How to Organize Your Freezer for $2 (or Meat Jenga)

Dollar Store Baskets

Because I buy beef from a cow share, the freezer gets pretty full pretty fast. In my early days of bulk buying, I stacked the cuts of meat on top of each other on the freezer shelves. When I wanted to get a piece out it was a balancing act – a little game of meat Jenga. When you pull out the wrong piece you get a meat avalanche. (Note: When a 5 lb brisket lands on your bare foot, it hurts.)

In addition to dangers of creating a meat avalanche, my set-up wasn’t using the freezer space efficiently. And when you have 40+ pounds of meat in your freezer, every inch counts. When I was organizing my closet, I bought some small, cheap plastic baskets to throw my socks, belts and scarves in. I grabbed up an extra and stuck it in the freezer. Viola! It worked like a charm. Now my meat is all stacked up nice and neat. And my feet are safe.  

Seriously though you should try this. Because let’s face it, no one wins at meat Jenga. Not even the meat.