Our Homestead

On the subject of freezing, I don't label anything in my freezer, and I always think I'll remember what's in there. With buckets as well as bags, you can usually tell what's in there, but not always.

We have several freezers, including 2 large chest freezers. I like chest freezers because they generally use less electricity and when the power goes off, they take a lot longer to thaw out, compared to stand-up freezers, but it can be a real pain in the neck when you have to get something out of the freezer that's on the bottom.

I only use plastic containers, no bags. If ever you lose power and you use bags, you could end up with a mess (depending on what's in the bags).
Bags are easier to thaw out though, because they're more flat.

If you're not worried about losing power and things thawing out, you could also use both. I know someone who did this. Freeze things in buckets. Once frozen, remove from the buckets (this can be done easily by holding the bucket under running water and keep turning it around). Then put the frozen black in a bag and back in the freezer. You now have your food frozen in bags and yet it stacks as nicely as buckets do.

Freezer containers, like glad buckets, stack much better and look more orderly, but bags also stack well if done properly and I feel that you can fit more things when you use bags. I use both, it depends on what I'm freezing.

One problem... I would like to have all identical buckets, but I'll buy a certain brand and then when I need a few more the next year, they won't have that brand anymore and I have to get some different brand. I end up with different buckets and different covers. One cover fits on one bucket but not on the other, you know what I mean?