CLEAN OUT and ORGANIZE YOUR FREEZER

Cathy MendlerHappy New Year!

It’s mid-January, and winter has certainly arrived.

What are your New Year’s resolutions? Or did you decide not to make any this year? Do whatever feels most comfortable for you.

Chances are you don’t remember the last time you cleaned out your freezer.

We’ve had a lot of extremely cold weather already this winter. Take advantage of it, and clean out your freezer.

CLEAN OUT and ORGANIZE YOUR FREEZER

Step 1 – Remove Food

Remove all frozen food from your refrigerator freezer or deep freezer. Place food in an alternate location–refrigerator freezer, deep freezer, garage or a neighbour’s freezer. Or you can store food in coolers filled with ice. I use laundry baskets to hold frozen food and put it in our garage.

Discard any items that show signs of freezer burn or that won’t be eaten.

Step 2 – Clean Out Freezer

  • Check your owner’s manual.
  • Turn off and unplug your deep freezer. Leave the doors or lid open.
  • Once the ice is melted, remove any water.
  • Wipe out your freezer and any shelves or baskets with warm soapy water. I prefer to use baking soda and warm water.
  • Don’t forget to wipe down the outside of your freezer too.

Food Storage Guidelines

How Long You Can Freeze Everything, In One Chart

How Long You Can Store (Almost) Anything in the Fridge, Freezer and Pantry

Step 3 – Refill the Freezer

Once your freezer is clean, plug it in and turn it on. Check your owner’s manual regarding the length of time required before putting food back into the freezer. 

Some suggestions:

  • Group like items together–meat, vegetables, butter, ice cream, etc.
  • Place containers in your freezer to hold small items.
  • Keep frequently used items close to the front or top to allow easy access.
  • Label items so everyone can find them easily.
  • Put a date on items and/or containers.

Clean out your freezer on a regular basis–just before green bin or garbage day.

Remember – Many food items have best before dates. It’s helpful to follow the First In, First Out principle. Use the oldest items first. When unpacking groceries, place new items behind/under the older items. This seems like it should be common sense, but I’m surprised how many clients don’t do this.

Now that you’ve cleaned out your freezer, keep going and clean out your kitchen cupboards too. Check out our archived Organizing Your Kitchen blog post.  

Get started and turn over another leaf!

Until next month,

Cathy Mendler