5 Things You Should Take Out of Your Freezer Right Now
The freezer’s a handy tool for meal planning, preserving summer produce, and more — but if you’re not careful, it can become a black hole (or perhaps, a bright-white, frosted hole?) full of random food you’ll never eat and things you just stuck in there for no reason. And while the freezer (the fridge, too) does run more efficiently when it’s full, it can’t cool your food off as effectively when it’s packed.
While we can certainly give you lots of advice on how to clean and organize your freezer, you might not feel like doing an overhaul right now. So here are five things you can just take out of the freezer right now.
1. That bag of coffee
A some point in time, people started storing bags of coffee (whole or ground) in the freezer. And that’s a bad idea. The freezer is full of moisture, which coffee can absorb if it’s not in an airtight container. This moisture will change the flavor of the coffee and could even make it taste like other items in the freezer. We’re guessing you don’t want pepperoni pizza-flavored coffee, right?
More on Storing Coffee
- The Best Way to Store Coffee
- What’s the Deal with Storing Coffee Beans in the Freezer?
2. Last summer’s peaches
You put these in there last summer with the best of intentions. And now it’s this summer and you still have a bag or three full of frozen peaches. We hate to break it to you, but they’ll only stay tasty in there for up to three months. You’ll want to chuck them to make room for this summer’s haul. Just make sure you actually eat them this time!
See the steps: How To Freeze Peaches
3. That container of frozen food you can’t identify
If you’re not sure what it is you’re looking at now, you’re not going to recognize it four weeks from now. Just get rid of it. And prevent this from happening again: Use making tape from now on to clearly label what it is that you’re putting in there.
4. Those empty ice trays
Whether it has an ice maker or not, almost every freezer in America has an empty ice tray or two. Just sitting in there, taking up space. Either fill them or kick ’em out of the freezer! If you don’t need yours to make actual ice with water, consider filling the trays with leftover coffee, which you can then freeze and use in homemade iced coffees.
5. That wad of cash
Raise your hand if you currently have an envelope of paper money in your freezer. No, we’re not spying on you. You’re just not the only person to think of this hiding spot and it’s also a common place burglars are going to check. If you want to hide money in your house, consider a safe or a less obvious hiding spot.
What’s in your freezer that doesn’t need to be in there?