Mrs. T’s Tips and Tricks: Freezer Cleaning and Organizing
All that fresh produce and sauces we stuff into our freezers before Winter are coming up on their time to go. Spring-cleaning is approaching and while it isn’t the most exciting time of year, it’s a necessity in many households. Cleaning our freezers is one of the more tedious chores we need to check off our lists. Mrs. T’s has compiled tips and tricks to help this daunting task run a little smoother.
How long can food stay in the freezer?
Mrs. T’s Pierogies are good in the freezer for about eighteen months thanks to our Individual Quick-Freezing process. This can cause the pierogies to appear white. When looking at your purchased frozen goods always check the date and label or stack accordingly.
All those fresh veggies from your summer garden are approaching their expiration day. Fresh produce can stay in the freezer for about eight to ten months. Depending on when your harvest was, it may need to be eaten very quickly or get ready to toss it!
Soups and sauces we made in the fall and froze for later have got to go! Soup only lasts about three months in the freezer before accumulating freezer burn. It’s no surprise sauces have a similar freezer life which is four to six months.
Keep track of your freezer foods and stay organized with this simple Freezer Cleaning Checklist!
How to clean out your freezer
Let’s get this thing going shall we!? Take everything out and throw away expired items. A helpful tip is to organize as you go, place similar expiration dates together, it will help later. Anything not being thrown away, place in the fridge.
Once everything is out of the freezer give it a dry wipe down to make sure there isn’t any food debris. Now it’s time to disinfect!
Disinfecting freezer
When disinfecting a freezer don’t forget the door! The drawers may be removable, in that case take those out and clean in between them! If they don’t remove no worries, just get in those crevasses the best you can. Spray and wipe it down with your favorite disinfecting method and you’re good to start organizing!
Freezer organizing hacks
Number One: label, label, LABEL! This is such a huge help when organizing a freezer, it’s absolutely worth the time. Remember when we told you to organize as you take items out? Now is when we are using that. All the items in containers should be clearly labeled with what is in it and the expiration. Any new items you are adding to the freezer should be labeled and put near food in their expiration range. You can order them in the freezer from closest expiration to farthest.
Number Two: Organize any meat you have on the bottom shelf. Place the sides that go with that meat on top. That way when you reach for your beef, your Mrs. T’s Classics are right there ready to go. When you pull out your chicken, your Cheddar Minis aren’t far behind. Grab your shrimp, and well, you get the point your sides will be right where you need them.
Number Three: Items in the back of the freezer are colder than the front! All foods freeze differently and have an ideal freezing temperature. Ice cream should be kept in the back of the freezer where it is colder while fruits and veggies go near the front.
Number Four: When you freeze liquids always leave extra room for expansion and never freeze in glass!
Finally… freeze in portions! This one is great. If you freeze your food in groupings that you can actually eat it’s less likely to go bad. It also comes in handy for when our kids are making their own meals. They can just grab it from the freezer and it’s ready to reheat and eat.
Freezer cleaning is not everyone’s favorite activity, but we hope that you can use some of these tips and tricks to help you in your spring-cleaning journey 😊.
Ready to get organizing? Don’t forget to download your lists and labels.
Need a little extra help? We’ve got you! Mrs. T’s is giving away a Cricut Joy + labeling making bundle! The perfect setup to get your house organized this spring.
CONTEST: Enter to Win a Cricut Joy + Label Making Prize! ($200+ Value)
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>(Contest ends March 31, 2021. Winner chosen at random. Prize includes Cricut Joy, Smart Label™ Writable Paper, Smart Label™ Writable Vinyl, Fine Point Pens, 0.4 mm, and Mrs. T’s Pierogies Labels!)
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