Is Your Freezer A Money Loser?
April 26, 2009
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Posted by admin
An Organized Freezer is Like Money In The Bank
Want to save money? Want to be able to find anything you want in the freezer at any moment with little effort? Well, if you answered yes, this article is for you.
When a freezer gets messed up and item upon items are all piled on top of each other several things happen. First and foremost, you can’t find what you need without having to uncover half the freezer and of course it’s always the last place you look. There goes your time and more electricity, since the freezer is open so long.
Secondly, and don’t laugh, it’s not safe. I have personally been looking for something and a frozen block of meat fell out on my feet!
Third, and most important, is that when you are organized and have an inventory you are not as likely to leave food in the freezer so long that it gets old and freezer burn. When that happens you end up throwing it away. It’s like taking dollar bills and throwing them in the trash!
Before we get started on how to store, label, and inventory your freezer, let’s go over a few basic rules on packaging.
Whenever possible, buy in family packs which is much cheaper and then divide it up when you get home. Depending on how long I think it will be before we eat the meat determines how I package it. I have a vacuum sealer that I use for fish and deer meat because they stay in the freezer longer. I use freezer bags for vegetables, breads, and other items.
The vacuum sealers can be bought for about $59.00 and I think are well worth the expense. Some people still like to use butcher paper also.
When dividing up your family packs of meat you can do this two different ways. Let’s say you are putting away a family size package of pork chops and you would like to be able to get out just one chop at a time. Go to the dollar store and get cheap sandwich bags. It doesn’t matter if they are thick because they will be stored inside a better bag. Wrap each chop in it’s own bag, and then drop the individual bags into a freezer bag of good quality.
Be sure to get all the air out of the freezer bag. Either roll the bag while pushing out the excess air or take a straw and suck out the excess air and seal quickly. Getting the air out is the most important aspect of keeping foods from getting freezer burn.
Getting Organized
I use a black permanent marker to write on the bags. Some people prefer frozen food labels. When labeling your food, be sure and write the the month and year on the package. Example – Pork Chop 3/09. This way you will know what foods are the oldest and need to be eaten first.
When organizing your freezer I recommend putting all beef together, chicken together, etc. I have a very large freezer and have enough shelves to separate all my meats and still have a shelf left for bread, vegetables, etc. I use the door of the freezer for wieners, lunch meats, pot pies, and small items. You may have to arrange differently according to your space.
Keeping An Inventory
Now it is time to go over keeping an inventory. Knowing what you have at all times makes your life so much easier. Inventory can be done on the computer if you have one, or in a spiral notebook.
I keep a chart with everything in my freezer on it. Here’s how it works. on the left hand side of my chart I list the item, such as pork chops, hamburger meat, etc. On the right side of the chart I put how many of each item I have. For example if I have five packages of pork chops then on the right side of the page I write this….5,4,3,2,1. Let’s say tonight I take out a package of chops to eat. I would mark through the number (5). Then I can see I still have four packages of chops left. A very simple method but it works great. I know exactly how much I have without having to dig through the freezer. This will also let you know when it is time to start looking for those sales to restock your favorite items.
Color Coding
I told you earlier that I have enough freezer space to keep a shelf for beef, one for pork, and so on, but for those who don’t have a lot of freezer space, color coding works in the same way. I suggest using the color brown for beef, white for pork, and yellow for chicken. Those are the main ones. You can get peel off colored dots at the dime store to use. This way if you are using butcher paper, you can see from the yellow sticker you are looking at chicken and not pork.
Organizing your freezer, keeping an inventory, and buying in bulk and freezing individually will save you a lot of money and time. I hope this article on organizing your freezer will get you on your way to saving money and an easier time in the kitchen.
Categories: Helpful Home Hints
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Tags: freezer, freezer inventory, freezer storage, organize freezer, save money with a freezer
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