A freezer is an essential part of the home: storing leftovers from delicious meals shared with friends and family, ice cubes for your favorite drinks, and quick and easy mid-week meals.
But, they can be difficult to organize – and keep organized – and no one likes searching through frosty containers and mountains of unidentified items.
So, why not take it from those who have already perfected their freezer organization? Here, professional organizers share what people with organized freezers always do, so you can organize your freezer and keep your food accessible.
1. Use clear containers with tight lids
While there are a long list of items not to store in the freezer, in terms of the organization itself, your freezer can present its own set of challenges.
Ben Soreff, professional organizer at House to Home Organizing, says, 'Deep freezing your leftovers can be appealing, but if we actually want to get them out again, avoid the aluminum foil guessing game,' he advises. 'All prepared foods, meals, and leftovers should go in clear containers with a tight lid.'
Ideally, Soreff recommends a freezer-safe clear glass container as the best option, so it can be used in the freezer, oven and microwave. 'A clear lid would also be the gold standard,' he adds.
Whilst the containers may be clear, it doesn't hurt to use freezer safe labels from Amazon, as once the items are frosty, it might not be easy to figure out what the contents are. More on labeling in section three, below.
All prices correct at time of publication.
This set of glass food storage containers comes in a variety of sizes, designed with hinge snap lock lids to prevent leaks and spillages.
These food containers feature a non-toxic, perfect-fit lid, while the BPA-free glass resists stains and odor absorption.
This set of two glass food storage boxes are modular, for space-saving stacking in your freezer.
2. Group similar items together
A great way to find what you're searching for is by grouping like items together: keep frozen vegetables in one section, meat in another, and leftovers together for example. This makes it easy to organize and therefore find later.
Sarah Moonshine, founder of Sunlight Home Organizing, says. 'Group similar items together, such as vegetables, nuts, fruit or frozen meals, and store them in clear bins for easy access.
'Bins create categories for each type of item so that everyone can find what they are looking for,' and are ideal for freezer storage and organization.
These modular and stackable freezer bins are designed to fit most freezer drawers, and include a removable divider.
3. Label items
Robyn Reynolds, founder of Organize2Harmonize, also recommends labeling freezer items to make identification easy.
She says, 'In regards to organized freezers, prepared food is always labeled with the dates when it was cooked, and all plastic storage bags are labeled.'
This is best done by writing on sticky notes or masking tape, such as Scotch Masking Tape available at Amazon, with a permanent marker, such as the Sharpie Permanent Markers available at Walmart, as this can then be easily peeled off when boxes and bags need relabeling. This is also a good way of organizing a refrigerator, too.
4. Eat the food regularly
As professional organizer Soreff points out, 'Because we don't have the freezer door open long, and we don't browse the freezer like you would the pantry, items in the back of the freezer tend to fall into the out of sight out of mind category.
'Often because the freezer seems like such a long-term storage solution, we forget to actually eat the food. Build a freezer audit or freezer meal night into your schedule,' which is the perfect way to test out new party food recipes, Italian recipes and everything in between.
Head of Solved at Homes & Gardens, Punteha van Terheyden uses a magnetic white board from Amazon to note all her freezer meals and other stock, which both she and her husband keep updated when they use or consume any items from the freezer.
She adds, 'Sometimes, we don't keep on top of that list as closely as we should, so every three months, we pull everything out, get rid of the items we haven't eaten and never fancy, then reorganize and update the stock list.'
With a weekly view and categorized shopping list, this meal planner is a brilliant way to meal plan around your frozen food.
5. Divide items into single use portions
Finally, professional organizer Moonshine says, 'Divide items such as meats or berries into smaller, single-use portions to make defrosting easier.'
This will also ensure that leftovers actually get eaten, which will make cleaning a freezer and keeping it in good, working condition, easier, too.
Head of Solved freezers different portion sizes and labels them per family member. She says, ' This comes in very handy on nights when my husband is working, and my daughter eats before he's home. It stops wastage too.'
If you're organizing a chest freezer, our expert-led guide breaks down the task to make it simple.
