From as far back as I can remember, my refrigerator has always been pretty much packed with food. As a matter of fact, every time I open it to put something in I mumble to myself....."I wish I had more room." Each time I watch a cooking show, whether it's shot on a set or in someone's home, I'm always shocked at the fact that a lot of the time when they put something in the refrigerator to chill, it's practically bare. Some (Ina's) are so bare it almost echos.
I don't know about you but if I have to put a container of brined chicken in my fridge or a cookie sheet of pastry to chill, I have to do some major overhauling and rearranging. I used to have a spare fridge down in my basement but it died. Since its demise, I've been severely inconvenienced.
The one I had in my basement was a big old Frigidaire that was given to us by my in-laws when they bought a new one back in the 70's and lord only knows how old it was to begin with. I used to store cold drinks, beer and other assorted stuff and it was great for thawing a frozen turkey at Thanksgiving. I remember throwing a load of laundry in the dryer and hearing a strange groan coming from it. I went back down later and opened the door to see if it was still cold, found it was deader 'n a doornail and shed a tear or two.
I have a huge upright freezer downstairs but I don't seem to use it wisely. I'm always buying stuff on sale and throw it in there (wrapped carefully, of course) but I never seem to utilize much of it. A few months ago I cleaned the whole thing out and am embarrassed to admit how old the dates were on a few of the items. What I do, though, is keep a notebook of what's in there, which is a big help and saves me time looking through everything to see if 'maybe' I have a particular item. I have sections for Beef, Pork, Fish and Misc and write down the date, the item and what it's packaged in.
Well we have two, refrigerators, and a large upright freezer, the double french door with bottom freezer in the kitchen, the others in the garage and there still is times we run out of space. We buy a lot of stuff on sale then repackage it, so the amount is right for us. Best thing I ever bought was a vacuum sealer saves us from freezer burns and spoilage.
__________________ prepared with passion and served with love !
We live in a rental (no garage), and I would love to have another fridge or at least a small freezer, I have to rearrange the freezer every time I pull something out, what a pain.
I agree on vacuum sealing, I am amazed how much better food is when frozen vacuum sealed, I have even frozen cooked chicken vacuum sealed and it tasted as if it had never been frozen, I will do it again because it is nice having cooked chicken breast for chicken salad, quesadillas, etc...
I have my "old" refrigerator and a new upright freezer in my basement.
I keep most of the frozen foods (meats, fish, sauces, bread and pastry doughs) in the freezer. I keep it at -20F and most of the storage is done in vacuum sealed bags. I can safely keep stuff in it for 9 to 15 months, if necessary
The refrigerator in the basement is kept fairly light so I can move trays and platters and tubs of stuff into it. I actually brine in the vegetable drawers, water tight and cold - perfect place.
But hey, that's a good thing! 
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