The freezer is not a graveyard

For the "eat by" month, these are sensible targets for home freezers:

• Bread, cakes and pastry: within 3 months.
• Cooked dishes, soups and sauces: within 3 months.
• Raw fish and prawns: within 3 months for the best texture.
• Raw chicken, sausages and minced meat: within 3 to 4 months.
• Raw joints and steaks: within 6 months.
• Frozen vegetables and fruit: follow the "best before" on the pack. These are frozen quickly after harvest and keep their quality well.

Stack it so the oldest comes first

A label only helps if you can see it. Two simple layout rules make the difference:

• Freeze flat, then file upright. Fill bags about two thirds full, press out the air and freeze them flat on a tray. Once solid, stand them upright in a drawer like files in a cabinet, labels facing up. You can read every one without moving anything.
• New goes to the back. When you add something, move the older items forward. The front of each drawer is always "eat this next".

Give each drawer a job if you can: one for raw meat and fish, one for cooked meals, one for bread, vegetables and fruit. Raw meat and fish should sit below ready-to-eat food, in sealed bags, so nothing drips onto something you will not cook again.

Freezing and thawing, safely

Putting it in

Portion before you freeze, not after. A single block of eight chicken thighs is useless on a night you want two. Freeze in the amounts you actually cook.

• Meat and fish: freeze on the day you buy it, well before its "use by" date. Portion into single meals and freeze flat.
• Bread: slice first. Toast straight from frozen.
• Cooked food: cool it quickly and get it into the freezer within two hours of cooking. Shallow containers cool faster than deep ones.
• Ripe bananas: peel, slice and freeze on a tray for smoothies and baking.
• Grated cheese: freeze in a bag and use straight from frozen on pasta or toast.

Taking it back out

A good label tells you what to take out the night before. The safest way to thaw is slowly, in the fridge, on a plate to catch any liquid. Most portions thaw overnight. Never thaw raw meat or fish on the kitchen counter.

Some food can be cooked straight from frozen. Frozen vegetables, prawns and thin fish fillets go straight into the pan or oven. Sausages can be cooked from frozen if you cook them longer and check they are piping hot in the middle. Reheated leftovers should also be piping hot all the way through.

The five-minute weekly check

Once a week, before you write your shopping list, open the freezer and read the front row of each drawer. Anything with this month's "eat by" goes onto the week's meal plan first. It takes a few minutes, and it turns the freezer from a store room into a second larder.

How much this saves depends on your household. The figure in the headline is a rough estimate for a family that regularly throws out frozen food, and your own number could be higher or lower. The simplest way to find out is to keep a note for a month of everything you would once have binned.

Start with one roll of tape

Tonight, put a roll of masking tape and a marker next to the freezer. Label the next thing you put in, and the one after that. Within a few weeks the mystery bags will be gone. For more ideas on stretching what you already have, read meal planning for a household of one, and browse the frozen vegetables aisle for the staples that make the freezer work hardest.