Do you have this kind of refrigerator pictured above? The super basic kind with the freezer on the top and the fridge on the bottom? I do, and you know what? It’s fine. The freezer doesn’t have sliding drawers, special compartments, or fancy lights — it’s just a big ol’ box with a single wire shelf (that isn’t even adjustable!) and some extra storage on the door. It’s not fancy, but it does its job. I’ve figured out how to organize it and make it work.

Turns out, though, not only was I using the very bottom of the freezer incorrectly, but it also actually is kind of fancy! Ready to have your mind blown?

See those little ridges along the bottom? I always just assumed they were there to prevent packages from sticking from the bottom or to help increase airflow. And maybe both are true, but they’re also there to act as handy built-in organizers. See, if you stand your packages of meat up on their sides, the ridges help to hold things in place .

I’ve been finding that I can store a lot more meat if I file the packages vertically. It’s also easier to quickly grab something this way, versus if all the packages were stacked up on top of one another. Stored this way, I can pull out a package of ground beef or even a bag of chicken thighs that I’ve portioned out and the ridges help keep everything standing. Nothing ever slides down more than an inch.

I like that I can file chicken together, then ground beef, and so on. It’s also easy to add new packages as I bring them home from the grocery store. I just put the new stuff to left and grab from the right so that I’m keeping things in order. (If you’re wondering, yes, meat goes on the bottom shelf just in case anything leaks!) My only regret is that I didn’t know to take advantage of this built-in organizer earlier!

This post originally ran on Kitchn. See it there: T he Built-in Freezer Organizer I Wish I Knew About Years Ago