When it comes to food preservation and storage, one of the best ways to save food is in the freezer.
Think of the freezer as a way to put a pause on the expiration date of any food you purchase.
If you want to start buying in bulk and freezing food, you will need to make good use of your freezer with proper organisation.
Start with a Clean Slate
Before you start organising food in your freezer, clean it out and see what you’re working with.
If you try to organise it without cleaning it out first, it’s going to be a lot of work for food items you probably could have just thrown away.
Once you go through everything and throw away anything that is expired, take the older food items that will spoil faster, and move it toward the front of your refrigerator so it gets used first.
In your freezer, throw out anything that is freezer burned or you know you aren’t going to use.
Label Everything
Every time you put something in the freezer that is homemade or put in a different package than original packaging, it needs to have a label on it.
Trust me, no matter how much you think you will remember exactly what is in those storage containers or freezer bags, you will probably forget.
Plus, this lets you put the date on it so you know when it needs to be used or thrown away.
Freeze Individual Items as Necessary
You might buy items in bulk that you know you don’t want to use or defrost all of at one time.
This is when removing the items into smaller bags is necessary.
Whether buying large boxes of items at Costco and other big box stores, or just awkwardly-shaped boxes that don’t fit well.
Go Flat and Vertical
To fit items better in your freezer, try to keep items as flat as possible.
This means using more of your freezer bags to store things flat and vertical in your freezer, instead of trying to fit a bunch of boxes in there that are only half-full.
When you move items to freezer bags, you can fit a lot more since you don’t have that extra packaging that takes up space and is really not necessary.
Just be sure you label these bags so you know what is in them.
