Deep Freezer Organization

[Stalker69]

Un upright makes it so much easier. The only thing I use my chest freezer for is on my trailer to keep game frozen from field to home, then process it ,wrap it and it goes into the up right.

 

[MThuntr]

I was using boxes and small crates to separate meat but I always seem to find odds and ends and have to dig to find what I want because I get lazy with organization. Right now I have 2 small to medium sized chest freezers and don't have much room. Standup freezer is the way to go and will definitely buy one after the holidays. Locally freezers are next to impossible to get.

I've also found that little plastic bins and crates will become extremely brittle at those temps and most of mine are missing handles or are cracked beyond repair.

 

[Lytro]

Thanks for all the input fellas. I ended up buying a 7 cubic foot upright for the garage and have it filled from top to bottom with all my roasts, backstraps, and tendies. My deep freeze (I think 9 cubic foot) is about 2/3 full of ground, blade roasts, and shanks. I found that 24 ct bottle beer boxes are the the exact width of the inside of the freezer and have been perfect for keeping all the ground tubes organized nicely. I've processed and packaged 8 deer so far this year, so I should be able to fit 2 more with this set up depending on how much extra space I take up once I stuff sausages and snack sticks after the season.

 

[idcuda]

Don't do an upright. They are typically frost free. They cycle the temp and wreck your food quickly. Also all the cold spills out when you open it. Chest is only way to go.

I've heard that before but have never seen any evidence of it. I've had an upright and chest for many years and they both keep stuff frozen. Maybe certain brands have issues?

Not sure how the cold spilling out has any bearing on its utility, either.

 

[manitou1]

Milk crates.
Make a diagram and tape it inside the lid... or outside. You can sort by species, cuts, etc. We don't worry about rotating as most is eaten within a year or a bit more. When a new season comes around and adding fresh kill, pull the crates and put older stuff, what little is left, on top.

 

[footingit]

Standup freezer is a god send if you can get one. We use cheap Sterilite bins and organize by type of meat. That lets you stack each shelf very full and you can still get stuff in and out pretty easily. The only problem is you lose a bit of space between the bins.

I have one shelf that’s the “eat next” shelf and move older items to it whenever I add something new.

 

[Steve from GA]

I've heard that before but have never seen any evidence of it. I've had an upright and chest for many years and they both keep stuff frozen. Maybe certain brands have issues?

Not sure how the cold spilling out has any bearing on its utility, either.

100% agree. I have a new GE frost free upright freezer and it never goes above 5 F. On top of that, a turbo freeze mode kicks in after the door has been open, and it’s back below zero in minutes. I believed the frost free hype as well, but my new GE debunks it.

 

[NV HUNTER]

I wanted a bigger upright, but they are like nevada big horn sheep tags!!!
So I was able to get a large chest freezer. Target had some plastic totes, labeled the top with tape. Very organized. It holds 10 of these!

 

[edcrosbys]

Not sure if this counts for organization, but we use a wet-erase marker on the door of the upright freezer. Add something in, update the list. Remove something, update the list. Helps prevent things from getting moved around and "forgot" about.

 

[journeyman713]

I've been using shoe boxes, works great, no wasted room.
Pack when meat isn't frozen yet, stacks well, new stuff to the bottom.

 

[camping1601]

One thing I do is say I have 100 # of burger I'll layer say on the bottom and cover it with a piece of cardboard cut to fit the freezer. This creates kind of a false bottom to put everything else onto in boxes. By the time it's needed there's usually half as much meat left on top of it so it gets cycled in and the cardboard comes out.