Your Freezer Could Use Organizing, Here's Some Expert Advice

It's quite easy to let your freezer become a bit of a mess, wherein it's impossible to find anything, and you forget about which foods you've frozen. For tips on keeping your freezer organized, Daily Meal spoke with an expert: Maria Baer, the founder of The Baer Minimalist, an in-home organizing company.

When it comes to storing food in the freezer — such as meat and veggies that you bought in bulk to save money or even already-cooked meals that you're saving for later — Baer recommends transferring them to containers that stack easily. Baer says, "The original packaging is often flimsy and doesn't provide a strong enough barrier against cold air circulation, leading to frostbite or spoilage over time." She recommends airtight containers or freezer bags — and we agree that using zip-up bags is one of the best ways to maximize your freezer space.

As for making sure that you don't let all of the stored food in the freezer go to waste, Baer says to make sure that you label all of it with the date that it was stored. If you use airtight containers, you can even place the label on the side, so that you can see the date when you open the freezer door, without having to pick up the container or move anything around.

If you've stored food in the freezer, then you've most certainly come across freezer burn — when patches of ice crystals appear on the exterior of food. While foods impacted by freezer burn are still safe to eat, the flavor may be impacted, which we definitely don't want. After all, storing food in the freezer is supposed to keep it fresh, not deteriorate the quality. 

The scientific reason that freezer burn happens comes down to how the food is stored. If the food is exposed to cold and dry air — in other words, the condition of the freezer — then it loses moisture, thus leading to freezer burn. One of the best ways to keep the food from being exposed to the harsh, cold air? Airtight containers. If you're food is sealed up tight in an airtight container or a properly zipped up bag, you'll be able to nicely organize your freezer, and your food should stay fresh and freezer burn-free until you're ready to use it. Then, all you have to do is make sure that you keep in mind how long meats and other foods keep in the freezer.