins with handles that clamp the lids on tight for my chest freezer. Small bins that can't be filled to the point of TOO HEAVY to lift out when full. They stack and move around easily to shuffle things around to find what you are looking for. Paper labels on the lids last about as long as the care you give them.
WOW- newbie here!. This is an amazing system / best practice. Thank you, for sharing your talents with others.-what a blessing!!! I am in all astonishment!!! Will be passing this onto others.
Hello Pam. I saw this on UA-cam and thought it might be interesting to you when doing garlic. If you take a garlic clove and cut the bottom part off set it on something microwavable and microwave of 430 seconds. Then when you take it out, squeeze the stem end of it and the garlic. Bulbs will pop right out on PR already peeled. Thanks worked really well on the video, so thought. Maybe it would come in the end for you
I have a chest freezer, my solution was to buy coloured cotton tote bags and then have a list above the freezer as to what is in each colour bag. Not ideal as the bags are quite restricting, but it is a great visual aid to quickly identify what is where.
Love what you have done. It is just like a professional kitchen - everything has a spot and is inventoried. Would really like it if you could play with your bread recipes a bit more and make some adjustments if necessary where the buns/rolls go into the freezer unbaked. Being single I never get through bread fast enough. I freeze it but in the case of buns/rolls I may not get to them before freezer “aromas” are absorbed or freezer burn occurs. I would love to be able to thaw and bake off individual pieces. I use to be able to find dough balls in the grocery store, but I guess the demand isn’t high enough for this product to be carried. It definitely exists for the retail restaurant sector, but in large quantities. I would never go through a case before freezer burn occurs. At least with home made frozen dough I could vacuum seal individual portions which would help keep the product integrity a little longer than just ziplock bags. I can vacuum seal frozen baked buns but I’m looking for that fresh baked bread taste not defrost bread taste. You as a bread baker know the difference, but in our waste not lifestyle we accept frozen bread specially if it is all that we have. I just want to raise the bar if I can for singles, couples and small families that a bag of buns may be too much. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter- perhaps in the instant pot on a steam setting (proofing).
Chest freezers 😂 Everything you need is in the bottom!! Say “Honey hold my feet so if I fall in you can pull me out!!!” My next freezer will not be a chest freezer!!!
That's me, tie a rope round me, I'm going in. Lol. ❄️
When shopping for a freezer I look at the chest types first. Bent over and nearly fell in. Bought an upright. LOL
For chest freezer use either wire freezer bin and you can lift bins out to search. You can also use those bags that are flat fold down reinforced bottoms in the chest freezer.
When I bought my chest freezer it wasn't much of a problem. Now that I am several years older, it has become an issue. We just bought an upright!
Same!
When it comes to bread, there is another possibility. You can make your bread and let it go through the first rise, then shape your rolls and put them on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Then once they freeze, you can put them in a bag, and take what you need out when you are wanting fresh baked bread. You need to pull them out about 2-3 hours before you want to bake them, and put them in/on the pan you want to use and prepare as you do normally. Let go through second rise in warm spot. Or, take them out the night before and put in the refrigerator over night, and then take them out an hour before you want to bake them and do the same. This has worked for me over the years. It may be something others might want to try to have fresh baked bread rolls.
Yes, that is a great idea. I think there are commercial bread companies that are doing exactly what you are doing. I understand the results are very good. Jim
Great idea, thank you!
In the past, I despised chest freezers. Now I love ours. About two weeks ago we purchased a 21.7 cu ft chest freezer from Lowes. It came with two rows of sliding bins that are amazing. For the entire bottom, I ordered nine large totes with handles from Amazon. I have everything organized. Ground beef, roasts, chicken breasts, whole chickens, pork, sausage, fruits, etc. are all separated in different bins/totes. I can slide the bins and then lift out an entire tote if needed. It is life changing! For our upright freezer, I bought large, clear organizers and also keep like things together. An unorganized freezer is basically a casket for most food! Organization is the key to using, rotating and replacing!
I also had a chest freezer your size.But standing 4ft 11 in its not practical for me.One day I lost my balance, so I was hanging upside down in this freezer. Could not get out,thank goodness my neighbor heard me hollering and saved me.I tried and tried but couldn't get out,never let my kids(6)get anything out again.
I worked for Super Suppers for a year. It was a food preparation company that allowed people to come in, prepare meals and then take them home to use. One huge thing I learned was the proper storage of meats in the fridge and freezer. Raw poultry always goes on the bottom because you don’t want any poultry juices to drip down on any other products in the case of power outages that lead to defrosting. One step above that is any animal that walks (ie: beef, pork, lamb, deer, etc). Next step up is seafood. And cooked meats go on top.
Thank you for sharing this very valuable information!
@@RoseRedHomestead you’re welcome!
Hooray. A freezer that comes with drawer organization! Finally, a manufacturer got it right!
I have two chest freezers. One for meats the other for everything else. I put those reusable grocery bags to use and put sort with sort together in a bag. I also put some of the foods in 2 milkcrates that stack nicely It is not as easy to organize as an upright freezer but doing it this way has improved my organization.
We do something similar!
We used milk crates too and boxes to sort like foods
one chest for meats, one for garden veggies and one small for meals and everything else!!
I do the same, but I have replaced most of the cheap reusable grocery bags (handles kept breaking) with heavier duty freezer bags that zip from my local butcher. They work great, but I sure would love to not have to pull everything out all the time!
I love your organization of your freezers! I have a chest freezer and struggled with getting it organized. I finally have it “working for me” by using cloth hard sided bags with handles. I sort them into like things, keeping the heavier meat ones on the bottom and veggies and sides in the top ones. That way it’s easier to pull off the top one to see my beef and chicken and then slip the bag right back in place. Can’t wait for the new book of meals!
Pillow cases
I love the way you freeze your meals by flattening them. What a space saver that is.
HaHa! I have thought it is called a chest freezer for the body part it freezes getting stuff out!
And because of the thinness - it defrosts SUPER quick.
Please comment on how yo freeze raw eggs. I've never done that, nor have I even thought about it. Guidance on how to do it and how to use them please.
I have really large things in my chest freezer that I only use for special events and I buy them when they are super marked down like full briskets, corned beef, turkeys, and ice packs. If I end up with extra room I put jugs of water to improve efficiency of the freezer and it keeps the freezer cold for a power outage!
How did you have such a clean kitchen, and time for this video, in the middle of making Thanksgiving dinner! My kitchen was in chaos for two days!
😂 same‼️
I think secretly we are all wondering the same thing😆
Pot Luck ? ? From all the guests??
I know still recouping from Thursday!!😂😢😅
She could be going elsewhere and pies were hers to bring. Or, like my sister does, cooks and debones the turkey the day before and other dishes. 😂 it stops the chaos.
I love organizing so I love how you keep track of what is in the freezer. Thanks for sharing !
Pam, this is fabulous! The greatest struggle is having meals ready in the freezer but forgetting to use them!
Exactly! I found a few f those when we were cleaning out the freezer to start our new organization. They were like fossils!
Having meals ready and forgetting to use them? Sounds like a first world problem.
I have a massive chest freezer, and I absolutely love it! I purchased bins from Target called "Small Woven Rectangle Storage Basket Gray - Brightroom". Dimensions: 8 Inches (H), 10.5 Inches (W), 16 Inches (L). They are soft enough to nestle into one another side to side, and sturdy enough to stack on top of one another. The handles are strong, and quite a bit of food can be stored in each bin. I have stacked 3 rows of bins on top of one another. Each bin holds different things: Chicken, Beef, Veggies, etc. Organization, keeping like items together, keeping track of inventory, and rotating through the food are key. Things can very easily get lost in a chest freezer.
That sounds fantastic! Thank you for sharing this information.
Becky on Acre Homestead uses large square fabric totes with handles in her chest freezers. Then she organizes by type of meat, frozen vegetables, etc. Then if you need something in the bottom, you just lift out the top tote.
I love that Costco freezer. I wish all freezers had the drawer method. I found open weave baskets that fit my shelves and marked them "meat. veges, bread, meals" etc. It has helped for stopping waste of food. I have a chest freezer and found good bags that are fairly hard and I use them there as well and the baskets. I do still have to pull them out to get to the bottom but pulling out a bag or bin sure is more efficient than pulling things out a piece at a time.
I have a small freezer for just me, in it, I have wire baskets, each basket a category, chicken, fish, ground beef, etc. I saw the small one you got at Costco and tried to figure out how I could justify getting it, no luck on that score yet. I buy on sale and I cook larger batches. My best tools are square plastic containers that I use to freeze foods with sauces and liquids, before moving to vacuum bags, baking sheets for flat freezing, a food scale for portioning, and a vacuum sealer. Doing things the way I do, I typically spend much less at one time on groceries than most of my peers, and I eat much better. This is not new for me I have been following this system since my children were young in the 1970s. Keep up the sharing, you are helping so many who may not know how to get started.
What a fantastic system! Thank you so much for doing this and sharing. You're an inspiration!
My freezer has drawers except the top two shelves. , I use the top shelf for bread , puffpastry , wonton wrappers ect , next shelf is dog food ( chicken breasts ) that I buy in bulk and divide into a day portion , the first draw is pre-made meals , I put the frozen meals in serving size portions ( one person ) . I find it is easy to keep my freezer neat and tidy and well organised ,
I have dividers in the bottom of my chest freezer that were there from the factory. There are also 3 baskets that slide along the top. In my chest freezers that don't have the dividers, I use the plastic milk crates, which also stack on top of each other. I have a freezer for beef and fish. one for chicken and venison, one for pork and seafood, and one for extras. I also have 2 refrigerators with huge freezers, one is for vegetables, and the other is for butter and cheese. I lay an index card in the top of each freezer, with a diagram of what is in which section, My freezer inventory is in the same book as my canned, freeze dried, dehydrated and store bought foods. This has worked for us for years.
Just a heads up for anyone wanting a upright freezer. I checked out the Hamilton 11 CF freezer with the drawers that Pam shows in the video and it was currently on sale at Costco for $299.
You are truely a teacher!
I have a magnetic white board attached to the side of my freezer. Upper left for poultry, upper right for red meat, lower left for veggies and grains, lower right for pork (the same location as the food is in the freezer bins). Then I use colored white board markers. Yellow - poultry, red - red meat, green - veg/grain, orange for pork.
Then I list the item e.g. breast written in yellow, the date, then simple tick marks for the quantity. When I use something it is easy to erase one of the tick marks.
That great for a organizational system your fridge and freezer. That way you know where everything is the exact number of all items. Jim
What great ideas for creating eals from left overs. I am the same as you Pam, havong to make the bunas for dinner os enough to go a different direction! But having some frozen, pwrfect!! Thank you!!
Love this! I always call my leftovers in individual bags, "Fast Food" So much cheaper than going out for fast food. Helps me with time management because I'm working. Thanks for sharing. Still working on my freezers too.
😂my husband calls them FMREs (military=MREs) for Frozen Meals Ready to Eat.
I would love to know for chest freezers! I have 2 and they are so unorganized!
I have 1, & I saw a Lady on UA-cam put her food in Tote bags, (the ones that a bit like tarp fabric.) 1 have 6, & I Sharpie on them what's in them, Fish, Chicken, Beef, Lamb, Pork & a Vegetable one, it works really well. I have an upright 3 drawer one in our Kitchen under the counter, it's full of Fruit, Sauces, Breads, Pies & Pizzas. 👍
I have used your idea of breaking up big bags of veggies. It has worked so well🎉. I also love that little freezer. Stopped myself from buying one so far, but……..
My chest freezer is where the unknown items go to never be seen again. Needs work. Thank you both!
I have reusable grocery sacks stacked three across and three deep. I have a white board that I labeled squares representing each bag. So when I'm looking for chicken I can look and see it's on the left two bags down.
I want to tell you what we do with grilled burgers. I make patties out of 10 lbs. of ground beef (80% lean, you know all of the flavor is in the fat, lol) and season them. My hubby grills them to med. and I cool and bag them. I stack them in a bread bag and they fit in the door of the freezer. We take two out for a meal and re-heat them in the microwave. They taste like they just came off the grill. You can add cheese before you cook them or before you re-heat them. It doesn't take much more time or energy to make 18 as it would take to make two. Enjoy!
I’ve been doing this for a few years now. Going to make, meatballs, chicken pot pie soup and beef stew to freeze, this weekend. I will make my lasagna over the holidays, and freeze a batch in portions for the rest of the winter. I also bake pies and store bought pies and make individual portions and freeze them for a quick holiday treat in March, lol. This is wonderful Pam and Jim! 😊
I do something very similar with bins in the freezer, but I love, love, love your idea of using graph paper and posting it on the outside of the freezer on the door. I am going to try this. Awesome ideea!
Awwww! I want a Costco little freezer! What a find! What a pleasure it is to open your freezer and being able to find exactly what you know it is there! I have to hunt for my stuff. I have a small/medium chest freezer and it is not frost free. It is what I have, but I don't like it. Cleaning it is painful.
I have a chest freezer. I organize perfectly with IKEA Hallbar bins, a hack from another UA-camr. It's technically a garbage bin that comes in various sizes which are stackable with handles for easy access. They come with different round stickers of various colors to keep track of freezer contents. Take a look. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
You and Jim are amazing! Thank you for such a brilliant idea of 60 meal prep and freezer organization. Love you guys! Happy holidays!
I learned the hard way to always freeze raw meats in the bottom, just incase! That way the berries, breads and veggies don't need tossed from blood seepage.
Chest freezers are both a blessing and a curse A blessing because they hold so much, a curse because you have to stand on your head to get to anything. I have a chest freezer that I got for free and I do like it. What I have done is taken those heavy duty square milk crates and I'm able to stack 4 the freezer 2 side by side and I can put stuff in each crate and I'm able to lift out each bin to get stuff. That's about the only way I can live with it. I also have an upright like yours that I also use. I mostly keep Beef and large items, 2 Turkeys that I got and a large bag of flour in the chest freezer and chicken and other things in my upright
I have a chest freezer and until the funds allow it’ll be all i have. I scored a chest freezer years ago on clearance at Menards for $150! It’s big enough to hold 2 broken down/processed deer and much more garden harvest items.
What works for me I found, is I put like items in reusable grocery bags. This way I can pick them up easy, rotate, and keep things semi organized or best I can given that it’s a chest freezer.
Thank you for sharing your super organized methods! I sent it to my momma who has an upright freezer. I plan on going Big next year with gardening, and fully intend on filling her freezer too so this really gave me great ideas!!
It sounds like you have a nice system set-up for your frozen foods. You could also label each bag with contents and organize them into meats, seafood, dairy, veggie, specific meals as well as other sections. Jim
@@RoseRedHomestead I love that! Very organized! Thank you! ☺️
This video is so awesome, Thank YOU! I struggle with organization of freezers and it irritates my Hubby like crazy! Wonderful tips on using grid paper and numbers to mark off what's there and what's used! Thank you again from AZ
Thank you. This information will help us better re-plan & implement our freezer storage, & your system will also carry over to the labeling & organzation of our other storage. The visual aid of using sheets on the storage container (freezer, cabinet, etc) is one of those things that in hindsight we wonder why that never occured to us.
Our pleasure! Jim
Love these freezer videos! Thank you Pam and Jim.
I made up about 4 dozen biscuits with cream and White Lily self-rising flour recently and flash froze them on cookie sheets. Then, I put them in Ziploc bags of a dozen each. Now, when we want biscuits, all I have to do is pull them out of the freezer and bake! I love that you made buns ahead and froze them!
As for our chest freezer we use plastic milk crates. 1 crate per certain food…. 1 crate for chicken, 1 crate for burger, 1 crate for pork, etc….
What marvelous idea's Ms. Pam!!! Thank you so much!!
You are so welcome! Jim
We invested in a large freezer like yours this summer. I shared this video with my husband, great idea for keeping on top of what is there!
I have one large chest freezer and one small one. I put items in the reusable grocery bags and designate areas in the freezer for chicken, beef, pork, etc. I then stack the well packed bags in the freezer. It is then fairly easy to pull out a bag if I need to get something out of a lower bag. I also keep my frozen veggies in the smaller freezer. ( I can most of my veggies.). It all seems to work pretty well for organization. But I have not found a good way to consistently inventory it. I may try to adapt your “bin” system to my “bag” system. I look forward to the book coming out for Jim’s birthday sale. Thanks again for all you do and God bless!
I already have 3 stand-up freezers and 2 chest freezers, but I think I need that freezer with the bins lol. Wow, what a deal on that freezer, and it already has the bins built in and smaller than the ones I already have. I have fought and struggled with freezer organization with different types of bins, dividers, etc., and it’s been maddening. Thank you for the tips! I’m a little jealous of your knack for problem solving.
Make sure that you get one that is frost free. We found out the Hamilton Beach is not,which means we need to defrost it on a regular basis. Jim
I hesitate to invest in a freezer, in the event of a power outage. I live close to a major city, so outages are rare. But we have had them occasionally. We don’t have a generator, again because of where we live. My worry is civil unrest, supply chain issues, etc. so not sure what to do. My prepping so far has been to put aside basics for long term storage. It’s just two of us, older and retired. Plus I am now better prepared for short power outages, and have an available cooking source for the first time.
Watching you has made me think I might be falling short of my own goal, which would be your short term storage plan. Might have to look at that freezer idea, although our electric rates are near the top of the country, and I know it would add quite a bit to our monthly bill.
I am 70. Want you to know that I have learned so much from watching your videos. It’s quite the education. As a retired nurse, teaching was a large part of what I did. Now I am teaching my friends who think they are safe from disruptions a bit about what I am doing, so your lessons are far reaching.
@andreagardner2335 Have you considered a solar power station?
I use bins to organize my chest freezer makes it so much easier to find and get to your goodies I agree my next one will be an upright I may need to go to Costco for the deal On the upright with bins
Wonderful!
On Acre homestead channel, Becky uses shopping boxes or bags to organize her chest freezer. She puts her different types of meats, vegetables, etc in each bag or box. I don’t have any chest freezers but I like how she has organized hers. The boxes have handles and are rare sided so you can stack them.
Sounds like a great idea. Thanks for sharing.
I love that little freezer! Those bins are phenomenal! I’ve got two upright freezers and a darn chest gfreezer, I’m scared I’m going to fall into it and be lost forever. I despise it.
Amazing ideas for freezer meals! I’m taking notes.
Oh, I so despised our old chest freezer. No more digging, unloading, loading and defrosting. The uprights today are Way more efficient than the old ones.
I tell everybody that if I turn up missing look for me in the freezer. I might have fallen in!!
Can’t wait for your new book!
I added two 7-8 cubic ft chest freezers last year. I bought plastic containers, like yours , and made sure they fit accordingly in the freezers. I labeled the tops of them with whatever was in them. I put the items least used on the
bottoms and most used on top. I am very pleased with it and use the top lids to freeze my freeze dry trays prior
to freeze drying. I also have two upright freezers I utilize. I love your organization of your freezers which puts my
organization lacking. Great video.
Thanks for the information. It does not seem that organization is lacking at all. Jim
I love how you’ve co-ordinated the checklists with the interior shelves!! That’s a real ‘eureka’ moment! Our little freezer in the garage is basically all raw meats, bought in bulk and vacuum packed into ‘for two’ portions, and I desperately need to organize the mumble-jumble on each shelf. I NEED some of those plastic containers. Dollarama here I come. Thanks a bunch☺️
LOL! after reading how many freezers and refrigerators people have I would think getting a refrigerated semi trailer would be more efficient 😂😂
The Costco Hamilton Beach Freezer is on sale till 12/10. Got one today. Timed it with outside cleanup and the workers pulled it out of the car and into the basement for me. It's been a good day!
Wow, so impressed with your organization and inventory methods!! Fantastic 😍
You guys are sooo smart!
Trying to organize a chest freezer is like asking a toddler to organize their toy box. lol
Oh I love your new Hamilton Beach freezer. So perfect. I know a homemaker had to give them the idea of the bins.
You have done a great job, no more guess work. “What’s for dinner “ 😂
Thanks. It was a lot of work, but not hard work. I am so glad to have it all so organized. It has really made a difference.
This has helped me out tremendously. I am always trying to organize my freezers but it always ends up a mish mash of forgotten items. This is a great idea and will help a lot. Since my husband passed away, it us hard to cook for just one and I end up with a lot of leftovers that I freeze. This is a great way to organize those small packages. I make dozens of tamales at a time and this would be great for keeping them together. As to the chest freezer, I haved cone to the conclusion there is no way to effectively organize them. I have tried buns, boxes, partitions etc. Found them too heavy to lift to get to the ones at the bottom. Partitions, things still get forgotten at the bottom. The only thing I have figured out, is that the chest freezer us only good for freezing a whole beef or whole animals, in packages of course, the partitions work great for that. Otherwise the upright is s better choice for everyday freezer needs. Thank you for all your teachings. I learn a lot from your videos.
Thanks for this!
I can't wait for your book to come out to get some of your yummy recipes for my freezer. Like you it's only my husband and I now.
Yes, that really changes the measurements for recipes. Jim
Really liked this video. I love to organize, and knew my freezers needed help. I started w my regular refrigerator freezer. I freeze meals, fruit, whatever and stuff it in the freezer. I emptied completely, washed it down, then put like items in clear ziplock gallon bags and labeled. It worked! They stand upright two layers deep, 3-4 across. No more pulling everything out or things falling on toes while digging for something to cook! Will work next on my small chest freezer in garage. Thanks so much for the encouragement and inspiration to get started! Bless you both!
Just went to Costco and this freezer is on sale for $299
Wow! Thank for sharing that info. Just found out it is not frost free, so that is something to consider.
Great information!
I love your freezer with the drawers,no wasted space.I just bought a freezer not to long ago,if I had seen that I would have probably got two.I love it.
Wow! Very nice!!
I have two chest freezers. I have frozen vegetables and fruit in one and in the other one I have meats. We bought a whole beef a few months ago and so I invested in crates (from Lowes) and separated each cut of beef into the crates. Because there was so much ground beef I took a thin box and put between the crates for space and stored the 1 lb rolls in the box. I use one end of the freezer for chicken turkey and ham also in crates. Even though I like upright freezer best I found the chest freezer holds a lot more.
Excellent information. We bought a new chest freezer about a year ago. The depth front to back is less than a traditional freezer by about three inches. It has two levels of bins that slide side to side. We bought additional bins so it is easily organized. In the bottom I keep my larger cuts of meat, always working left to right in alphabetical order - beef roasts, whole chicken/turkey, boxes of fish fillets, pork roast. The next bins up are smaller cuts - beef steaks/ground beef (repackaged in flat vacuum bags), chicken parts, pork chops/tenderloin. In the top bins are hamburger patties, freezer jams, frozen fruits and a bin of various items. I have an additions upright freezer in the garage where I keep prepared meals, bread items, grated cheese, butter and vegetables (which I just changed over to your method of smaller meal sized portions in plastic shoe boxes! Best idea ever!!!) Thank you for your videos and the encouragement you give.
That sounds like a great organization method! Thanks for sharing.
Note about the hamburger buns. It will make them last longer if after you freeze them you vac seal them
Thank you so much this video is a game changer
We have a huge chest freezer plus a small one. It's so difficult to keep them organized but I am currently using different colored grocery bags to organize beef, chicken, pork, vegetables, etc. The problem is still that the older items end up on the bottom but it's better than just throwing everything in together.
I have a chest freezer and an upright. I do the same as you with one difference. When we get our 1/2 of beef every year, I put it at the bottom of the chest freezer in "milk crates" I get from Walmart/Target. Three fit across the bottom. Bin 1 - Hamburger, Bin 2 - Steak, Bin 3 - Roasts. I have a second Bin of Hamburger that sits on top of the 1st one. On top of Bin 2&3 I have heavy duty reusable grocery bags (2 for each category) of chicken, pork, then over flow of veggies and fruit from upright freezer. I've tried bins for these but the amount of these items fluctuate so the bins get disorganized. Bag 1 is the older purchased items of each category. Bag 2 is the most recently purchased and it has RED Duck Tape on the handle so that I "STOP" and go to bag 1. My upright freezer has my home garden veggies, pre-made meals and individual meal ingredients. As I go through my garden veggies in the upright freezer I move the veggies & fruit from the chest freezer to the upright. Hope this makes sense and is helpful to someone.
Love your organization system. I have a small chest freezer that I have a love/hate relationship with. Even though it's small...I'm short and if I want something from the bottom, I still have to use a step to reach in without falling in. Grrr. Been using a couple of baskets to help control packages. I was telling my 93 yr old father that I was planning on getting an upright frzr next and he reminded me that cold air sinks so the chest type is more efficient for retaining the cold, that every time I would open the upright, cold air would spill out. Dementia be damned! He made sense. Now I'm hesitant.
Thank you for sharing this. I have 2 of the chest freezers plus the 2 freezers that are on top of the fridge. Hopefully some on will share how to organize the chest freezers. I will say, they are a pain in the butt.
Good job! Very nice.
I don't have a freezer yet, but what wonderful organizing and space saving ideas. Thank you! I was thinking about your inventory lists since you said you were marking things off in pen as you use from your supply. What about marking off in pencil so that as you replenish your supply you dont have to rewrite, just erase the pencil marks. Also maybe use sheet protectors and mark off with a dry-erase marker and just wipe off when replenishing.
Yes, using pencil is a great idea. Thank you.
I read a really good tip when I was shopping for a deep freezer. Bus Bins. The restaurant kind. They are stack-able and fit very nicely in large freezers.
In the 90’s I started doing this with my hamburger in quart bags. My first real apt. and I had friends over, and like friends do, they went through everything in my place lol they laughed and laughed when they saw my thin stackable frozen tiles of beef in a plastic shoe container in my freezer.
I have chest freezers as well as an upright and use collapsible crates on my shelves. I stand the items on end for maximum storage. I got them on Amazon. They are a game changer. I also have one in the refrigerator freezer.
This is impressive! Time to get to work on mine.
I think I'm jealous of your organized freezers. 😊
For chest freezer, I use plastic milk crates. Even found some half size ones. It works great.
Chest freezers use milk creates and categorize it.
I use pillow cases for lack of this idea, you are amazing! I feel so inadequate. (Sp)
Since I live in an agricultural area I have access to those waxed cardboard boxes used to pack fresh produce for shipment. They fit perfectly along the bottom of my big chest freezer and the fact that they have interlocking folding tops means that i can stack plastic dishpans on top of them. I put longer term foods into the waxed boxes and then stack packets of food that I freeze flat just like yours into the dishpans. Both these items fit perfectly under the hanging baskets that came with the freezer. It is all easy to lift out when I need items from lower layers. In the small chest freezer, I use a couple milk crates like someone else mentioned below and on top I stack "coke crates" similar to the milk crates but only the depth of coke cans. It helps if you know someone in the beverage distribution business as that's the source of these items for me. Chest freezers are not as convenient as the other type; but they have two very distinct advantages: they are much cheaper to operate and in a power failure they will hold their temperature much longer. Hope this meets your request for organization ideas from chest freezer owners. Thanks for sharing your methods.
Thanks for the information and it sounds like you have a great system for your freezers. Jim
Helpful? This is extra ordinarily life changing. Thank You.
Great, informative video. I have two large chest freezers and I use a stacking bin
system. I don’t have any issues as long as I make diagrams and I inventory much as
you do.
I do use Souper Cubes (silicon trays that have volume portions) to freeze items in
portions and once frozen I pop them out and place them in freezer bags. That system
allows so much flexibility. As an example: you can use their 2 Tb cube tray for minced
garlic, freeze and then pop them out and put all of those portioned cubes in a bag OR place the small
frozen Garlic puck into a whole “Raw Meal” bag together with the other meal
components to cook fresh. I also keep a large tub for chicken/turkey bones to make
bone broth and stocks and a large container to store leftover veggies and herbs for
soups (which really eliminates so much waste).
I hope you research Souper Cubes! I can’t say enough good things about them.
Again, I appreciate your knowledge and account so very much ♥️
Karen
Thank you, Karen. That organization sounds wonderful. I just checked them out on Amazon and they look fantastic. I am going to have to try them!
@@RoseRedHomestead I use them constantly and they are wonderful. I’ve given them as gifts and everyone has
loved them.
Oh, I LOVE your inventory on the doors! I'll be starting this ASAP! Thank so much!
You are fantastic
Thank you! Jim
I got one of the Hamilton Beach freezer about a year ago. I love it. I keep my frozen vegetable, cookie dough, my stir fry vegetables, etc in each of its own bin. I labeled each bin the same way so it is easy to find what I am looking for and my husband does not have any trouble finding anything either.
Great video! Love that freezer from Costco!
Thanks! The only problem is that it is not frost-free. So, we will have to clean it out on a timely basis. Jim
I have two chest freezers. I've been trying to keep like with like, within cardboard boxes, which makes it easier to lift out stuff to get to the things below. But then as you use things, you end up with half-empty boxes taking up space, which isn't efficient. So I'm still looking for better ways to organize them. I like chest freezers just because they retain the cold better when you open them and seem to keep well during power outages, but yes, it's hard to get to things. An inventory is vital so you don't forget what's in there. The only thing I'd add is a numbering system on the packages themselves so you know which items are older and need to be used first. There's a danger with chest freezers of always using the easy-to-reach stuff on top and never digging down to the older items.
I like your thoughts and tips on chest freezer organization. Thank you.
I bought small see-through, (7 x 10 x 16") plastic bins with handles that clamp the lids on tight for my chest freezer. Small bins that can't be filled to the point of TOO HEAVY to lift out when full. They stack and move around easily to shuffle things around to find what you are looking for. Paper labels on the lids last about as long as the care you give them.
Very helpful, thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching! Jim
WOW- newbie here!. This is an amazing system / best practice. Thank you, for sharing your talents with others.-what a blessing!!! I am in all astonishment!!! Will be passing this onto others.
Welcome! So glad you found us and that you like this video! And thank you for your willingness to share this with others.
Hello Pam. I saw this on UA-cam and thought it might be interesting to you when doing garlic. If you take a garlic clove and cut the bottom part off set it on something microwavable and microwave of 430 seconds. Then when you take it out, squeeze the stem end of it and the garlic. Bulbs will pop right out on PR already peeled. Thanks worked really well on the video, so thought. Maybe it would come in the end for you
I use hard sized bags with handles in my chest freezer to keep things divided up and organized.
I have a chest freezer, my solution was to buy coloured cotton tote bags and then have a list above the freezer as to what is in each colour bag. Not ideal as the bags are quite restricting, but it is a great visual aid to quickly identify what is where.
I like that idea a lot. Color coding has always been one of my favorite ways to organize. Thanks for sharing.
Love what you have done. It is just like a professional kitchen - everything has a spot and is inventoried. Would really like it if you could play with your bread recipes a bit more and make some adjustments if necessary where the buns/rolls go into the freezer unbaked. Being single I never get through bread fast enough. I freeze it but in the case of buns/rolls I may not get to them before freezer “aromas” are absorbed or freezer burn occurs. I would love to be able to thaw and bake off individual pieces. I use to be able to find dough balls in the grocery store, but I guess the demand isn’t high enough for this product to be carried. It definitely exists for the retail restaurant sector, but in large quantities. I would never go through a case before freezer burn occurs. At least with home made frozen dough I could vacuum seal individual portions which would help keep the product integrity a little longer than just ziplock bags. I can vacuum seal frozen baked buns but I’m looking for that fresh baked bread taste not defrost bread taste. You as a bread baker know the difference, but in our waste not lifestyle we accept frozen bread specially if it is all that we have. I just want to raise the bar if I can for singles, couples and small families that a bag of buns may be too much. Defrost in the fridge or on the counter- perhaps in the instant pot on a steam setting (proofing).
Excellent ideas