Free Up Freezer Space

Is your freezer so full you just don't have room to fit more in?  Are you stuck with a tiny apartment-sized freezer, but would love to prepare meals in advance?  These quick tips will help you make the most of your limited freezer space.

TIP 1: Storing meat.  A family pack of meat runs between 5 and 6lbs, which is perfect for this quick tip.  

Instead of keeping your meat in its original packaging, separate it immediately into portion-sized packages.  To do this we use fold top sandwich bags (cost is about $1 per 100-pack at a big box store) and gallon-sized freezer bags (cost is around $7 per 50-pack at a big box store).  A 1/2lb of ground meat can easily fit inside a fold over sandwich bag, fold the top over, and then pack 12 of those packages into a gallon-size freezer bag, label the bag, and stack.  When using freezer bags for this purpose, I found that zipper bags hold up better than slider bags due to how tightly they will be packed, and in having to open and close them with regularity.  

TIP 2: Storing soups and sauces.  If you're like us, you probably want to have some quick meals on hand.  We found the best way to do this is to use easily stacking freezer containers for premade soups (such as lentil soup, homemade cream of chicken soup, or chicken pot pie) and sauces that can't be canned.  The key here is to get sturdy freezer containers, which come in a variety of sizes and all stack together nicely.  The ones we have, shown right, actually come in three sizes (2 cup, 3 cup and 4 cup), and have a place where you can write in the date and contents with a dry erase marker.  Once you're done with them, wash them up, and they're good as new!  We got ours for just $3.50 for 2 cup (5-pack), a 3-cup (4-pack) or 4-cup (3-pack) from a local store.  

TIP 3: Flatten when you're able with soups, crockpot freezer meal packets, and vegetables.   This works wonderful when we are trying to jam as much garden produce into our freezers (yes, we have deep freezes these days, but started out with just an apartment-sized freezer) as possible.  Essentially, you're making file folders out of pint freezer bags (around $3 for a 20-pack at a big box store) and quart freezer bags (about $7 for a 60-pack at a big box store).  Label your bags, freeze your bags flat, after insuring all the air is out of them, and then stack like you would file folders in a filing cabinet.  You can also stack them inside freezer bins if you have them.  When using freezer bags, I've found that regular zipper bags hold up better than slider bags.

TIP 4: TV dinners for all.  When tv dinners first became popular in the 1950s, the frozen dinners came in an aluminium tray, which you heated in an oven and actually ate on a tv tray in front of the television with the rest of your family.  They were popular, and eventually became the plastic tray'd meals that we see in grocery store freezer cases today.  We currently make a spin of family-sized tv dinners using aluminium pans from the big box stores, which you can pick up for a couple of dollars.  Take the lid off, and pop them into the oven, and you're ready for a quick dinner while you clean up from the garden, or catch up on some housework.

The aluminium pans stack wonderfully in the freezer, and can make a full course meal for two, or a main dish for more than two, whereas the small loaf pans make great single serve meals or a side dish for two.  The key, is to get only one or two kinds, which stack nicely so you don't use up too much of your freezer space.  If you're careful with the pans you can easily wash and reuse them, although you will have to replace the lids.  (A simple "new" lid can be made from aluminium foil and cardboard.

TIP 5: Use freezer bins/baskets if you have the space.  Not everyone will have the space to use freezer baskets as catch-alls, but I love these plastic baskets with holes in that allow the air to circulate, and can catch all of those half-used bags of vegetables and random single-packs of meat that are floating about.  You'll notice that we use them in our deep freezes for all of our bags of roasts and steaks.

These baskets come in four different sizes, ranging from a shoe box size to almost 11" x 14" x 10", and cost anywhere from $1 to $5 each at big box and dollar stores, depending on the size.  (We actually love them so much that we use them for our produce bins, yarn and craft bins, for all the clothing that doesn't fit nicely into our two dresser drawers, and in organization of our bathroom closet.)

I hope these tips help make some room in your crowded freezers.  What do you do to save space in them?