Five Cool Small Freezer Storage Tips
March 3, 2008 by Jennifer Chait
Filed under Home & Living
Freezer storage is a pain. I want a big fatty freezer, but the energy drain on one of those monsters is huge, even with the most energy efficient freezers. Thus, I have learned to live with small freezers. Here are five basic freezer storage tips I’ve picked up over the years.
Berry storage: If you grow berries or buy organic berries in season (you should) the problem is that you’ll end up with too many. Unless you make berry everything for weeks on end, you could be in trouble. To freeze berries right, you can do one of two things. Either place the berries (not-touching) on a cookie sheet and freeze. Then transfer to a square container for long-term storage. I like this plan in theory, it stops berries from clumping together as they freeze. However, have you ever tried this with blueberries? Yes, they do roll all over your kitchen.
What I did was buy a big mini ice cube tray. You can find them with 90 count cubes and 60. Fill them up with berries, freeze, and pop them out like ice cubes. Then freeze in a baggie or square container for long term storage.
Don’t freeze leftovers: I never freeze leftovers. Frozen leftovers tend to go to waste because I forget about them. All leftovers do is take up valuable storage space. Better options are to plan meals better so you only make enough for one meal, or plan on eating the leftovers tomorrow for lunch.
Store in clear: I like old school Tupperware (cool colors and cheap) but you can’t see squat through avocado and burnt orange. If you freeze in plastics buy clear so you don’t forget about items.
Store in square: Once I got a good deal on some round freezer containers. The deal was not so great in the long run though because my freezer is not round. Round containers take up too much space, and worse, leave empty space that raises your electric bill.
Four fun things to store in the freezer: Lastly, not so much a storage saving tip but still useful; here are four things that you can store in the freezer that some people don’t know about – at least some people I know. Marshmallows, honey, nuts, and bulk popcorn. All of these foods fare better, and stay fresher, in the freezer than out of it.
What’s your best freezer storage tip?
Great tip on the mini ice cube tray! I shop at farmer’s markets for organic berries, and this is a great way to extend the short but sweet peak berry season. I purge my freezer periodically. After figuring out what has been in there for a while, I plan my meals around those things until they are used up.
Thanks Michele. I got sick of rolling fruit – plus you can use the trays for a ton of other things. Purging is good – I don’t do it that often, but I rotate so, it’s close.
Thanks for the great berry tips. I keep my extra flour in the freezer too. It keeps my pantry shelves free and I know I always have at least one more bag of flour in the freezer for those days when I get crazy baking. I haven’t put any whole wheat flour in the freezer. I’m new to the whole wheat scene and I’ve heard it’s a little more finicky, so any advise on that would be great.
I’m not a baking expert at all, but I do freeze my flour when I first buy it to kill any bugs or microorganisms (I buy natural bulk). I don’t store white flour in the freezer though because I don’t have the space.
Technically you shouldn’t freeze store wheat flour, but only because you should use it really fast. Wheat flour already starts to lose nutrients as soon as you grind it (or so I’ve heard and read). You should buy the freshest wheat flour you can, and use it quick – I know that’s not real convenient but what are you gonna do….
Great ideas Jennifer! Thanks for sharing. I love berries. Yum.
Hey Julie, I like berries too – but I like cherries best. They don’t freeze so well though (at least I don’t think so).
My daughter has a new-found love for berries so I will definetly be looking getting the mini ice trays to freeze them. Thank!!!!
I freeze cooked rice. Then after it’s thawed, just fry it in a skillet along with onion, garlic, sweet peppers and such. Or toss into pot with soup. Works for me.
Oh, also I freeze unbaked muffins. When ready to bake, just place them in a muffin pan, into the oven for the usual baking time plus 5-10 minutes. And – voila – freshly baked muffins. (On my blog are photos and such about it.) Simply amazing how it works.
Make the whole box of pasta and freeze the leftovers. I freeze it in zip top bags and then lay them flat on a shelf, after they are frozen, I can stand them up in very little space. They can fill up all those nooks and cranies.