How To Organize A Deep Freezer In 6 Simple Steps

Are you hiding a messy secret inside your deep freezer? If that’s you, there’s no need to be ashamed because you’re not alone!

I have to confess I was guilty of doing the same not too long ago, my chest freezer was an unorganized nightmare. With food bags shoved in haphazardly and the ice forming into weird shapes around them, my freezer looked more like an endless frozen cave than anything else. But the truth is, I just didn’t know how to organize the space better. And I think you are in the same place.

However, I was adamant to have an organized freezer, and, on a mission, finding an easy solution to organize it. After much trial and error and sifting through tons of tips and tricks online, I finally managed to find surprisingly simple yet effective ways to organize any old deep freezer like a charm.

To organize your deep freezer so that it does not become a dumping ground or ends up overflowing with food and extra meat, I’m going to share some freezer storage ideas with you.

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Steps for Easy Deep Freezer Organization

Step 1: Empty It Out

First thing’s first, you need to take everything out of your deep freezer before you can start assessing the whole situation. You can place all the contents in a cooler; if the surrounding temperature calls for it. Or you could just let it all sit outside as you quickly sort out everything.

Also, don’t forget to keep a trash bag nearby, I’m guessing you’ll need it to toss out any freezer-burned food items you come across during the cleaning out process.

Step 2: Melt The Ice

Next, you need to defrost your entire freezer. Unplug your appliance and either wait for the ice to melt away or scrape it off if you’re in a hurry to finish the job. Once it’s all gone, wipe the inside of the deep freezer to remove any moisture, and there you have it, a clean deep freezer ready for cold storage.

Step 3: Create Broad Categories

Before you begin restocking your deep freezer with food, you need to sort out all the food in categories. You can start with the basics such as frozen fruit, vegetables, frozen meat, milk crates, and desserts. Then split these into subcategories such as keeping the same flavored ice cream together.

Step 4: Time for Freezer Inventory Count

If you’re like me, you too must have lost a good chunk of time looking for frozen food bags inside your deep freezer, but without any luck. Things end up going missing in there, only to turn up months later when they are no longer usable.

But I’ve got the perfect solution to stop you from getting into this situation again. Track your freezer inventory! You can note it all down on a kitchen chalkboard, a notebook, or even a spreadsheet. Believe me when I say this will both save you money and the trouble of looking through everything in your deep freezer.

Step 5: Get Organized

Alright! Once you’ve got your food storage planned out, you can now start putting it into various containers for better organization.

Here are a few affordable freezer organizer options I swear by to keep my freezer neat and sorted.

Reusable Storage Bags

BPA free silicone storage bags have turned out to be a complete lifesaver for me. I can literally store any food item in them, be it a small snack or a fully cooked meal. These bags can handle it all! They’re leakproof and provide up to a gallon of storage per bag.

Freezer Bin

These freezer bins are perfect for storing anything you want to quickly grab out of your freezer. Use those for your never-out-of-stock items, the ones you use every week for example.

What’s even better is that you can adjust the width of the compartments to store food bags of any size.

Cardboard Boxes

Here’s a good way of organizing your deep freezer without spending a dime. Use spare cardboard boxes to store different food categories if you don’t want to go out and buy new organizers.

Freezer Baskets with Handles

Metal organizer baskets are a mainstay, not only in my pantry but also in my deep freezer. With the help of the conveniently built-in basket with handles, I can easily move stuff out of the way if I need to dig deep into my freezer.

Step 6: Put It All Back In

After putting everything in its appropriate container, the last step is to place everything back inside the freezer.

Begin by putting the least used items at the bottom, with the most used ones right at the top.

Step 7: Maintaining An Organized Deep Freezer

The hardest part of organizing anything is maintaining the storage space in the future. For a deep freezer, my best tips are as follows:

Use Ziploc bags or clear and preferably stackable plastic containers to store your food items, this will help you see what you’ve got
Label everything and write down the date of storage or the expiration date (just make sure to be consistent)
Store food items vertically for a quick overview of what you have

Freezer Storage Shelf Rack

Got no more space to put any boxes or containers? No problem!

Use these super handy shelf racks in your deep freezer to store your most used food items right at the top. These make it really easy to use up the left-over vertical space for storage. But don’t be deceived by their appearance; these delicate-looking racks can bear up to 57lbs at a time!

Chest Freezer Organization Ideas: FAQs

Where is the best place to put a deep freezer?

There are many places you can put your deep freezer, depending on the extra space you have available in your home. However, the most common areas where people mostly place a deep freezer are in the kitchen, pantry, basement, garage, closet, or even the laundry room.

All the above-mentioned areas are great places to put your deep freezer. But generally speaking, any well-ventilated area free of moisture that’s easily accessible is a good chest freezer space.

Can a deep freezer sit outside on the porch or in the garage?

The answer to this question is both yes and no.

Not all deep freezers are built the same. Some deep freezers may face issues in their performance due to the moisture in the outside environment. Especially if you live in a coastal area.

Furthermore, fluctuations in temperature at different times during the day may also negatively impact your deep freezer’s compressor, leaving it damaged.

But if your deep freezer is built to handle tougher environments, putting it outside shouldn’t be a problem. For optimum placement of your deep freezer, look through the model’s instruction manual booklet or contact the manufacturer.

Is it better to have a deep freezer full or empty?

Deciding whether to keep your freezer full of food or empty can be a confusing decision to make, but there are some factors that you should consider.

A full freezer makes it easier to quickly grab some quick meals. It will help you make better food choices if you keep lots of healthy frozen meal options in your freezer.

But more importantly, a packed freezer will save you money by cutting down on power costs. With all that food filling the inside of the deep freezer, the freezer won’t have to work as hard at cooling down the empty space, each time you open the door.

How To Organize a Deep Freezer – Wrap Up

Deep freezers can quickly become a pain in the neck if you aren’t paying attention. With so much being stored in the small space, it can be tricky to make sense of your deep freezer’s contents.

You keep on piling things on top of one another. And before you know it, you end up with an overflowing, unorganized mess, with you having zero ideas about what’s stored inside and where it’s stored.

But no need to fret! As long as you follow my simple steps to deep freezer organization, you will never have to worry about opening your freezer door.

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How To Organize A Deep Freezer In 6 Simple Steps

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