Unlike my fridge\u2014with its many drawers, shelves, and condiment racks for storage\u2014my bottom-drawer freezer functions like a toy chest. It\u2019s easy to toss something in, and even easier to lose it in a jumble of bagged vegetables and fruits, impulse buys from Trader Joe\u2019s, and various mystery containers.<\/p>\n
I know I\u2019m not the only one who treats their freezer like the land that time forgot. Recently, when a community member asked our Food52 Collective<\/a> for tips on how to get her freezer in shape, it triggered a chorus of sympathetic complaints, and motivated me to bring order to my own frozen abyss.<\/p>\n I compiled some of the best tricks, tips, and steps I took to make my freezer functional again, gleaned from our previous kitchen storage reporting<\/a> and our in-house experts, the Food52 community. Here are the six cardinal rules I\u2019ve learned to keep your freezer from becoming a black hole.<\/p>\n Set a realistic deadline to remove the food that doesn\u2019t deserve to take up any more freezer space. Then be ruthless in your jettisoning.<\/p>\n Given the sad, sorry state of my freezer (hello stray ravioli and open bag of peas!), I gave myself a week to eat what could be consumed. Then, I composted any freezer-burned food and all items of questionable origin. (I live near a site that takes all food waste, which comes in handy during cleaning sprees.)<\/p>\n1. Determine what\u2019s worth saving<\/h2>\n