This is why I prefer upright freezers. Everyone says get a chest freezer because they’re more energy efficient. My response is that it’s not efficient if I lose food in the bottom. With an upright it’s so much easier to rotate the food, know what you have and it’s easier on the back.
Yep - if the power goes out, chest freezers are also easier to save - but yes to all of the other points you made! I can store more food now, and it's SO EASY to get to everything now - less food waste to freezer burn.
@@ThePurposefulPantry if you keep your upright freezer full it will stay cold for a long time. Mine stayed frozen in our January 50+ hour power outage. But I would still like an additional chest freezer for bulk foods like fish
🤣🤣I just made an enormous comment including same thought. We are anxiously awaiting for our upright-Ugh! Probably another month😣. WAY too many years of a chest freezer-WAY too many.
I have to laugh my friend! 😊 but I got to be honest. I did the bin thing too and it didn't last long. When Food is on sale especially meats, and you can't pass it up, those bins are gonna take up a lot of space and eventually one by one you will take them out. I tried the bin idea many times and it just didn't work for me. So what I've done was designated each shelf in the freezer for specific types of foods. One for meat, one for chicken, one for fish, one for freezing homemade dinners and odds and ends, and the bottom basket is for odds and small ends. I use my door panels for freezing small items I can place inside those one quart wonton soup containers we get whenever we order soup from Chinese take out. 😋 I love the jar idea for the doors too. But my jars become to valuable for canning and wind up having to transfer things out. But the wonton soup containers with lids work great as long as you keep liquids one and a half inch from the top.
Right - so you adjust. Nothing has to stay permanent. Whatever works for you works! Most of our meat is going to end up on the shelf canned, but this is the interim stage.
I loved the bin idea. I may opt for a flat bin with holes and like you thought to use each shelf as a general category. So much better than digging on your head🤣
OMG I'm the first commenter LOL I always see your videos way later in the day I just happened to be up earlier today LOL. I agree with you about chest freezers versus stand-up freezers I will never do a chest freezer ever again it is just too hard to dig out everything on the bottom
Great video Darcy. I got rid of my freezer. It's just me, so I Can everything and I make Ghee. I keep 8 sticks of butter in the fridge . It works for me because I don't have children
Congrats on your new freezer!! That's so exciting! You've organized it beautifully. I hope this relieves stress as I remember the frustrations of a chest freezer. I'm happy for you & I could feel the happiness in your voice too! 😊❤
I would get a dry marker board the width of the freezer door. Mount it with COMMAND Velcro strips. Make the tape grid on the marker board. The command strips will be way less damaging to the freezer surface. I used this method to secure a framed cork board to the side of my refrigerator/ freezer and it has been securely mounted for 3years so far.
So every time you open the freezer door to grab something or put something away, you hand all by itself grabs a bag of chocolate chips from the door, fills itself with a hand full of chips and then finds its way to your mouth ! That's your reward for having a well organized freezer - a little treat of chocolate chips......yum......
I organize my stand up freezer with a dry erase board. We draw lines for the shelves and a side column is for the door. We're supposed to update it we put things in and take things out, but it doesn't always get done. I do a full inventory every so often.
Ok, I have what looks like the same freezer. My inventory is on a flexible magnetic dry erase board just exactly where you said you wanted yours. It's about 20" X 24". It works great. I divided the board into 4 parts. One for beef, one for pork and chicken, one form fruits and vegs and the last one for misc. like butter, nuts, bread etc. I used marks to show how many of something in the freezer and then each time I removed say a hamburger, I would erase one mark and go. Some items I don't inventory and keep track of because they don't stay very long. Like ice cream, frozen muffins, or snacks. Good Luck with your new freezer!
We know🤣🤣. Can’t wait for mine to arrive! Learned after many decades and our folks with chest freezers. A lot of things get lost. It was a shocker of what we found in in-laws freezer. There were things way too old on the bottom they kept repurchasing on the top. My folks thankfully gave up the chest in the basement years before they passed. We were all brought up with the chest being most efficient especially in a power outage, but we have generators and solar now.
Inventory with graph paper listing items by shelf/bin and place in sheet protectors. On graph paper put a /for each item. Have dry erase markers to / other direction to make an X when take item out of freezer. I just tape on freezer as many as I need! Easy & works great!
My parents gave us their old upright freezer years ago. What a gift. It's still running strong. We recently defrosted it and reorganized everything. I really like those clear plastic bins, I'm going to have to look into them.
I use a dry erase board that sticks magnetically to my freezer. I have columns for each type of meat and list below what I have. When I lay out meat for the week I update my totals. I do a full inventory once a year when we get our beef and I have to rearrange. I don't really track the store bought meals/ freezer meals.
I have always had an upright freezer. We bought it in 1994. It is still working. The amount of people who tried to change my mind was amazing. So glad I stuck with what I wanted.
Investing in an upright freezer is one the best things we ever did. We use baskets that have holes in them, vertically store vacuum sealed foods. Butter in door, meat in baskets, bottom for hams, turkeys and extras. One basket had chicken etc. Dated and filed with newest in the back. This has really saved money and less food. waste. Best system we ever used. Been doing this for about a year. Surprised freezers din't come with baskets to help people with organization.
I have a clipboard hung on the wall near my fridge and freezer. It includes a list of all my freezer meals, including date made. I also have my menu plan, shopping list, and a couple other things on there to keep everything food related together and organized.
😂😂same here. As soon as it arrives after 2 mos I will be done processing. So can’t wait to kick the chest freezer out the door. Maybe I will make a root cellar out of it😁
I've had an upright freezer for 27 years and I LOVE IT! I'll never go back to a chest freezer. I also have a side-by-side refrigerator for the same reason - stuff gets lost!
Glad it was helpful! There are some hanging shelves you can get from the Container Store (or I'm sure any other really big box store) that might be less expensive than a new shelf for your freezer, so look into those, as well.
Looks great, I painted a very large chalkboard to keep the inventory from my freezers in my UK kitchen so i can sit at the kitchen table and write the food list for the week and then if i take something out i change the board, hope that's helpful
Exactly what I've been looking for. We too had a couple LARGE chest freezers for 50 yrs. Defrosting them was a pain as I couldn't get down to clean the bottom of the freezer. Almost fell in head first a couple of times. So we got two upright freezers but organizing them didn't come easy for me. Hopefully this video will help. Also I appreciate the plastic container link. Amazon is "out of sight" on their container prices!!
Yep - it is the only way I'll have a standup since you lose everything much more quickly with them. It kept going off during all the stuffing and filming, though - drove us mad! LOL
Good job! We stock the butter in the door. Top door shelf is cheese. The rest of the shelves in the door are butter. Each basket has the same kind of meat. Bottom basket is extra frozen veggies, meat etc. Uprights are so nice. Our Frigadaire has been the best investment ever.
I love my upright freezer. I try not to put stuff in my chest it is 54 years old and still working. My parents gave us the chest freezer Christmas 54 years ago
The frost up kinds were built to last forever. Newer - especially new ones, that are frost free, like cars, now have a built in life expectancy of like 10 to 15 years, then it's cheaper to buy a new one, over trying to find parts to fix up the one you spent good money on. I had a repair man tell me, new appliances are now made kind of crappy and not designed to last. I think a good idea is to put away 20 - 50 bucks a month away and not touch it, so in a few years, when your expensive appliance gives up the ghost you already have the money saved for a new appliance.
I got my first garage freezer this year, but I got a chest freezer, I kind of wish I had gotten an upright, but it will do for the two of us. Love your new freezer! Congratulations
Chest freezers are great - just make sure you keep it organized. We used good plastic bins that are thick because cheap ones will crack over time, and some wire baskets (you'll see it in the inside freezer that also worked) to help keep things separated and easy to pull out. We also used heavy-duty grocery bags for bulk meat. I just didn't like having things not contained to make pulling it out easier on me.
Not sure of your age, but if you find a deal on an upright for garages-I would grab it. It will save you money because you won’t have food getting lost in the bottom and you don’t have to defrost.
@@ThePurposefulPantry Thank you for your good ideas, I did get two extra baskets for the top area that sit on the side indentions. But I like the grocery bag idea, I have also been vacuum sealing my meat to prevent freezer burn. Our problem is we live where it’s extremely hot and our garage get up in the 90’s temps. It is a garage rated freezer, but I still use a fan blowing on the compressor area to help keep that cool. We don’t really have room inside the house for it. Love your channel!
@@dustyflats3832 Dusty, I’m old, really old. 🥴Our kitchen refrigerator has a bottom freezer but it just doesn’t hold that much. Plus a power outage took out our old fridge and we lost most everything, So we bought a chest freezer with the hope it will save the now very expensive meat. But yes I am looking at getting an upright freezer someday.
@@bakokat6982 Yippee! Our freezer finally is in and now we have to wait til they can deliver as they are short handed. I no longer will avoid going to the freezer. I let my husband handle it as he’s tall and can reach. Plus I always end up rummaging through to try and find anything. Yes, we have a bottom freezer on our fridge and we do like it, but doing more garden preserving and need room. We thought to go hunting this year, but now just read an article of PFAs the forever chemical found in wildlife in WI, MI and ME. Always something.😏
Your freezer looks amazing 😍 we have an upright freezer that needs to be defrosted about once a year - it has four shelves so very similar A few years ago I unloaded the freezer into some semi-transparent rubber maid totes and realized when I was ready to load up the freezer again that 3 of the totes fit on to the shelves basically turning the shelves into drawers - so much easier to manage!
@@ThePurposefulPantry yeah, I’ve had this freezer for 15+ years and have only felt organized using it since using the totes - I’m kicking myself I didn’t try this earlier !
We freeze bread one shelf for buns , sliced bread & english muffins we shop at the day oul bread store . Prices are 3 or 4 loaf of bread for the price of one at the grocery store.
On m’y stand freezer I got a magnetic white board With the pen attached I put on the door and when something goes in I write it down and wipe it off when it comes out. If I have like five packages of ground beef,I will write ground beef and put five little ticks beside it and when one comes out, I erase a tick mark.
Love this video! So nice to see how ppl organize their fridge, freezers, chest freezer, stand up freezer. I've seen some ppl have a magnetic white board with wipe off marker just put on their fridge/ freezer. And they just put what they have on it.
I have an idea for your empty shelves. I keep my herbs and spices in the freezer because they will last forever in there and i don't have to worry about having them turn stale and wasting money. Also, powders, such as garlic and onion won't stick together in the freezer.
I have tried a lot of manual organization tools but recently switched to an app. It is so fabulous! It is called Food Checklist. I am tracking both of my freezers and my prepper pantry. You check things in and out and you can even categorize and put in expiration dates. You can even scan the UPC symbol on prepared foods for quick check in and check out. I love it!
@@FrazzledMomNFriends I looked it up in the play store but couldn't find one with that exact name. I just went through google on my computer and found it. Thanks.
Everything in both my upright freezers is vacumm sealed & I find the stuff tends to slide around too much, on both the glass & the wire shelves. I tried the bins,,but still wasn`t working for me. So I bought inexpensive semi-see thru laundry bags...filled them up & stacked them up. no more slip sliding & falling. Not the prettiest..but as I`m the only one that gets into the freezer..I pretty well know where everything is. I keep map lists on the side of 1 freezer. But I can see the bins working if more than 1 person is getting in & out of the freezer. Looks good!
@@ThePurposefulPantry I'll be doing some today. I just have it a little overstuffed. So now that I have some jars emptied I'll be canning again this week 😊
So excited to organize my freezer today. Just bought some of the containers from the container store and they were on sale ! They were $2 off each one that I got which was a mixture of large and xlarge bins. All were under $7 each. The large were $6, the xlarge were $6.74. I shouldn't be this excited, but it's the little things😀
I have an upright and a chest type freezer and will have to buy another soon. My two fridge freezers hold the junk food or things I have to use soon. I have to say I don’t like my upright cause I can’t get everything in it like I can my chest freezer. I use one for veggies and one for meat. Bins could really help in the chest. Use a magnetic white board. They aren’t that expensive and so reusable.
We couldn't find one that could be delivered in a reasonable time in this size! So hubby is going to build an insulated shell for this one - it may not be pretty, but it will be functional. We were just out of time and things had to move quickly for us with other things happening in our home right now.
Where are the ice cream or popsicles going to go? Just me? Congratulations you did a great job organizing. I just take pictures of my freezer contents when I am making my shopping list. My freezer is not close to my house and it makes it easier.
Congratulations. I am so proud of you. We have an old upright freezer but we are looking for a new one. We are not going buy chest freezer. Too old. What is name of your freezer. When our power went out I lost everything. I reported to insurance company. They asked me was my freezer energy efficient. I told them no. Company told me they could not helped. This did not stopped me for complaining. Finally I received sm money covered my groceries.
Where my mom used to live, up on a hill, there was a freak wind storm. One of their great big tulep trees came down and A) crushed a car, B) pulled the power electrical pole down, which pulled the electrical wires going into the house down. My mom contacted her home owners insurance to say they had no electrical power and she wanted to be reimbursed for all the food that went bad in the refrigerator and freezer. The insurance company wanted receipts. Now who keeps their receipts after they are done shopping. She got some money, like you, but no where near what the food had cost her. But miss one insurance payment and they want to cancel your policy ! Right?
I do a freezer and pantry inventory which I keep in my calendar because I have my meal plan on one side and my actual calendar on the other side. I put it in a sheet protector so I put the paper in the middle so I can pull it out to do my meal plan. I would hate to have it on the freezer because it isn’t where I need the information but everyone does things a little differently. I update mine at the end of the month and then use all of that to plan the next months meal plan. It would be super easy to put a board on the fridge or mark it there but it wouldn’t help me as much.
Great job on organizing your freezer space. I keep track of our freezer inventory in a binder but love the idea of having a dry erase board on the door. I also love the idea of getting an extra shelf for flash freezing. Never thought of that. Genius!!! ❤
Thanks! I was excited when I thought about it as we were shopping and hoping the one we settled on would let it work. We couldn't find ANY in stock that wouldn't take a long time to arrive, so we bought the largest we could actually get, and I was excited to see that I could make it work!
@@ThePurposefulPantry oooo, I hope mine is big enough, just 2 of us. I have limited space and didn’t want to go too big for energy usage. In the video it looked like size I ordered, but pics can be deceiving. And yes, have to wait 2 mos and 1 more to go-sigh.😊
I have two chest freezers. I understand about things getting messy and lost. I have solved that by using the reusable grocery shopping bags. I do think about how I load the freezer. In addition to that, I clean out the freezers once a year and take inventory. It helps in knowing how much we need each year/ fall in vegetables, fruit, and meat. I noticed you are also organizing the upright by using bins. It makes a lot of sense.
Yep- we used them, too. But we had it full and I found myself having to unload it too often to get to what I needed. KNOWING what was there wasn't the issue - it was getting to it. And with my back, it's become a bit of a problem. And since it was on its way out, we just solved the problem with the standup.
Congrats on your freezer. Upright is so much easier for frozen food storage (we also have a small chest freezer but for big bags of dry goods..primarily flour and legumes, keeps them from getting rancid and/or bug infested). The flash freezing shelf is a brilliant idea! I am always trying to balance my trays on top of other foods. As for inventory, I think a chalk board is the best way to go. Hang it near the freezer and keep altering quantities as needed - get two boards, one for meats and the second for veggies and fruits. Better than doing anything on the freezer door itself.
I totally understand, after years of struggling to find things in my chest freezer, last year i bought an upright freezer, best decision you will ever make 👍💕
My list, on front door of freezer; Divided same as the interior of the freezer. 1st shelf , divided with containers similar to yours and labeled like yours ….2nd shelf..etc etc…. I have this list on a piece of paper…i like your idea better with the white board>
Nice big freezer.... I tend to vacuumn pack most everything and file them in their own category bin like a file cabinet...saves alot of room & hassle trying to find items!...Good luck & Have fun organizing.... Thanks for the video!
Yep- I do, too, but we got to where we were just living off the top layer and I quit - now that everything is in and organized, I'll be processing a lot more vacuum sealed like we used to.
Just a note for those in cold climates. Make sure the brand of freezer you have has a condensor that won't go bad if you put it in an unheated porch or garage during the winter. Not all can withstand freezing temperatures if that area goes before freezing.
Some refrigerators and freezers are designed to work in cold environments, they have heaters to keep the oil in the compressors at a nice temperature so when it kicks on, it doesn't stress to motors trying to push around cold oil.
Congratulations, Darcy...we bought this exact model freezer last summer and have really loved it. Thank you for linking the bins, I'd like to be able to stack the butter that way. I thought I'd put them in the door but ended up putting lunch meats and smaller packages of meats so they could be found easily. One warning: don't wear flip flops when you are opening it. Sometimes it really sucks in/seals hard and you have to yank to get the door open. I did that 9/02 and ended up getting my big toenail completely ripped off. Wear shoes! :) Years ago I used a magnetic dry-erase board for inventory but discontinued it because nobody but me would scratch off 'withdrawals'.
Thank you so much for this video!!! We have been looking for a good storage solution for our freezer for quite some time. Going to the container store this week! lol. And the idea of the extra shelf for flash freezing is totally brilliant!!!!! Couldn't post a photo here, but i used adhesive vinyl to create a reusable calendar on the side of my fridge. My fridge has a textured surface though, so i had to put down a base of white vinyl first, then put the black vinyl grid for the calendar on top. Its been in place for several years now and has held up well.
I box my chest freezer items labelled by category, long term storage or stock is on the bottom. When I buy new stock I rotate it so the fresher is on the bottom and I use up the older foods first from the top. Boxing it makes it so much easier to grab and not lose a random bag of veggies or soup stock. Vacuum seal everything for less space usage and if the bags are solid coloured the better, the cardboard prevents freezer burn. I blanch veggies in bulk seasonal harvest for soups and stews and sized for dinner portions also. I cannot imagine not doing this. I am getting a stand up freezer though, but keeping my chest freezer, I need the storage for my growing teens. I have sorting bins in my cupboards and freezer.
We just couldn't keep the chest freezer because we have no space for it - but it was also about to die, so we didn't want to have it and take the risk. But great system you have set up for yourself.
I have been watching your you tube videos non stop! I'm trying to soak up some of your knowledge. I really have enjoyed you! I recently purchased a Nesco. I haven't used it yet. I'm so excited! I'm from NW Arkansas. Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing your freezer organization with us. After measuring door frames, I ordered an upright Frigidaire 16 cubic ft. today. We will keep this in our basement and learned from past experience to measure the door frame so you know that you will be able to actually get it in the house! Question, you talked about adding an extra shelf. Did you order this through Frigidaire? I know most come with only 4 shelves and already know I want an additional one. (I love the idea of a dedicated shelf for flash freezing.)
If you need, most refrigerators and freezers, you can take off the door easily enough if you need a bit more room getting the freezer or refrigerator into the room. Some of them are designed so you could take off the door, and flip it upside down so you can open the door either to be used by left handed or right handed people. You hinge it to hang from the right hand side of the appliance or the left hand side of the appliance. I'm not sure if this still holds true to new appliances, but it used to be true a few years ago.
What a coincidence , we just got a new up right freezer as well. I also went for bins in the freezer . I now just need to label and store like with like. Enjoy your new freezer 😉
I just have a typical apartment fridge, and it was a jumbled mess. Your video inspired me to clean my fridge and freezer and organize. I like those bins you got from Container Store so went and got some- they were on sale too!
Just came across your video and this is by far my favorite upright freezer organizational video. Love those bins, makes everything look so organized and easy to find.
Great organization of your upright freezer. I had a chest freezer and I’m short, so getting to the bottom was not happening. Look on She’s In Her Apron’s channel, she has a freezer inventory chart. I took the pruned one and had it blown up and laminated, works great.Thanks for sharing and have a blessed evening!!
I absolutely love everything about you! I’m wondering how did you choose your bins? Any comparison to others out there? One CAUTION, now that freezer door shelving is plastic instead of metal, if the shelf bulges out even a tiny bit, it will cause the door to have a seal failure. Our service call guy told us it happens frequently 😮. We learned the hard way.
Yep - we've already cautioned the family not to use the bins to pull the door closed because they are pretty flimsy, and we don't plan on packing anything heavy in them. I chose the bins after some search and measuring these in person and they were exactly what we needed (and on sale) and I didn't want to have to do much more searching. We had a lot going on at the time it was arriving, and I didn't have time with everything else going on, so I called it good. There may be other bins out there that will work, but I loved that these are tall, so I'm not stacking bins again, and not wasting headspace.
@@ThePurposefulPantry so true. Going to take measurement of my freezer space in the morning. The tubs aren't very tall, so things like individually wrapped pork chops and steaks fall out. The one thing that I haven't figured out how to contain is whole chickens and legs of lamb. They take up a lot of shelf space in or out of the tub.
@@ThePurposefulPantry that's what I ended up doing as well today. I have a good sized drawer on the bottom, so I put those larger items in there. These bins worked out great
🤣🤣🤣🤣We laughed so Hard when we seen this!!! We just ordered an upright because we were tired of standing on our head and searching in the chest freezer! We learned from our folks who had chest freezers as many items get lost and then are no good! And you have to defrost them also! PITA!! We know uprights are not as energy efficient, but they have improved and of course they defrost which they say might shorten food life. However, as we age we don’t want the hassle of chest freezer. If I vacuum seal things should be fine and the freezer guarantees to stay cold in case of power outage for however many hours. We also opted for the wire racks for 2 reasons-1. Air circulates much better And the Big 2. Those glass shelves can Explode!! I was cleaning our fridge glass shelves that sits above crispers. It did not have a rim and the Whole Sheet of glass literally JUMPED up and Exploded!! It’s safety glass and crumbles were EVERYWHERE!! And I was still standing with my hands in position with my mouth opened. Never Again! We replaced it with plexiglass. I was going for Frigidaire, but the place that delivers didn’t carry them, LOL! They didn’t carry the wire rack GE either and was on a 2 month wait and we still have another month-Ugh! Bow hunting opens today and our freezer is Full and I had to take frozen tomatoes out to make room for other produce. So I have 4 bags of defrosting tomatoes that are vying for attention right now and 3 trays on the floor, but had to take time to comment. I have been so busy inside and out and thank Goodness for your videos that made me get a dehydrator as I have shrunk down our massive stock of onions, peppers, herbs, cabbage, green beans and tomatoes! I even got one of those Food Saver canning jar sealers that I thought I would never need with my old Food Saver-it really works great! We don’t have a lot of room to spare and this also lightens the weight of produce. My favorite dehydrated items so far: Parsley (beautiful color and smell and so much better than air drying), tomatoes, peppers and onions. I have yet to test if I will like the taste/texture of potatoes, green beans and cabbage. I so hope the cabbage reconstitutes well as I have at least 4 Beautiful picture perfect Deadon cabbages in the garden yet, of course it’s first year with this variety and hope I like it as well-I know the cabbage moth didn’t and we have a lot of those pretty yellow butterflies 🤣 Thanks Again so Much for this morning’s laugh about our fridge dilemmas and hope it arrives SOON! Cheers! Ours looks about the same size, not too big and I wanted bins, so thanks for mentioning the Container Store, I will check it out!
Great video! I am getting a new upright freezer next week, and I’m going to laminate graph paper, put a magnet on the back and use erasable markers to do my inventory then change it as needed 😉
Congratulations 🎉 I love my upright freezer😊 Don’t forget you can freeze loaf bread. We buy a lot of bread when our favorite goes on sale and freeze it. We also have several 1/2 gallons of milk. I have lots of precooked hamburger that I vacuum sealed, raw sealed pork chops, hamburger and hamburger patties. Flour tortillas freeze and vacuum seal well too!
Yep! And now that I can see things again - and can properly organize and freeze, we'll be pulling out the vacuum sealer more for the things that are staying. The zip lock bags were for things in the front freezer that we moved through more and had no space for in the big one. But I'm hoping a large part of the meat will be canned over the winter.
I love this. Thank you for sharing. Now I know my first freezer will be a stand up one not chest type. Also I noticed you had frozen jalapenos in your freezer. I grew my own this years to try my hand at canning them as pickled peppers. But I wasn't sure I could freeze them then can them but I think I can.
I'm glad you got a nice up right freezer I'm sure you will love it. They make magnetic white boards you can mark on and erase. I think you will save enough money on less food spoilage to it to pay for your freezer initial cost.
I didn't really have much spoilage in the chest freezer - it was the fact that it was old, and my back just doesn't love lugging stuff out of it any longer. But I'm loving this thing a lot - especially the organization. It's been fab!
This is why I prefer upright freezers. Everyone says get a chest freezer because they’re more energy efficient. My response is that it’s not efficient if I lose food in the bottom. With an upright it’s so much easier to rotate the food, know what you have and it’s easier on the back.
Yep - if the power goes out, chest freezers are also easier to save - but yes to all of the other points you made! I can store more food now, and it's SO EASY to get to everything now - less food waste to freezer burn.
@@ThePurposefulPantry if you keep your upright freezer full it will stay cold for a long time. Mine stayed frozen in our January 50+ hour power outage. But I would still like an additional chest freezer for bulk foods like fish
I agree. I had an upright for that same reason.
🤣🤣I just made an enormous comment including same thought. We are anxiously awaiting for our upright-Ugh! Probably another month😣. WAY too many years of a chest freezer-WAY too many.
I have to laugh my friend! 😊 but I got to be honest. I did the bin thing too and it didn't last long. When Food is on sale especially meats, and you can't pass it up, those bins are gonna take up a lot of space and eventually one by one you will take them out. I tried the bin idea many times and it just didn't work for me. So what I've done was designated each shelf in the freezer for specific types of foods. One for meat, one for chicken, one for fish, one for freezing homemade dinners and odds and ends, and the bottom basket is for odds and small ends. I use my door panels for freezing small items I can place inside those one quart wonton soup containers we get whenever we order soup from Chinese take out. 😋 I love the jar idea for the doors too. But my jars become to valuable for canning and wind up having to transfer things out. But the wonton soup containers with lids work great as long as you keep liquids one and a half inch from the top.
Right - so you adjust. Nothing has to stay permanent. Whatever works for you works! Most of our meat is going to end up on the shelf canned, but this is the interim stage.
I loved the bin idea. I may opt for a flat bin with holes and like you thought to use each shelf as a general category. So much better than digging on your head🤣
OMG I'm the first commenter LOL I always see your videos way later in the day I just happened to be up earlier today LOL. I agree with you about chest freezers versus stand-up freezers I will never do a chest freezer ever again it is just too hard to dig out everything on the bottom
We had everything stored in bins and heavy-duty grocery bags, but even with that, getting to the bottom was harder. This is SOOO easy for me!
OMG! You’ve said it! Not to mention Defrosting the blasted things! Chests are not energy efficient when you have to unload it so much🤣🤣
Great video Darcy. I got rid of my freezer. It's just me, so I Can everything and I make Ghee. I keep 8 sticks of butter in the fridge . It works for me because I don't have children
Congrats on your new freezer!! That's so exciting! You've organized it beautifully. I hope this relieves stress as I remember the frustrations of a chest freezer. I'm happy for you & I could feel the happiness in your voice too! 😊❤
Thank you so much!
I would get a dry marker board the width of the freezer door. Mount it with COMMAND Velcro strips. Make the tape grid on the marker board. The command strips will be way less damaging to the freezer surface.
I used this method to secure a framed cork board to the side of my refrigerator/ freezer and it has been securely mounted for 3years so far.
You might ask -- what happens if the power goes out? www.thepurposefulpantry.com/freezer-tips-for-a-power-outage/
Hook up a generator.😅
Edit, I just checked this out, good tips.
Those door shelves are also good for chocolate chip bags. Stand them on end and line them up
So every time you open the freezer door to grab something or put something away, you hand all by itself grabs a bag of chocolate chips from the door, fills itself with a hand full of chips and then finds its way to your mouth ! That's your reward for having a well organized freezer - a little treat of chocolate chips......yum......
So helpful! Not the fake social media perfection, but just real life organization! Thank you!
I organize my stand up freezer with a dry erase board. We draw lines for the shelves and a side column is for the door. We're supposed to update it we put things in and take things out, but it doesn't always get done. I do a full inventory every so often.
Ok, I have what looks like the same freezer. My inventory is on a flexible magnetic dry erase board just exactly where you said you wanted yours. It's about 20" X 24". It works great. I divided the board into 4 parts. One for beef, one for pork and chicken, one form fruits and vegs and the last one for misc. like butter, nuts, bread etc. I used marks to show how many of something in the freezer and then each time I removed say a hamburger, I would erase one mark and go. Some items I don't inventory and keep track of because they don't stay very long. Like ice cream, frozen muffins, or snacks. Good Luck with your new freezer!
Thanks! That's the same basic idea I have about how to track. Thanks for your tip!
Congratulations. Stand up freezers are great.
The best!
We know🤣🤣. Can’t wait for mine to arrive! Learned after many decades and our folks with chest freezers. A lot of things get lost. It was a shocker of what we found in in-laws freezer. There were things way too old on the bottom they kept repurchasing on the top. My folks thankfully gave up the chest in the basement years before they passed. We were all brought up with the chest being most efficient especially in a power outage, but we have generators and solar now.
Inventory with graph paper listing items by shelf/bin and place in sheet protectors. On graph paper put a /for each item. Have dry erase markers to / other direction to make an X when take item out of freezer. I just tape on freezer as many as I need! Easy & works great!
My parents gave us their old upright freezer years ago. What a gift. It's still running strong. We recently defrosted it and reorganized everything. I really like those clear plastic bins, I'm going to have to look into them.
I use a dry erase board that sticks magnetically to my freezer. I have columns for each type of meat and list below what I have. When I lay out meat for the week I update my totals. I do a full inventory once a year when we get our beef and I have to rearrange. I don't really track the store bought meals/ freezer meals.
I have always had an upright freezer. We bought it in 1994. It is still working. The amount of people who tried to change my mind was amazing. So glad I stuck with what I wanted.
I love those containers!!
They worked perfectly for us!! I was glad they were also on sale when I got them!!
@@ThePurposefulPantry , could you post a link for those?
www.containerstore.com/s/multi-purpose-bins/d?productId=10022942
Investing in an upright freezer is one the best things we ever did. We use baskets that have holes in them, vertically store vacuum sealed foods. Butter in door, meat in baskets, bottom for hams, turkeys and extras. One basket had chicken etc. Dated and filed with newest in the back. This has really saved money and less food. waste. Best system we ever used. Been doing this for about a year. Surprised freezers din't come with baskets to help people with organization.
I have a clipboard hung on the wall near my fridge and freezer. It includes a list of all my freezer meals, including date made. I also have my menu plan, shopping list, and a couple other things on there to keep everything food related together and organized.
Love the flash freeze shelf idea! You just solved one of my biggest problems. No more jamming the sheet pan wherever I can find a spot. Thank you!
You are so welcome!
😂😂same here. As soon as it arrives after 2 mos I will be done processing. So can’t wait to kick the chest freezer out the door. Maybe I will make a root cellar out of it😁
I've had an upright freezer for 27 years and I LOVE IT! I'll never go back to a chest freezer. I also have a side-by-side refrigerator for the same reason - stuff gets lost!
Really like that idea for the extra shelf for flash freezing.
Saving a space for flash freezing was brilliant! Congrats on freezer and organizing. Does feel great. 😃
I LOVE the idea of an extra shelf for flash freezing and I’m going to look into getting one - thank you once again for valuable info!
Glad it was helpful! There are some hanging shelves you can get from the Container Store (or I'm sure any other really big box store) that might be less expensive than a new shelf for your freezer, so look into those, as well.
Looks great, I painted a very large chalkboard to keep the inventory from my freezers in my UK kitchen so i can sit at the kitchen table and write the food list for the week and then if i take something out i change the board, hope that's helpful
That's a great idea!
You have inspired me to reorganize my upright freezer, thank you!!❤❤
Nice job thinking of the flash freezing shelf! Smart. Always hard to balance that stuff!😅
Exactly what I've been looking for. We too had a couple LARGE chest freezers for 50 yrs. Defrosting them was a pain as I couldn't get down to clean the bottom of the freezer. Almost fell in head first a couple of times. So we got two upright freezers but organizing them didn't come easy for me. Hopefully this video will help. Also I appreciate the plastic container link. Amazon is "out of sight" on their container prices!!
Congratulations! 💚💛💙 SO excited for you, Darcy! It's a big deal to achieve a goal like this nice upright freezer. Way to go, kid.
So smart to have a temperature alarm.
Yep - it is the only way I'll have a standup since you lose everything much more quickly with them. It kept going off during all the stuffing and filming, though - drove us mad! LOL
We need one! How do you hear it though if its closed in the freezer?
the alarm is not in the freezer - it's the sensor. The base is in our kitchen where it is easily heard
Good job! We stock the butter in the door. Top door shelf is cheese. The rest of the shelves in the door are butter. Each basket has the same kind of meat. Bottom basket is extra frozen veggies, meat etc. Uprights are so nice. Our Frigadaire has been the best investment ever.
I marvel at how quickly you speak! It is far faster than I am able to absorb what you are saying!
Sorry - it's how I speak. You can always slow the video down a little if you need to.
I love my upright freezer. I try not to put stuff in my chest it is 54 years old and still working. My parents gave us the chest freezer Christmas 54 years ago
The frost up kinds were built to last forever. Newer - especially new ones, that are frost free, like cars, now have a built in life expectancy of like 10 to 15 years, then it's cheaper to buy a new one, over trying to find parts to fix up the one you spent good money on. I had a repair man tell me, new appliances are now made kind of crappy and not designed to last. I think a good idea is to put away 20 - 50 bucks a month away and not touch it, so in a few years, when your expensive appliance gives up the ghost you already have the money saved for a new appliance.
Congratulations on your new upright freezer! It is the only way to go. I've got 2 and I'm so glad that I didn't get a chest freezer.
I'm quite grateful for the job the chest did for us for so long - but yes, am happy about this!
I got my first garage freezer this year, but I got a chest freezer, I kind of wish I had gotten an upright, but it will do for the two of us. Love your new freezer! Congratulations
Chest freezers are great - just make sure you keep it organized. We used good plastic bins that are thick because cheap ones will crack over time, and some wire baskets (you'll see it in the inside freezer that also worked) to help keep things separated and easy to pull out. We also used heavy-duty grocery bags for bulk meat. I just didn't like having things not contained to make pulling it out easier on me.
Not sure of your age, but if you find a deal on an upright for garages-I would grab it. It will save you money because you won’t have food getting lost in the bottom and you don’t have to defrost.
@@ThePurposefulPantry
Thank you for your good ideas, I did get two extra baskets for the top area that sit on the side indentions. But I like the grocery bag idea, I have also been vacuum sealing my meat to prevent freezer burn. Our problem is we live where it’s extremely hot and our garage get up in the 90’s temps. It is a garage rated freezer, but I still use a fan blowing on the compressor area to help keep that cool. We don’t really have room inside the house for it.
Love your channel!
@@dustyflats3832 Dusty, I’m old, really old. 🥴Our kitchen refrigerator has a bottom freezer but it just doesn’t hold that much. Plus a power outage took out our old fridge and we lost most everything,
So we bought a chest freezer with the hope it will save the now very expensive meat. But yes I am looking at getting an upright freezer someday.
@@bakokat6982 Yippee! Our freezer finally is in and now we have to wait til they can deliver as they are short handed. I no longer will avoid going to the freezer. I let my husband handle it as he’s tall and can reach. Plus I always end up rummaging through to try and find anything. Yes, we have a bottom freezer on our fridge and we do like it, but doing more garden preserving and need room. We thought to go hunting this year, but now just read an article of PFAs the forever chemical found in wildlife in WI, MI and ME. Always something.😏
The flash freeze shelf is genius
Thanks!!
Good thinking for the flash freeze shelf 🙂
Your freezer looks amazing 😍 we have an upright freezer that needs to be defrosted about once a year - it has four shelves so very similar
A few years ago I unloaded the freezer into some semi-transparent rubber maid totes and realized when I was ready to load up the freezer again that 3 of the totes fit on to the shelves basically turning the shelves into drawers - so much easier to manage!
Great idea!!
@@ThePurposefulPantry yeah, I’ve had this freezer for 15+ years and have only felt organized using it since using the totes - I’m kicking myself I didn’t try this earlier !
The flash freezing shelf is BRILLIANT!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽❤️
We freeze bread one shelf for buns , sliced bread & english muffins we shop at the day oul bread store . Prices are 3 or 4 loaf of bread for the price of one at the grocery store.
On m’y stand freezer I got a magnetic white board With the pen attached I put on the door and when something goes in I write it down and wipe it off when it comes out. If I have like five packages of ground beef,I will write ground beef and put five little ticks beside it and when one comes out, I erase a tick mark.
Love this video! So nice to see how ppl organize their fridge, freezers, chest freezer, stand up freezer.
I've seen some ppl have a magnetic white board with wipe off marker just put on their fridge/ freezer. And they just put what they have on it.
Bless your heart! Very happy for you !@
Thanks so much! It has been a great upgrade for us! I love going to get food for dinner now :D
I have an idea for your empty shelves. I keep my herbs and spices in the freezer because they will last forever in there and i don't have to worry about having them turn stale and wasting money. Also, powders, such as garlic and onion won't stick together in the freezer.
I don't bother, but it's a great way for you to. I don't have empty shelves any longer :D :D
I have tried a lot of manual organization tools but recently switched to an app. It is so fabulous! It is called Food Checklist. I am tracking both of my freezers and my prepper pantry. You check things in and out and you can even categorize and put in expiration dates. You can even scan the UPC symbol on prepared foods for quick check in and check out. I love it!
Where did you get the app?
@@vonlucy in the Play store on my phone.
@@FrazzledMomNFriends I looked it up in the play store but couldn't find one with that exact name. I just went through google on my computer and found it. Thanks.
@@vonlucy sorry I didn't see your question before now. I had to look it up "Food List Tracking & Shopping" by MeadowLane Media. Glad you found it!
Everything in both my upright freezers is vacumm sealed & I find the stuff tends to slide around too much, on both the glass & the wire shelves. I tried the bins,,but still wasn`t working for me. So I bought inexpensive semi-see thru laundry bags...filled them up & stacked them up. no more slip sliding & falling. Not the prettiest..but as I`m the only one that gets into the freezer..I pretty well know where everything is. I keep map lists on the side of 1 freezer. But I can see the bins working if more than 1 person is getting in & out of the freezer. Looks good!
I adore my upright freezer. Never did like a chest freezer and my daughter loved them until she got an upright and now she has 2!
Hi darci sorry I haven't been here in a while. Glad I just caught your video. I need to organize mine too.
Good luck with it!
@@ThePurposefulPantry I'll be doing some today. I just have it a little overstuffed. So now that I have some jars emptied I'll be canning again this week 😊
Congratulations on the new freezer! 🎉
Thank you!! 😊
Freeze hummus and feta!! Yes!!! I'm psyched now
I grew up with a chest freezer and it was such a pain for my mother. So I made sure to get an upright when I got my own house. Love it!
So excited to organize my freezer today. Just bought some of the containers from the container store and they were on sale ! They were $2 off each one that I got which was a mixture of large and xlarge bins. All were under $7 each. The large were $6, the xlarge were $6.74. I shouldn't be this excited, but it's the little things😀
yes! yes it is!
I have an upright and a chest type freezer and will have to buy another soon. My two fridge freezers hold the junk food or things I have to use soon. I have to say I don’t like my upright cause I can’t get everything in it like I can my chest freezer. I use one for veggies and one for meat. Bins could really help in the chest. Use a magnetic white board. They aren’t that expensive and so reusable.
Congrats! We purchased a new upright freezer that is designed to handle the heat of a garage which we really need in the Texas heat.
We couldn't find one that could be delivered in a reasonable time in this size! So hubby is going to build an insulated shell for this one - it may not be pretty, but it will be functional. We were just out of time and things had to move quickly for us with other things happening in our home right now.
Darcy, can you give me links to your bins for organizing?
It's in the description box - it's just The Container Store. www.containerstore.com/s/multi-purpose-bins/d?productId=10022942
Nice freezer. Adjustable shelves is a real plus. Mine used to look organized, not anymore, lol. It sure fills up quick.
I love the flash freeze shelf idea! Sometimes my trays are precariously perched when I'm trying to flash freeze.😁
I love it too! So clever!
Where are the ice cream or popsicles going to go? Just me? Congratulations you did a great job organizing. I just take pictures of my freezer contents when I am making my shopping list. My freezer is not close to my house and it makes it easier.
It's not a safe food for our family - so we don't buy it - no need to make space. But fruit bars can tuck in anywhere!
@@ThePurposefulPantry and that’s why I’m checking out the Ninja Creami as you can make good for you treats.
Cameras on phones make some things so easy. Great Idea! An upright would really take a great pic😆
Yes, I would also like to know where you purchased the bins. Thanks God bless.
I mentioned it and it's linked in the description. www.containerstore.com/s/multi-purpose-bins/d?productId=10022942
Congratulations. I am so proud of you. We have an old upright freezer but we are looking for a new one. We are not going buy chest freezer. Too old. What is name of your freezer. When our power went out I lost everything. I reported to insurance company. They asked me was my freezer energy efficient. I told them no. Company told me they could not helped. This did not stopped me for complaining. Finally I received sm money covered my groceries.
It's a Frigidaire. Sorry about the loss.
I seen Frigidare label on inside door. I have a solar generators for backup on Refrigs just in case of electrical failure/blackouts.
Where my mom used to live, up on a hill, there was a freak wind storm. One of their great big tulep trees came down and A) crushed a car, B) pulled the power electrical pole down, which pulled the electrical wires going into the house down. My mom contacted her home owners insurance to say they had no electrical power and she wanted to be reimbursed for all the food that went bad in the refrigerator and freezer. The insurance company wanted receipts. Now who keeps their receipts after they are done shopping. She got some money, like you, but no where near what the food had cost her. But miss one insurance payment and they want to cancel your policy ! Right?
I do a freezer and pantry inventory which I keep in my calendar because I have my meal plan on one side and my actual calendar on the other side. I put it in a sheet protector so I put the paper in the middle so I can pull it out to do my meal plan. I would hate to have it on the freezer because it isn’t where I need the information but everyone does things a little differently. I update mine at the end of the month and then use all of that to plan the next months meal plan. It would be super easy to put a board on the fridge or mark it there but it wouldn’t help me as much.
Bravo! Looks great. Did the same thing only with totes from dollar store.
Nice - so happy for you.
Great job on organizing your freezer space. I keep track of our freezer inventory in a binder but love the idea of having a dry erase board on the door. I also love the idea of getting an extra shelf for flash freezing. Never thought of that. Genius!!! ❤
Thanks! I was excited when I thought about it as we were shopping and hoping the one we settled on would let it work. We couldn't find ANY in stock that wouldn't take a long time to arrive, so we bought the largest we could actually get, and I was excited to see that I could make it work!
@@ThePurposefulPantry oooo, I hope mine is big enough, just 2 of us. I have limited space and didn’t want to go too big for energy usage. In the video it looked like size I ordered, but pics can be deceiving. And yes, have to wait 2 mos and 1 more to go-sigh.😊
I have two chest freezers. I understand about things getting messy and lost. I have solved that by using the reusable grocery shopping bags. I do think about how I load the freezer. In addition to that, I clean out the freezers once a year and take inventory. It helps in knowing how much we need each year/ fall in vegetables, fruit, and meat. I noticed you are also organizing the upright by using bins. It makes a lot of sense.
Yep- we used them, too. But we had it full and I found myself having to unload it too often to get to what I needed. KNOWING what was there wasn't the issue - it was getting to it. And with my back, it's become a bit of a problem. And since it was on its way out, we just solved the problem with the standup.
Congrats on your freezer. Upright is so much easier for frozen food storage (we also have a small chest freezer but for big bags of dry goods..primarily flour and legumes, keeps them from getting rancid and/or bug infested). The flash freezing shelf is a brilliant idea! I am always trying to balance my trays on top of other foods. As for inventory, I think a chalk board is the best way to go. Hang it near the freezer and keep altering quantities as needed - get two boards, one for meats and the second for veggies and fruits. Better than doing anything on the freezer door itself.
I totally understand, after years of struggling to find things in my chest freezer, last year i bought an upright freezer, best decision you will ever make 👍💕
I'm really glad iv watched this video, I'm going to get another freezer but not sure what one.Thank you so much you have helped with my decision 💖
My list, on front door of freezer; Divided same as the interior of the freezer.
1st shelf , divided with containers similar to yours and labeled like yours ….2nd shelf..etc etc….
I have this list on a piece of paper…i like your idea better with the white board>
Nice big freezer.... I tend to vacuumn pack most everything and file them in their own category bin like a file cabinet...saves alot of room & hassle trying to find items!...Good luck & Have fun organizing.... Thanks for the video!
Yep- I do, too, but we got to where we were just living off the top layer and I quit - now that everything is in and organized, I'll be processing a lot more vacuum sealed like we used to.
Thank you for the tips! In freezer duty today and we have 3 that are packed. Wish me luck!
You can do it!
Just a note for those in cold climates. Make sure the brand of freezer you have has a condensor that won't go bad if you put it in an unheated porch or garage during the winter. Not all can withstand freezing temperatures if that area goes before freezing.
Our Home Depot has them labeled as "Garage Ready"
Some refrigerators and freezers are designed to work in cold environments, they have heaters to keep the oil in the compressors at a nice temperature so when it kicks on, it doesn't stress to motors trying to push around cold oil.
Congratulations, Darcy...we bought this exact model freezer last summer and have really loved it. Thank you for linking the bins, I'd like to be able to stack the butter that way. I thought I'd put them in the door but ended up putting lunch meats and smaller packages of meats so they could be found easily. One warning: don't wear flip flops when you are opening it. Sometimes it really sucks in/seals hard and you have to yank to get the door open. I did that 9/02 and ended up getting my big toenail completely ripped off. Wear shoes! :) Years ago I used a magnetic dry-erase board for inventory but discontinued it because nobody but me would scratch off 'withdrawals'.
YIKES! yes, we've noticed how hard it is to open - you almost need 2 hands which is hard when your arms are full of food to put in!
Thank you so much for this video!!! We have been looking for a good storage solution for our freezer for quite some time. Going to the container store this week! lol.
And the idea of the extra shelf for flash freezing is totally brilliant!!!!!
Couldn't post a photo here, but i used adhesive vinyl to create a reusable calendar on the side of my fridge. My fridge has a textured surface though, so i had to put down a base of white vinyl first, then put the black vinyl grid for the calendar on top. Its been in place for several years now and has held up well.
Thanks, KellyAnn - I got your email with it ;) Thanks.
I box my chest freezer items labelled by category, long term storage or stock is on the bottom. When I buy new stock I rotate it so the fresher is on the bottom and I use up the older foods first from the top. Boxing it makes it so much easier to grab and not lose a random bag of veggies or soup stock. Vacuum seal everything for less space usage and if the bags are solid coloured the better, the cardboard prevents freezer burn. I blanch veggies in bulk seasonal harvest for soups and stews and sized for dinner portions also. I cannot imagine not doing this. I am getting a stand up freezer though, but keeping my chest freezer, I need the storage for my growing teens. I have sorting bins in my cupboards and freezer.
We just couldn't keep the chest freezer because we have no space for it - but it was also about to die, so we didn't want to have it and take the risk. But great system you have set up for yourself.
I have been watching your you tube videos non stop! I'm trying to soak up some of your knowledge. I really have enjoyed you! I recently purchased a Nesco. I haven't used it yet. I'm so excited! I'm from NW Arkansas. Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharing your freezer organization with us. After measuring door frames, I ordered an upright Frigidaire 16 cubic ft. today. We will keep this in our basement and learned from past experience to measure the door frame so you know that you will be able to actually get it in the house! Question, you talked about adding an extra shelf. Did you order this through Frigidaire? I know most come with only 4 shelves and already know I want an additional one. (I love the idea of a dedicated shelf for flash freezing.)
I got it from an appliance parts site online - some folks are using wire closet shelving, too.
If you need, most refrigerators and freezers, you can take off the door easily enough if you need a bit more room getting the freezer or refrigerator into the room. Some of them are designed so you could take off the door, and flip it upside down so you can open the door either to be used by left handed or right handed people. You hinge it to hang from the right hand side of the appliance or the left hand side of the appliance. I'm not sure if this still holds true to new appliances, but it used to be true a few years ago.
What a coincidence , we just got a new up right freezer as well. I also went for bins in the freezer . I now just need to label and store like with like. Enjoy your new freezer 😉
You, too!
I just have a typical apartment fridge, and it was a jumbled mess. Your video inspired me to clean my fridge and freezer and organize. I like those bins you got from Container Store so went and got some- they were on sale too!
Congrats on your new freezer!
Love your freezer organization. We have bought the Lost Ruby Ranch goat cheese, It is very local to us. He has all kinds of flavors. Love it.
Daphna
We used strong velcro, and attached a dry erase board to list our inventory.
Next to duct tape, I love velcro !
Just came across your video and this is by far my favorite upright freezer organizational video. Love those bins, makes everything look so organized and easy to find.
Awesome! Thank you!
I love your freezer organization! Now I need to go get a butter bin!
I’m planning to purchase an upright freezer. Thanks for showing your organization.
Congrats on new freezer ! Looks great. Your bins n labels are super.
Love the flash freezing shelf.
Great organization of your upright freezer. I had a chest freezer and I’m short, so getting to the bottom was not happening. Look on She’s In Her Apron’s channel, she has a freezer inventory chart. I took the pruned one and had it blown up and laminated, works great.Thanks for sharing and have a blessed evening!!
I absolutely love everything about you! I’m wondering how did you choose your bins? Any comparison to others out there?
One CAUTION, now that freezer door shelving is plastic instead of metal, if the shelf bulges out even a tiny bit, it will cause the door to have a seal failure. Our service call guy told us it happens frequently 😮. We learned the hard way.
Yep - we've already cautioned the family not to use the bins to pull the door closed because they are pretty flimsy, and we don't plan on packing anything heavy in them. I chose the bins after some search and measuring these in person and they were exactly what we needed (and on sale) and I didn't want to have to do much more searching. We had a lot going on at the time it was arriving, and I didn't have time with everything else going on, so I called it good. There may be other bins out there that will work, but I loved that these are tall, so I'm not stacking bins again, and not wasting headspace.
I’m looking forward to some freezer bins!
Thats exactly what my hubby did! It really made a difference. Great minds think alike
I love those bins! I've been using the washtubs from Walmart, which are fine, but love the size of the smaller ones.
I love that they are tall, too, and less wasted headspace
@@ThePurposefulPantry so true. Going to take measurement of my freezer space in the morning. The tubs aren't very tall, so things like individually wrapped pork chops and steaks fall out.
The one thing that I haven't figured out how to contain is whole chickens and legs of lamb. They take up a lot of shelf space in or out of the tub.
That's what goes on the bottom for me
@@ThePurposefulPantry that's what I ended up doing as well today. I have a good sized drawer on the bottom, so I put those larger items in there. These bins worked out great
Small world...our 21 cf garage ready upright freezer just arrived today!! We are SO excited! Thanks for the great organization ideas 💗.
That is awesome! Have fun with it!
Thanks for the great info and all your hard work!
🤣🤣🤣🤣We laughed so Hard when we seen this!!!
We just ordered an upright because we were tired of standing on our head and searching in the chest freezer! We learned from our folks who had chest freezers as many items get lost and then are no good! And you have to defrost them also! PITA!!
We know uprights are not as energy efficient, but they have improved and of course they defrost which they say might shorten food life. However, as we age we don’t want the hassle of chest freezer. If I vacuum seal things should be fine and the freezer guarantees to stay cold in case of power outage for however many hours.
We also opted for the wire racks for 2 reasons-1. Air circulates much better And the Big 2. Those glass shelves can Explode!! I was cleaning our fridge glass shelves that sits above crispers. It did not have a rim and the Whole Sheet of glass literally JUMPED up and Exploded!! It’s safety glass and crumbles were EVERYWHERE!! And I was still standing with my hands in position with my mouth opened. Never Again! We replaced it with plexiglass.
I was going for Frigidaire, but the place that delivers didn’t carry them, LOL! They didn’t carry the wire rack GE either and was on a 2 month wait and we still have another month-Ugh! Bow hunting opens today and our freezer is Full and I had to take frozen tomatoes out to make room for other produce. So I have 4 bags of defrosting tomatoes that are vying for attention right now and 3 trays on the floor, but had to take time to comment.
I have been so busy inside and out and thank Goodness for your videos that made me get a dehydrator as I have shrunk down our massive stock of onions, peppers, herbs, cabbage, green beans and tomatoes! I even got one of those Food Saver canning jar sealers that I thought I would never need with my old Food Saver-it really works great! We don’t have a lot of room to spare and this also lightens the weight of produce.
My favorite dehydrated items so far: Parsley (beautiful color and smell and so much better than air drying), tomatoes, peppers and onions. I have yet to test if I will like the taste/texture of potatoes, green beans and cabbage. I so hope the cabbage reconstitutes well as I have at least 4 Beautiful picture perfect Deadon cabbages in the garden yet, of course it’s first year with this variety and hope I like it as well-I know the cabbage moth didn’t and we have a lot of those pretty yellow butterflies 🤣
Thanks Again so Much for this morning’s laugh about our fridge dilemmas and hope it arrives SOON! Cheers!
Ours looks about the same size, not too big and I wanted bins, so thanks for mentioning the Container Store, I will check it out!
The dehydrator is priceless! Looks like you've got some tomato sauce to process today!
@@ThePurposefulPantry the freezer has landed! Will be delivered next week. 🥳
I love the idea of having bins in the freezer! Wish I had thought of that! You are such a smart lady!
I watched a lot of youtube videos then figured out something that would work for me. I do have to say the flash freeze section is all mine, though :D
Congratulations.
Great video! I am getting a new upright freezer next week, and I’m going to laminate graph paper, put a magnet on the back and use erasable markers to do my inventory then change it as needed 😉
Congratulations 🎉 I love my upright freezer😊 Don’t forget you can freeze loaf bread. We buy a lot of bread when our favorite goes on sale and freeze it. We also have several 1/2 gallons of milk. I have lots of precooked hamburger that I vacuum sealed, raw sealed pork chops, hamburger and hamburger patties. Flour tortillas freeze and vacuum seal well too!
Yep! And now that I can see things again - and can properly organize and freeze, we'll be pulling out the vacuum sealer more for the things that are staying. The zip lock bags were for things in the front freezer that we moved through more and had no space for in the big one. But I'm hoping a large part of the meat will be canned over the winter.
I love this. Thank you for sharing. Now I know my first freezer will be a stand up one not chest type. Also I noticed you had frozen jalapenos in your freezer. I grew my own this years to try my hand at canning them as pickled peppers. But I wasn't sure I could freeze them then can them but I think I can.
You sure can!
I'm glad you got a nice up right freezer I'm sure you will love it. They make magnetic white boards you can mark on and erase. I think you will save enough money on less food spoilage to it to pay for your freezer initial cost.
I didn't really have much spoilage in the chest freezer - it was the fact that it was old, and my back just doesn't love lugging stuff out of it any longer. But I'm loving this thing a lot - especially the organization. It's been fab!