That sounds like a great idea! Mine is a mess, needs thawed out. I use a hairdryer to help it along. Love the idea of the crates.Mine came with one basket and I keep vegies and canned juice in it but the rest is a free-for-all.
Meat doesn't seem to get quite as freezer burned in there as opposed to as the fridge/ freezer because of the defroster.I try to keep long term things in it.

I need to work on my freezer, which is an upright. It has plenty of shelves & a basket in the bottom. We try to organize types of food on different shelves, but if I could further divide the shelves with baskets, that would be even better.

Mine is ready to be defrosted but I just don't have the mental energy to do it yet. However, I took the first small step today and threw out the freezer-burned meat.

My freezer has a side compartment in which I store meat, and a basket for small things like frozen veggies or OJ. The rest is wide open. I really like the idea of using milk crates or smaller wire baskets to divide the large area. The main items in my basement freezer are ice-cream and bread, and the cartons do tend to dent the bread :)

I found

I couldn't find freezer baskets on Lowe's web site. Could you tell me in which section to look? Thanks.

Ourguys, I found them in the store's appliance department, there were only four and were sitting on a table. Perhaps they were clearance, I don't recall. Also, look in the organization isle.

I bought lighting strips at Lowes last month and went back to get more and was told that they had been discontinued.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: I wonder if these are too larger for your needs...

Great idea--I'll use it for sure!

and there are these!

(love those Froogle searches!)

Here is a link that might be useful: wire freezer basket--smaller

I use dishpans in the freezer & also on those skinny non-adjustable shelves in the refrigerator. Easy to clean & easy on the budget.

dishpans are a great idea - do they have a tendency to become brittle after a long time in the freezer? we have a small chest freezer (like a tall cube) that we have not started using yet, but I am really looking forward to it. MUST find a way to keep it organized so it doesn't get out of control!

So far so good. Mine are United Plastic from Cost Cutters for $1 each. I also use them on high shelves in the laundry room to corral cleaning supplies & misc. paints etc. It's easy to grab the whole dishpan & bring it down to find what you need & they keep things from tipping over on the wire shelves.

I used paperboxes with some hand holds in them. Since I don't move them very much I figured they would work just fine. I think the idea of a basket though is to keep air flowing around it. However, these boxes seem to work and I haven't noticed any decrease in stuff being/staying frozen nor have I noticed a decrease in my meat.

I have one for fish/shrimp (yup- we eat a lot), one for chicken and beef. We have one section wall in our freezer- that small part of the freezer has nuts, frozen berries, pumkin mash - that kind of thing. And one box for veggies.

G

Yes the idea must be to keep air flowing. I buy hamburger at BJ's that comes in very handy plastic containers that fit perfectly in our side by side freezer (with a little trimming.) When we had a few day power outage a lot of the food underneath was fine, but the rest of it had defrosted. Not sure if this affects things normally, but I stopped using them because it seems air flow is important to efficiency. Milk crates sound ideal if you have room. Sandy

Milk crates are a great idea, a cheap alternative to expensive freezer baskets!

Here is a link that might be useful: Freezer Basket Options

Ha! I see that I replied to this thread in 2005. Five years later, you'd think my freezer would show significant improvement. But no, it's still quite the mess. At least I'm still reading the thread, though. :-)

I have several wire baskets that fit in my chest freezer. I clean out my freezer every winter-generally on Superbowl Sunday. Haul everything outside( assuming it's under 32 degrees) , clean the freezer, then repack in a semi-organized manner. DH does help with this chore. His reward is he gets to watch the Superbowl. Wasn't last year's great?

I cleaned mine out a couple weeks ago. Ours is in the garage so I put a large window fan on a chair, turned it on and went about my business. Went out every so often to check on it and clear out the ice chunks. Washed it out and turned it back on. It is so nice to drive on the garage and put things in the freezer where they belong. Life is good...

I think wire baskets are a great freezer solution. They tend to be sturdier than some of the cheaper plastic baskets on the market.

Do look for wire that is coated in white vinyl however. Moving around bare wire baskets full of food in sub freezing conditions (i.e. in the freezer) is hard on the fingers!

Here is a link that might be useful: Wire Baskets for Freezers