Monica Hewitt is an accomplished chef with an extensive background in setting up kitchens around the world. From selecting kitchenware and kitchen utensils to menu planning, Monica has been responsible for establishing complete restaurants from the ground up. As the Kitchen and Cooking Expert at Homesthetics, Monica is in charge of reviewing and curating all cooking and kitchen-related content on the platform. In her free time, Monica is a good sport, enjoying critiquing our homemade meals around the clock and telling us what could have been improved in sandwiches.
Having a chest freezer can be a great asset - if you know how to make the most of it!
With some careful consideration and attention, you can maximize your frozen storage space to fit all of your frozen items without overcrowding.
Start by getting rid of anything that isn't necessary to store in the chest freezer. This will clear up valuable space that would otherwise go unused.
Then, consider organizing what is left over with baskets or dividers so that everything in your chest freezer fits neatly and accessibly.
With these tips and tricks in mind, you'll soon have plenty of freezer space for all your frozen needs - from frozen veggies to frozen pizzas, ice cream and more!
Freezer Organization Ideas to Make the Most of Your Chest Freezer
Knowing where and how to store things inside your chest freezer is important. An organized freezer results in a happier user!
You'll have more space to work with, and you don't have to worry about digging around to find your frozen pizza box.
Here are different ideas to help you start your chest freezer organization.
1. Take Everything Out From the Freezer Before Organizing
The first step to chest freezer organization is to take all your frozen foods out and see how much room you have.
Once you've cleared your freezer, take this opportunity to deep clean it using hot and soapy water. You can wipe the inside and remove any nasty stains and odors.
It will also help if you throw away items past their expiration date or are no longer in use.
2. Use Clear Containers or Containers With Clear Tops
One of the easiest ways to find frozen items is to put them inside clear containers. You can easily identify what they are without opening all the lids.
You can spot your chicken thighs and chicken nuggets immediately! As an alternative, we also recommend labeling your containers.
This way, you'll know which container is which, and you don't have to play a guessing game anymore in your chest freezers.
3. Utilize Vertical Space
Utilizing the vertical space of your chest freezer gives you more storage than you can imagine. You can stack things on each other and keep your freezer organized.
The best way to utilize the space is by putting your food inside containers or ziplock bags. Laying them on top of each other will be a lot easier.
More importantly, you can easily pull them out of your deep freezer without messing up your organization system.
4. Have a Freezer Inventory
We've all been in this position before where we blindly buy everything we can get our hands on in the supermarket. Do we need all of them? Not necessarily.
All this ends up in your chest freezer, some ending up unused or expired. To avoid this, inventory your deep freezer to know what items you have.
This will help you buy necessary items, leaving enough room for all your essential food items inside the freezer.
5. Label Everything
Label everything you can find inside your chest freezer to identify them easily. You can independently select the item you need without guessing what it is.
Consider your label maker as your best friend for this dreaded task. Alternatively, you can write directly on the containers using a dry-erase marker.
You can complete this task in no more than an hour and enjoy an organized freezer right after.
6. Freeze Flat
If you usually have a ton of leftovers in a day, consider packing them inside a vacuum seal freezer bag and freezing them flat. Label the bags and put them inside your deep freezer.
Freezing them flat helps you stack them on each other, leaving you with a more organized freezer, even if they're all just leftovers.
We also recommend that you freeze flat other food items such as broths and sauces. You can pull them from your fridge for your next recipes.
7. Vacuum Seal Bags
Vacuum sealing is one of the best tips that helped us organize our deep freezer. It left us with so much space compared to putting them in random takeout containers.
The whole process will take you only a short time to do! You'll also be able to put more food in your bins.
You can store them longer in your freezer bins without worrying about them getting spoiled. This idea is also perfect for the best mini freezers out there.
8. Organize Food by Expiration Dates
We hate wasting food, so we vacuum-seal our leftovers for future consumption. An important step in this process is finding out when they may expire.
You should put highly perishable items at the front, which must be consumed immediately. While those that still have a long way to go, you can store them behind the freezer.
It also helps to write down the expiration date on the containers or packaging. This saves you the trouble of always reading the fine print in the packaging.
9. Group Foods by Category
Grouping your food by category helps you know where to grab which item from. It's also a great way of memorizing the contents of your entire freezer.
Organize your freezer based on food items like vegetables, baked goods, meats, and more! You can create your system to help you familiarize yourself with your chest freezer better.
Create drawers and sort them properly, like putting the milk crates on the door shelf.
10. Create Zones for Different Foodstuffs
In general, you should place the meats in the bottom freezer. This ensures it doesn't leak over other food items if anything happens with the bag or container.
Vegetables must be placed in wire baskets or separate from the meat section. You can pack the veggies inside containers to prevent contamination.
You can put condiments on the door shelf of your fridge and other items that don't expire easily.
11. Use Different Organizers
Thankfully, there are a lot of organizers that can help you sort your freezer situation. Our favorites are boxes and zip-lock bags because of their versatility and reliability.
But we've also found a few other items to help organize your chest freezer.
Take your dollar store bins, wire shelves, magazine holders, and value pack boxes, for example. You can use them as deep freezer baskets and containers to sort and organize your food.
12. Rehouse Food Into Storage Containers
Don't leave your leftover food on a plate; pack it in a container instead. Doing this leaves you with more room for other items.
The same goes for other food items you plan to use later. Put them inside a bag and store them inside freezer bins.
Just be sure you don't keep them too long in your fridge to prevent any freezer burn.
13. Prep and Freeze Individual Meals
If you're fond of meal prepping, this idea is for you. Pack your meals individually to easily take them in and out of the freezer.
This is perfect for people who are always on the go without worrying about portioning their meals before leaving home.
You can conveniently store the individually packed meals in the top freezer storage!
How to Organize Other Types of Freezers
Are you having trouble finding the best way to store your items in the freezer? Withvarious shapes and sizes of freezers, there can be no one-size-fits-all solution.
That's why it's essential to know what type of freezer you have so that you can find the best way to organize your food!
We've compiled a few useful general tips on how to properly maximize your freezer's storage potential.
1. Side-By-Side Refrigerator Freezer
There's a special way of organizing your side-by-side freezer because it offers a lot of storage space. Even the doors have storage containers to put all your things.
One of the most important things to remember is never to put your important items on the door.
Tips for Organizing a Side-By-Side Freezer
Here are some tips to help you organize your fridge, yielding more freezer storage.
Stand things up and position your bags in a horizontal position.
Utilize makeshift drawers such as magazine holders and bins to organize your freezer.
Remember to label the shelves to make sure you can find your items easily.
Best Place to Store Your Food
The door shelf is the warmest spot in your freezer. It's the perfect spot for food that doesn't expire easily, like nuts and flour.
The top layer of your freezer is the best place to store baked goods, like cakes and bread. The bottom shelf should be reserved for meats and other items that leak easily.
Depending on how you want to organize your freezer, you can reserve the middle shelf for other items, such as veggies and ice packs.
2. Bottom Freezer Refrigerator
Bottom freezer refrigerators are small and compact. Therefore, keeping your freezer organized is a priority.
A great idea we can share with you is putting all your produce in separate tub containers. You can stack them on top of each other and take advantage of your freezers' depth!
Tips for Organizing a Bottom Freezer
Because bottom freezers have limited space, we've listed some of our favorite tips to help you get by.
Place organizers and baskets inside your chest freezers.
Purge and clean your freezer of any expired and unusable items.
Organize your freezer storage bins based on the group type.
Best Place to Store Your Food
For this freezer type, all your food ends up in the bottom of your refrigerator. But that doesn't mean you can't organize it properly.
Reserve the shallow upper drawers for items like your ice packs and butter.
The main drawer, on the other hand, should contain the bulk of your items, like your meats and vegetables.
3. Top Freezer Refrigerator
Your top freezer needs as many storage bins and deep freezer baskets as possible. Luckily, there are a lot of DIY ideas you can use as freezer storage.
Typical top freezers leave little room to store your things, making it hard to fit your favorite goodies.
Tips for Organizing a Top Freezer
Use freezer bins at the very top of your freezer.
Make sure to label your bins so you can easily identify them.
Group your bins according to the food category.
The door is the warmest spot, so avoid putting items that melt easily. Instead, utilize the space to store nuts, flour, and some of your dinks.
You can use the top shelf for your favorite veggies, waffle boxes, and ice creams. Just reserve the bottom shelf for your meats or leftover items.
4. Upright Freezer
Upright freezers are easy to organize since they provide enough room for your food, even in large quantities!
Just make sure you have an effective system that can help you keep your freezer organized.
Tips for Organizing an Upright freezer
Use one type of container only so stacking them will be easy
Make use of bins as drawers to keep things organized
Follow the storage and cooking instructions to be sure
Best Place to Store Your Food
We recommend putting your favorite pizza boxes on the top shelf. You can also include your leftover liquids like soups and sauces.
The bottom should be for items that leak easily to prevent any freezer mess up. This includes meat and ice cream.
As for the middle shelves, you can use them to put your chest freezer bins for your veggies and slices of bread.
Now that you know how to organize your chest freezer, what are you waiting for? It's time to start packing and start organizing the best refrigerators you have!
You'll have a lot of fun throughout the process and might even find it therapeutic. The results are worth it because it's one less clutter to clear.
We hope you enjoyed this article! Let us know which great tips we shared that you enjoyed the most.
Also, feel free to share this refrigerator organization idea with your friends and family who might be desperate for a freezer cleanup.
