What are good storage bins for freezer

[RobG]

I put my meat in cardboard boxes. My shanks go in one box, steaks in other, etc. I'm looking for something better that will allow the air to circulate and freeze the meat quicker. Maybe milk crates? Are there good stackable wire baskets?

 

[thomas89]

I like milk crates. Think I got a few from Home Depot.

Metal wire anything ends up rusting over time in a freezer, just doesn’t look as clean as I’d like in my freezers.

 

[Gellar]

I’m going to be no help but I got an upright freezer last year and I’ll never go back!

 

[hank4elk]

Orange or onion sacks made from plastic is what I use , an open box on one side under the basket. Pretty east to find stuff.

 

[MThuntr]

Right now mine is a tangled mess with no rhyme or reason. Milk crates seem to be a great idea. I do have some meat in cotton reusable shopping bags. They seem to hold up well but still require digging.

Ideally I'd like to get rid of the big chest freezer and go to an upright freezer.

 

[Bob-WY]

We got a second freezer, a chest freezer, this year. We then went to Walmart and bought 4 "milk" crates. Plastic, handles and air flow. They perfectly fit into the freezer, can stack them 2 high and 2 side by side. The right side of the freezer has a shelf with a basket on top of that.

Put burger, in 1 pound backs stacked on the shelf, then into the wire basket. That's the right 25% of the freezer and about 40 pounds of burger easy to get to.

Each milk crate gets a different animal: antelope steak, deer steak, hopefully elk steak. We move meat to the stand up freezer as needed which also has fish, vegetables and random store bought stuff.

This is our first year like this, so far, going into it, seems to work. Should solve that "what's at the bottom" dilema, just pull out a crate, grab from the lower one and put the top on back in.

 

[noharleyyet]

I’m going to be no help but I got an upright freezer last year and I’ll never go back!

I've one of each...the upright is by far the user friendliest with a smaller footprint. Door storage is nice too.

 

[Potsie]

Even with an upright, milk crates are still awesome. Even though I need to pull the specific milk crate out that I'm going for, they keep the packages from spreading out, and keeps packages from falling out when you open the door. Plus it's nice to have a venison HB crate, a beef HB crate, Beef Steak, Beef Roast, Venison Roast etc....

Between three upright freezers and 6 different types of meat (bear, deer, elk, beef, pork, lamb) we're heavily invested in the milk crate system.

 

[Trial153]

Milk creates sound like a great I idea. I have two large chest freezers. I am going to sell on this spring and buy an upright also. I can’t stand the lack of organization

 

[Redman]

Why have I not thought of this! I am going to invest in some milk crates.

 

[belshawelk]

I assume you are talking about a chest freezer and not a stand up. I switched to stand up with shelves. Solves all the problems listed.

I have a fish shelf, elk shelf, beef shelf, chicken/pork shelf and other shelf. Air circulates so much better. I can see whats in it and rotate things without them getting buried.

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

Best option is an upright freezer by a long margin. That said I have a chest now, and I took measurements and ordered crates similar to milk crates that stack (making it easy to get to stuff on the bottom), and are the right dimensions for the freezer that maximized storage space.

A little bit of a tangent, but Amazon sells freezer alarms for cheap and is a great insurance policy should your freezer shit the bed...

 

[BillDoe708]

Yes standard milk creates

 

[RobG]

Yes, I have a chest freezer. I also put some of my stuff in reusable cotton grocery bags. That works pretty good.

 

[Bob-WY]

Stand ups also benefit from crates. Last year with 2 elk in a stand-up shelves were so full it was an avalanche waiting to happen

Frozen meat doesn't stack well

 

[Boarmaster]

I use plastic covered wire baskets that nest as the product is used. Mine dont fit just right so they are not as efficient as they could be. So this year I am going to get some that fit better. I used boxes before. When this chest freezer craps out I will go with a upright. Im getting to old to be freezer diving for dinner.

 

[Pucky Freak]

Great topic! I am picking up my new chest freezer tomorrow and will be working on an organization system.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Depends on your freezer size and what not. For my chest freezer a clothes hamper fit perfectly which allows me to pull all meat out with handles.

Milk crates are always a safe bet as well. Just kind of what works in your particular freezer.

 

[Pucky Freak]

I had hoped to complete my freezer project before posting, but after 2 years I still have not installed the final step of a wall shelf. I am posting now instead while doing my first defrost & clean instead. Here is the empty wall space for a shelf:


Middle, top, and bottom rows of storage bins:


Freezer is GE chest 15.7 ft3.

Storage is:
-25L collapsible plastic storage bins x6
-16L collapsible plastic storage bins x2
-GE top storage bins x4 (unit comes with 2)
-Top Design heavy duty cotton reusable grocery bags x 2

The collapsible bins are made in China and sold under a variety of off-brand labels, like Uumitty, Jekiyo, or Nikesh. They are strong and hold 100% full of frozen meat, and are not overly-brittle when cold. The one downside is sometimes a panel tends to pop out when handled (to collapse it), but it easily snaps back in place. This can also be remedied by hot glue to permanently keep the 3D shape though.

I measured the actual dimensions of all 14 storage containers and cumulative volume comes to 10 ft3. A loss of 1/3 of the total freezer space is worth (to me) the very convenient access to every frozen item in the freezer. I have yet to have any issue with meat getting lost or buried in the bottom, and when it’s time to add new meat it’s super easy to organize. It is no less difficult to navigate than an upright. I drew a visual grid of all bins that I tape to the top of the unit, so I never have to dig to look for something.


An upright freezer still has an advantage of a smaller footprint, but a wall shelf above the chest makes the trade-off more negligible. I will probably never buy an upright because the air circulates reducing the lifespan of frozen game meat, and the only remaining significant advantage of an upright is you don’t have to defrost it. Just doing my first defrost in 2 years though, is little trouble.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

I had hoped to complete my freezer project before posting, but after 2 years I still have not installed the final step of a wall shelf. I am posting now instead while doing my first defrost & clean instead. Here is the empty wall space for a shelf:
View attachment 292818

Middle, top, and bottom rows of storage bins:
View attachment 292823View attachment 292824View attachment 292820

Freezer is GE chest 15.7 ft3.

Storage is:
-25L collapsible plastic storage bins x6
-16L collapsible plastic storage bins x2
-GE top storage bins x4 (unit comes with 2)
-Top Design heavy duty cotton reusable grocery bags x 2

The collapsible bins are made in China and sold under a variety of off-brand labels, like Uumitty, Jekiyo, or Nikesh. They are strong and hold 100% full of frozen meat, and are not overly-brittle when cold. The one downside is sometimes a panel tends to pop out when handled (to collapse it), but it easily snaps back in place. This can also be remedied by hot glue to permanently keep the 3D shape though.

I measured the actual dimensions of all 14 storage containers and cumulative volume comes to 10 ft3. A loss of 1/3 of the total freezer space is worth (to me) the very convenient access to every frozen item in the freezer. I have yet to have any issue with meat getting lost or buried in the bottom, and when it’s time to add new meat it’s super easy to organize. It is no less difficult to navigate than an upright. I drew a visual grid of all bins that I tape to the top of the unit, so I never have to dig to look for something.
View attachment 292816

An upright freezer still has an advantage of a smaller footprint, but a wall shelf above the chest makes the trade-off more negligible. I will probably never buy an upright because the air circulates reducing the lifespan of frozen game meat, and the only remaining significant advantage of an upright is you don’t have to defrost it. Just doing my first defrost in 2 years though, is little trouble.

Awesome organization! I'll have to measure my chest freezer and find some of those. It's too easy for stuff to get lost in the bottom.