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Roll_Bones

Master Chef
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I have had two questions I wanted to ask about and both are on differeing subjects. Well here goes anyway.

1) Bar Keepers Friend. Since I cannot find it in the store I looked online as I am a Amazon Prime member.
They have several products. I want it for my stainless pans. Which formula should I look for? Powder? Or the liquid cleanser? Spray bottle?

Question Two:

We discussed chest freezers in another thread and my question there was keeping up with things inside it along with easier access to them.

As of this point, I have a small table next to the freezer as I must almost empty it looking for items. There is always more stuff hidden down in the bottom.
Right now, the freezer items are vacuumed packed and put into plastic grocery store bags. My idea was to get some inexpensive reusable carry home grocery bags. Then tying a string onto it with a label attached and allow the strings to either hang outside the freezer or lightly tied to the freezer basket so I can grab all the strings and labels at one time, locate the item then follow the string to the bag I want?
Anyone have a better idea? Any idea? Thanks in advance.
 
BKF powder is all you need. It's great with your pots and pans. No experience with the liquid or spray but I suspect they are just selling convenience.

I suspect the strings with tags could get tangled/pulled off, or fall into the freezer too easily.

For the chest freezer, I'd consider plastic bins, maybe of different colors. All beef goes into the red bin, pork into the blue bin, etc. Also bins for frozen prepared foods like soups or chilis. Bags vs. bins may be a toss up.

You could try assigning sections of the floorspace in the freezer to different stuff. e.g. prepared foods on the left and ingredients on the right, etc. You could also have a small piece of plywood or heavy cardboard as a vertical divider.
 
BKF powder is all you need. It's great with your pots and pans. No experience with the liquid or spray but I suspect they are just selling convenience.

I suspect the strings with tags could get tangled/pulled off, or fall into the freezer too easily.

For the chest freezer, I'd consider plastic bins, maybe of different colors. All beef goes into the red bin, pork into the blue bin, etc. Also bins for frozen prepared foods like soups or chilis. Bags vs. bins may be a toss up.

You could try assigning sections of the floorspace in the freezer to different stuff. e.g. prepared foods on the left and ingredients on the right, etc. You could also have a small piece of plywood or heavy cardboard as a vertical divider.

I suspect your are right Andy. Strings could become just another obstacle.

I like the colored bin idea. Even the same color. Then I could remove bins until I found what I want, instead of piling it up on the table and water heater that sits next to the freezer.
I wish I had never bought this chest freezer. Its a real pain in the butt!

Oh....And its not self defrosting! It needs defrosting right now as we speak!

I forgot to mention I dropped a whole frozen chicken on my foot. It fell off the table. It hurt so bad I said words reserved for uglier occasions. Still hurts me.
 
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I've used the powdered version of bar keeper's friend, and the liquid with abrasives bar keeper's friend, they both work equally well.


When I had a chest freezer I kept large tall bags, of pork, of chicken, of beef, of venison, of vegetables, of baking items, each separate and unlabeled. It was easy to identify which was which, a bag of chicken looks like a bag of chicken.
 
I suspect your are right Andy. Strings could become just another obstacle.

I like the colored bin idea. Even the same color. Then I could remove bins until I found what I want, instead of piling it up on the table and water heater that sits next to the freezer.
I wish I had never bought this chest freezer. Its a real pain in the butt!

Oh....And its not self defrosting! It needs defrosting right now as we speak!

I forgot to mention I dropped a whole frozen chicken on my foot. It fell off the table. It hurt so bad I said words reserved for uglier occasions. Still hurts me.


We have a manual defrost upright. It's better fo any long term foods as auto defrost causes quality to deteriorate. We tend to defrost in the winter when the great outdoors helps us keep things cool.
 
I hate the liquid BKF. I don't think it holds a candle to the powder.

I am really surprised you cant find it in a supermarket or at Target
 
When I had a chest freezer I kept large tall bags, of pork, of chicken, of beef, of venison, of vegetables, of baking items, each separate and unlabeled. It was easy to identify which was which, a bag of chicken looks like a bag of chicken.

Think about what the pile of grocery bags looks like in your car trunk or back seat. That is what my freezer looks like.
I know what chicken looks like, but if I have fifteen bags the exact same color and they are closed, I would love to see how one could know what each bag held. If I had ex-ray vision, I would not have this issue.

Also the bags are piled on top of each other so digging and opening each one is a must in this situation. I'm trying to get a better idea. Where did you find these tall bags that are slender enough for all the different foods?

I hate the liquid BKF. I don't think it holds a candle to the powder.
I am really surprised you cant find it in a supermarket or at Target

I have not shopped for it personally. My wife is the one who would be in Walmart and places like that.
But, I will start looking in the grocery store as I do most of the grocery shopping. I have Prime so I can get it without shipping as well. But I think I need a $25 minimum order?
I will get the powder. Thank you.
 
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Where did you find these tall bags that are slender enough for all the different foods?
Hmm, these were paper grocery bags. We also used boxes without tops. It gave the inside of the freezer a little structure. (I still use some small boxes in my upright freezer for smaller items.)
 
I use the reusable bags in my chest freezer .
Only a few of them, but each one has specific, similar items in them, so this way I only have to look through 1 bag, not the whole freezer.

That being said, the main reason i got the freezer was to freeze processed tomato puree from the tomatoes from the garden ( I must have a good 20 - 30 quarts in there) so 1/2 the freezer is tomatoes. Still a pain in the butt, but better than practically doing a headstand with my feet dangling i the air just to reach the items at the bottom.
 
Sounds like your tomato purée quarts should all be on the bottom and all your other stuff on top. Seriously. That would bring all your other stuff closer to the top and easier to access. You’ll always know where the tomato is and could easily access it with a simple move.
 
Roll Bones wrote:
Think about what the pile of grocery bags looks like in your car trunk or back seat. That is what my freezer looks like.
I know what chicken looks like, but if I have fifteen bags the exact same color and they are closed, I would love to see how one could know what each bag held. If I had ex-ray vision, I would not have this issue.
Curious as to what kind of bags they are, that you can’t see what’s in ‘em. And an indelible marker goes a long way to helping determine the contents of any container. Also helps to remind you when it was frozen. Label everything with at least the name of the food and the date it went into the freezer.

This is very definitely a “Do as I say, not as I do” moment, lol.
 
Hmm, these were paper grocery bags. We also used boxes without tops. It gave the inside of the freezer a little structure. (I still use some small boxes in my upright freezer for smaller items.)

Structure! Exactly the words I needed to hear. Thanks.

Roll Bones wrote:

Curious as to what kind of bags they are, that you can’t see what’s in ‘em. And an indelible marker goes a long way to helping determine the contents of any container. Also helps to remind you when it was frozen. Label everything with at least the name of the food and the date it went into the freezer.

This is very definitely a “Do as I say, not as I do” moment, lol.

They are the plastic bags that your bring home groceries in.
They are not clear at all and they tend to break open for some reason in a freezer.
Writing on a grocery bag might help some, but I'm certain I would still have to dig, open and then put all the bags back in.
I label every vacuum packed item. These items then go into a grocery bag. I really don't need to mark each vacuum bag as I can tell what it is anyway. But I do it.

The plastic bin idea has been our best suggestion/solution. I'm going to look for something that will work.
Thanks Everyone......John
 
When you find plastic bins, roll bones, choose those with square corners and you'll have less wasted space.
 
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