‘Carve up’ extra space in your freezer and ‘maximise storage’ – 5 tips

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Making extra space in your freezer can seem impossible without removing food items, but according to Birds Eye ambassador and food waste expert, Kate Hall, it is possible by simply reorganising it. No matter whether you have a chest, drawer, or upright appliance, some clever re-shuffling is all you need to make your freezer produce more accessible while maximising space. Kate shared her top tips with Express.co.uk for storing your full weekly shop fits, without having to jam products in.

The food waste expert said: “Freezers can often be challenging places to navigate and organise when you have a busy lifestyle or a big family.

“It can be hard to fit the weekly shop in there all at once and jammed-in packages can often rip and tear from the ice, meaning the likes of frozen veggies and fruits can be found in all sorts of crevices.

“But there are lots of solutions! By sharing my favourite ways to keep your freezer an organised dream, I hope to help you maximise all your storage space and ensure that next time you go to cook a meal, you know where everything is!”

Even if your freezer is already full, you can get started on making extra room right away.

Start by removing large items like excessive packaging and extra ice packs. These serve no purpose in a crowded appliance and can free up significantly more space than you may think.

Kate noted that while you can take out anything that won’t help to keep your food extra fresh, you should make sure to hold onto packaging that contains important information.

This includes anything with cooking instructions, best-before dates, contact information and any allergens. She said: “If you’re going to decant food like this then make sure you use biodegradable food-safe freezer bags labelled clearly, then cut out the piece of packaging which holds the information above and attach it to the fridge or freezer door with a magnet.”

As well as removing excess plastic or cardboard, you can also clear out any foods that you know you’ll never eat. If they’re inedible, compost or put them in a food waste bin if possible – and if not, make sure to recycle any packaging.

DON’T MISS…
Safest storage method for boiled eggs to avoid bacteria ‘danger zone’ [REVEAL]
Keep eggs ‘fresh for longer’ and repel bacteria with easy storage tip [INSIGHT]
Hack keeps avocados fresh for two months [TIPS] 

Portioning leftovers is another easy way to free up some room in your appliance without having to actually get rid of any ingredients.

Kate explained: “Frozen food is great because it can be portioned so you only use what you need and put the rest back for later making helping to reduce your food waste and saving you your pennies.

“But multiple half-full boxes of fish fingers or burgers can take up space so consider moving what’s left into food-safe freezer bags to save space.”

If you are going to store opened packaging in your freezer, keeping bags and boxes tightly sealed is essential to avoid making a mess.

Birds Eye, one of the most famous retailers of frozen peas, has announced it will be removing the press-to-close packaging mechanism on its natural vegetable bags to help reduce their plastic usage by 70 percent.

To stop any run-aways, Kate recommended using her easy-cutting hack to keep bags firmly shut. She said: “Simply, cut a large ‘V’ shape at the top of the bag when opening it up to create handles so when you go to close it back up, you can use the two handles to simply knot it together and seal the bag of peas back up.”

For other items, you can use binder clips to hang bags of frozen fruit and vegetables on wire rack shelving in the freezer.

Kate said: “Not only does it help with organisation and utilise all the storage space in your freezer, but it also makes everything really easy to find and sift through when cooking a meal!”

Grouping the contents of a full freezer is a great way to avoid re-arranging it every time you need to look for something. Start by sectioning produce into vegetables, meat, fish, and so on, and use larger boxes or tubs to “carve up” the space.

Kate recommended labelling each area to make it clear where each category lives, making it easier for everyone in your household to navigate a full freezer without pulling things out.

When it comes to larger items like mincemeat, it can often be hard to find storage space for them in the freezer. The food waste expert said: “I recommend decanting the meat into a food-safe zip lock bag and rolling it out flat to maximise storage.

“Then, with a chopstick, create vertical and horizontal indents into your meat (almost as if you’re creating a noughts and crosses grid) depending on how many portion sizes you’d like. Make sure you press the whole way down so the sections of meat can snap off easily once frozen this means you don’t have to defrost all the meat at once, helping reduce wastage.”

Source: Read Full Article