Organizing Your Bottom Freezer Drawer

Organizing your bottom freezer drawer is a challenge. Like organization in other areas of the kitchen, it is key to organize your freezer drawer in order to see your items and be able to get to them quickly.  Freezer drawers often don’t have a lot of division or obvious ways of organization.  The drawer can be dark and items difficult to reach. Storage is limited and it is easy for things to get lost.  It can be frustrating to dig through cold items to find what you need.  Organizers like wire baskets, plastic bins and even reusable freezer bags can be a tremendous help.  If your freezer is organized, it also gives you more storage room in your freezer.  Here we will share some tips and methods to help you organize your bottom freezer drawer and make it easier to access all of your freezer items.

Clean Out and Throw Away Items in Freezer Drawer

In order to organize your bottom freezer drawer, you will first need to get everything out of the freezer and clean the drawer out.  If you can, open the freezer and take all of the interior drawers and bins out. You will want to move fast because it is a freezer. Take all of the items out and place them on your counter.  Wipe down the inside of the freezer and the seal as well. Make sure and clean up all of the spills and crumbs because if you are like me, you don’t clean the freezer as often as you should.  If you have your ice in the bottom freezer drawer, clean out the ice and the ice tray as well.  Be sure to wipe it down with a dry towel when you are finished.

Take Inventory of Freezer Items

Take inventory of everything that is on the counter from the freezer.  An inventory tracking system can be very helpful.  Sort all your freezer items into groups. Throw away food that has been in the freezer too long.  We have provided a chart below for a little guidance as to how long items should be kept in the freezer.

Freezer Storage Chart 

Sort Items in Freezer Drawer

Once you have thrown away all the old food, you can begin to sort your items into different groups.  Try to group your items by meats, dairy items, soups, desserts, frozen fruits and frozen veggies. Then, also group together quick take items like your pizzas, eggos and breads.  Group your items into piles on your counter so that you can really see what you have.  

Consolidate and Label Freezer Items

Once you have sorted your items, you can consolidate and label the items if desired.  In order to save space, look at the items that are in boxes. Can you do without the boxes?  I know that I don’t need to look at the box anymore to toast an eggo or bake a pizza. If you can do without the boxes, throw away the box and just use the inner bag.  If it does not come with an inner bag, use a ziplock bag instead. I have found it is even better to use all ziplock bags. Ziplock freezer bags save a lot of space compared to tupperware.  The zip lock bags close and stack easier than the bag from the store as well. This will save you a lot of frustration trying to get these items back into the freezer…no more trying to jam the box into a non-square space.  It is also helpful to take a sharpie and label the items with the contents and the date. If the bag is loose, you can also wrap it with a rubberband to save even more space.   

Item Placement in the Bottom Freezer Drawer

Now that you have sorted your freezer items, you can determine where to place the groups of items within the freezer.  The items that you access the most should be placed in the top drawer of the freezer. Your quick take freezer items, frozen fruit and frozen veggies should go in the top drawer.  Items such as your pizzas, eggos and breads. Your meats, dairy items, soups and desserts should go in the bigger bottom of the drawer. Once you determine the size of each group of items that you typically have and where you are going to place it, you can determine what you would like for bins in order to keep everything sorted.

Bins and Containers for the Freezer

You are now ready to determine what you need for containers.  You can use wire bins, plastic bins or even cardboard boxes if you would like.  I prefer plastic bins. If you use plastic bins, you can pull out the individual bin and easily clean it out and put it back.  Examine each group of items that you have and the spot in the freezer that you would like to place the group. Do your best to either fashion cardboard boxes to fit into the space.  Or, order or go to your local dollar store to get some bins to accommodate your items. If you have to order your bins, carefully put your groups back into the freezer so that you can fit the bins when they come in.  When you have your bins matched to your groups and fitted to the freezer, place the bagged food in the bins and the bins in the freezer.  

Organizing your bottom freezer drawer is something that you and your family will appreciate on a daily basis.  You will be surprised what kind of things sink to the bottom of your freezer drawer. If you take the time one morning to go through the relatively quick process of organizing your freezer items and then purchase dividers to keep it sorted, you will only have to maintain the organization once in awhile.  Your freezer will hold more items as well. All of your freezer items will be easy to find and therefore more eating of the food and less waste!