How to Organize a Chest Type Freezer Part 2

When I looked around the net for tips on organizing a freezer, three great ideas were to use stackable tubs, to separate beef, pork, and chicken, and to color code. To this I added my own preference to stand things upright in the bins, like a filing cabinet. That way I can see everything in each bin at a glance. Think vertically.

I measured everything, length, depth, width, including the width of the step in the bottom of the freezer, to be sure I would get bins that fit. I found these at the Dollar store in with the school supplies for $2 each. It would also be very easy to just use heavy cardboard boxes - cut hand-holds in the sides and don't worry about color coding.


Here are the first three baskets. We have a lot more beef than anything else right now and I separated the ground beef to its own tub. I put it in the bottom one just because. :-)


Here is the second tier. The chicken is on the left - there's only room for one basket on that side, because it sits on top of the step, and the basket that came with the freezer will fit over it. I put vegetables in the middle one. I filled the space in the back (outside the bins that are just a couple inches too short) with the large bags of blackberries and okra, standing upright. Those are large enough they will not fall over and get lost and since it is only those two things I will not forget they are there.


We don't have much chicken right now so packaged cheese (a good sale) filled the rest of that bin. It is important to fill all the space - the freezer will use less electricity and hold the cold better if things are packed tightly together. If you don't have enough food in it to fill the freezer, store bags of ice or gallons of frozen water, then you can remove them as needed to make room for food. Just be sure you can still close the lid effortlessly so that it will seal properly.

The top bins are for small packets, odd sizes, and things we will want to get to right away. Later on, when I have more packages of bell peppers, I'll probably give them their own bag that can sit down in one of the lower bins so they won't be exposed to warm air when we open it.

Speaking of warmth, this freezer will need to be defrosted once each year or two. It will hold the food far better than self-defrosting ones that work by actually warming up the sides of the freezer enough to melt the frost. It is no trouble to defrost it myself, plus that is good incentive to use up the food that is in there so we do not waste.

Right now, this arrangement looks good. We will see over time how well it actually works in practice.