Chest freezers are known for their depth and storage capacity but it can be pretty hard to keep them organized all the time. Some of the brands provide one or two hanging racks and that’s about it. You need to find your own ways to keep them organized.
Organizing a chest freezer is not that expensive if you know the proper way of doing that. In this article, you’ll find the small tips and tricks to keep organize the freezer along with a list of some great tools that’ll make your job easier.
How to organize a chest freezer? (Tips and tricks)
Here are some tips and tricks that will help you organize your chest freezer:
Categorize the food
When you buy your groceries, make sure you categorize them in different segments, like meat, frozen items, vegetables, liquid items, etc. Categorizing is extremely important when it comes to organizing a chest freezer. When you’ll separate your food items into different groups, you will easily know which items are in which group. Therefore, you won’t have to keep on digging to find one item.
Put each group in one storage box: Once you have categorized your food items, store each group in one box. In order to find them easily, you can buy colored boxes from the container store. For each group, specify one color, such as: keep the vegetables in a green box, meat in the red one, frozen items in the white one and so on.
Label the boxes
Colored boxes will help you find the items easily, without any searching. But it still needs some memory game.
In order to simplify the process, you can label each box by mentioning the following things:
- Name of the items inside the box
- Date of purchase
- Date of expiration
Labeling the above facts will let you know what items need to be finished soon and what items are not fresh for eating.
Layer the boxes
After you have labeled the boxes, layer them according to your need. At the bottom of your chest freezer, keep the items that you don’t use on a regular basis. Ground meat, fish, pork, etc. that may you’ll grab once a week. On the second layer, put the boxes you generally tend to reach frequently. For example, vegetables, frozen food, etc. Finally, on the top layer, put the boxes that you grab every day and the items that might go bad easily.
Prepare a checklist
It can be very hard to keep track of the food items that are deep inside a chest freezer. People generally tend to forget about the items that are in the bottom of the freezer. In order to keep track, you can either prepare a checklist and hang it on the freezer or you can maintain an inventory on your phone. To make it easy for you, you can simply put the names and the numbers of the items you have and after each week, you can cross it out depending on your consumption. At the end of the week, you can write down what’s left and what needs to be finished soon.
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Organizing tools for the chest freezer
Upright freezers come with racks that simplify the task of organizing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t keep a chest freezer organized. There are several amazing tools that will help you keep your chest freezer organized. Chest freezers are affordable and provide great space. So, you certainly won’t want to buy organizing equipment that is way too expensive. The following tools are not only inexpensive, but they are also extremely useful.
Storage boxes
There are various organizing tools like boxes, baskets, bins, bags, etc. that you will easily find in the dollar store or the container store at a very cheap price. They are not only inexpensive but also very user-friendly. They keep the space tidy and organized. Before you buy any storage boxes, make sure you measure the freezer first. It will help you decide what sizes of boxes will fit your freezer.
Storage boxes come in different colors and types. You can place different food items in different colors. So, whenever you are buying storage boxes, make sure you buy multiple colors instead of one single color. It will help you find your food items easily. Once you have decided the colors you want to purchase, make sure that the boxes have handles or something to grab. It will help you carry the ice-cold boxes.
Printable checklists
Chest freezers are often compared to black holes. Once you have put the food inside them, you can easily forget about them. A checklist will help you keep track of your food items. You can print the pre-made checklists available on different sites or you can make one of your own. Whichever you choose, make sure that the checklist has the following categories:
- Name of item
- Quantity
- Date of purchase
- Date of expiration
No one likes to keep digging inside an icy freezer and get their hands numb. If you keep a checklist, you’ll easily know what items you have and how many you have left.
Inventory apps
As the world is becoming more tech-friendly, instead of using a printed inventory checklist, you can simply use an app for the purpose. There are several apps to keep track of the inventory. Some of them are Fridge pal, Fridge check, Sortly, My stuff, Home inventory, etc. These inventory apps also offer grocery lists. So, you can note down what items you need to buy. They also notify when an item is about to expire. Hence, these apps are great for keeping you on track and helping to maintain a healthy life.
Plastic crates
Plastic crates are widely popular among shop owners. You can also use them in your home to organize your freezer. They are sold in different stores at a very affordable price. They come in different sizes and colors. Before you purchase them, make sure you measure the room of your freezer and the boxes you’re going to purchase. Plastic crates usually come in bigger sizes. So, they will take up quite a large space and, in some cases, plastic crakes don’t fit inside the chest freezer if the freezer does not have enough space. Hence, measuring is a must when it comes to buying plastic crakes. Having too many storage boxes can be overwhelming. One of the advantages is, you won’t need too many crates. Two or three crates are enough for storing several items. This will save up some space and help you find your items easily.
Reusable bags
Instead of crates and boxes, you can also use reusable bags to store your food items. You can pull the bags whenever you need. They also come in different colors so you can categorize the food into these bags according to the colors. Because the bags are not as stiff as the storage boxes, they are easily bendable and you can place them inside the freezer without measuring. Besides, these bags last a long time as there is no chance of breaking or getting damaged.
Waterproof labels
If you use regular paper to label the food items, they will most likely get wet and you won’t be able to read what you have written down. So, using regular paper for labeling the boxes is not a smart choice especially when you are going to put them inside a freezer. You will easily find waterproof labels on Amazon. You can also use packaging tapes to make your own waterproof labels.
Jugs and bottles for liquids
In order to store liquid items, like milk, juices and so on, you can use plastic jugs. Place a rack on the side of your freezer and put the jugs in them. It will prevent any spilling.
DIY shelves
Shelves are much needs in a chest freezer. Even though you will find shelves in a dollar store at a very reasonable price, you can still make them on your own. Making DIY shelves do not need any extra cost. If you have magazine holders or file holders in your home, you can use them as shelves to organize your food items. If you have spare drawers of your upright freezer or a small clothing basket, you can also use them as a storage basket.
Bottom Line
Organizing a chest freezer is not hard but keeping them organized is a challenging task. The above tips and tools will help you keep a chest freezer organized. Keep in mind that you will have to go through the process frequently. You will need to clean the freezer every once in a while, and keep track of the inventory. Try not to forget about the bottom layer. Check up on the items left at the end of every week. Bring the items on top that need to finish soon. These small little habits will make your life way easier.