On having a freezer

[wormlady]

I have really benefitted from reading the threads by all the folks who have recently endured multi day power outages. Thanks to all of you for sharing your stories and being honest about the successes and 'holes' in preps.

These stories got me to wondering though....about the benefit of having a freezer.

I've never had a separate freezer. I store plenty in the fridge/freezer, but in the event of a power outage - I don't think I could eat through everything in there before it went bad. If I had another chest freezer - I know I couldn't.

Folks say they would can everything in their freezer in the event of a power outage - but I wonder how realistic that is.

Now, I know you can save money by stocking up when things are on sale and preserving the garden harvest. But I'm just not convinced that I need one.

I have had friends who have lost everything in their freezers - one was doing a remodel and 'forgot' that they had two chest freezers in their garage when they cut the power to that section of the house for several days. All was lost.

Another lost everything in their freezer when 'somebody' (I think the kids blamed the dog) unplugged it and didn't plug it back in again.

So....do you have a freezer? Why or why not? Do you have a backup plan for your stores should you lose power for several days - especially in the heat of the summer?

[beaglebiz]

Good for you for not needing one! I think if you did get one, you would find you cant live without it.
My fridge is a side by side. I also have a smaller size upright in the basement. We get butchered cows, and really need it for that purpose. its nice to be able to stock up on great sales too. I have never had to can everything out of my freezer, but several here have. I think if you are goiing to have a freezer, you must have the knowledge and know how to be able to pressure can the contents. When we had our big power outage last year, I toyed with the idea of canning it up...I thing you could with my freezer, as its not huge and you can can it as you go, using the freezer as a cooler.
Our freezer is usually 90% meat.

One trick to keep your freezer functioning well is to keep it full, using water jugs if you have room to fill the empty space.

[Vickie44]

I just got a chest freezer which I put in the cellar because I have a pig that will be harvested soon . My freezer that is part of the fridge upstairs was so full that I was losing ( forgetting about ) things in there . I do also can alot but some veggies I prefer frozen. right now I have ALOT of frozen peas . If there was another long term power outage I would can all of it

I under stand that the frozen jugs will help maintain the cold in a short term power failure.

[littlebitfarm]

My dogs are raw fed. Hunting season comes once a year and I will fill at least 1 freezer with free venison ribs. Makes cheap dog food.

Found ribeyes on sale last week for $5.89. Bought several without worrying about how much freezer space I have. Usually buy a year's worth of butter around the holidays when it goes on sale.

That said, things do get lost in there and stay way too long. They become dog food, so not a total lose.

Kathie

[Jeepgirl86]

I've heard that a full freezer keeps longer than one that isn't when power goes out...makes sense...my freezer is jam packed with enough venison to get us thru the year and whatever other meats I find on sale (mostly chicken).

[Trixters_muse]

I now have two freezers, one in the house, one in the garage. The one in the house is for veggies, fruits, juices and bread, items we tend to use up quicker, within a month or so. The larger freezer in the garage is for meat I buy in bulk on sale and for my son's hunting and fishing bounty. If I was to lose the outside freezer (and I almost did just days ago due to flooding) we are prepared to can, smoke and dehydrate the contents of the freezer and think there will be minimal loss. I also have chickens, cats and a neighbor has dogs so even if we can not consume something it won't be a total loss.

For us, having the freezers saves money, time and ensures that we always have plenty of food. My son fishes non stop when weather permits so I need someplace to store all that fish, lol. I have a small generator, solar charger and inverter so I can keep the freezer powered up. I also keep the very bottom filled with water bottles which help keep the freezer cold if we still manage to lose power and it adds to our water supply and we now have it up on a one foot high platform we built last week after the flood scare.

[naturelover]

Originally Posted by wormlady

So....do you have a freezer? Why or why not? Do you have a backup plan for your stores should you lose power for several days - especially in the heat of the summer?

I have a really good little apartment size freezer (the size of a bar fridge or a dishwasher). I don't use it now and haven't used it for about 5 years I guess. I'm moving all through this month so I'm going to give the freezer to my nephew and his family, they'll have use for it.

I don't use the compartment freezer in the fridge for anything except keeping ice cream and ice cubes and the ice cubes are just a luxury item that I rarely use. They usually get frost burned before I use them up and I end up tossing them out and starting over again with a fresh batch of ice cubes. LOL. (Yes, ice cubes can get frost burn and they shrink and taste nasty).

When I had a large family all at home I did use freezers (3 big chest freezers) and THEN they were a very useful thing to have. But if you're a single person then your eating habits change and a separate freezer (apart from the little one in the fridge) is not an essential thing. There are other ways to store food.

.

[ovsfarm]

We have a fairly large chest type freezer, plus the normal one above the refrigerator. And we live about 35 miles from the nearest large town on a dirt road.

So far, in the 13 years we have lived here, only once have we come anywhere close to losing the freezer contents. However, every single day we have the option to pick from a great variety of healthy meals because we have all the ingredients available here. Month after month, we have enjoyed the benefit of being able to save money by buying in bulk, storing free wild game meat, etc. We have also had the benefit every winter and many other times each year of not having to travel dangerous roads to get to town for food because we have plenty here.

Yes, some of what I have in the freezer could be canned. But not all of it. I do can many things, but also like to keep others frozen.

I realize that there is always the risk that we could lose the contents of the freezer, but for us, it is a risk worth taking. Even during this most recent struggle, due to periodic generator inputs, we didn't really lose much. Mostly stuff I should have cleaned out long ago anyway. I was kind of using those things to fill freezer space, but have learned that I would have gotten more usefulness out of having large bags and blocks of ice instead of ancient venison taking up that room.

Everyone needs to do what is best for them and their family. Due to savings, safety, and convenience, my freezer definitely works for me. If you don't need one then you have the benefit of more storage space - a blessing either way!

[shannsmom]

The savings of being able to stockpile the sales (or free meat) definitely outweighs the occasional risk of losing the freezer contents. We have a stand up freezer, a huge chest freezer and the one above the fridge, all stuffed full. I hope to can some of the farm veggies in there if it ever cools off a little, but for me, the idea of canning all the contents if the power goes out is not realistic. We would just run the generator and hope for the best. We did well on the generator for the 13 day stretch of no power after one hurricane, and several shorter stretches after other hurricanes. I love my freezers! I will admit, every May or so, I say we are gonna eat up everything in them so we don't have to run so much on the generator, but it never happens

[dlskidmore]

Keep it full, keep it closed. Use chest freezers instead of uprights. Keep it in a basement or other already cool area. Perform regular maintenance, defrosting as needed and checking seals. For extra insurance, cover with blankets to increase insulation. You should be fine for a while without power. Your freezer should have more thermal mass and better insulation than a camp cooler which should be able to keep frozen food fairly cold for several days. It might defrost at the end, but won't spoil as long as it's still fairly cold and you get power back soon.

When we lost power in the ice storm of 91, Mom did some quick thinking, threw all the kitchen fridge stuff into the chest freezers, put the things we'd need to eat for several days in a chest cooler, and kept the freezers shut until several days later when she opened them quick to restock. Everything came through just fine.

[Pam6]

We have a large upright freezer and one on top the fridge. We used to have a second fridge as well and at one point, about a year ago, they were all completely stuffed FULL! I have been slowly working on using up the food in them and emptying them out. We have completely unplugged our second fridge. The other fridge is 'empty' except for (empty) glass jars for milking the goats and ice cube trays. My up right freezer has very little meat in it now. It mostly has freezer jam, frozen corn, and some misc stuff. It is still full but not stuffed full. If I were to lose my all of the food in my freezer I would not be that upset.
I am working on emptying out the freezer even more. I am going more and more to non perishable goods for my food storage, which is hard because most everyone in my family are meat eaters and like to have a meat with their dinner every night.

[Ruby]

If power went out you wouldn't have to can everything at one time. You would can as it thawed. Keep a quilt over and around it will help keep it frozen longer.

[Pouncer]

I have two chest freezers, and the one in the fridge. They are mostly full, not enough meats, but good enough. I do have the supplies to pressure can everything that's possible, should I experience an extended outage and the genset didn't work for some reason. That is the main reason I have so many jars...to handle the contents

[Laura]

I keep spaces in my freezer filled with ice jugs and keep it locked. I won't open it during a power outage and I found it's good for 4 days before I need to put it on the generator.

For extended power outages, the freezer will get plugged into the generator for an hour or two a day. I'll open it up to get things right before plugging it in.

And yes, I HAVE canned up everything in my freezer, gave it a good defrost and cleaning during a power outage. It needed it and it was the perfect opportunity.

[nadja]

All of you with freezers should always have a back up generator and proper heavy long exension cord to make the run. Then by running the gererator an hour or so in the morning and again in late afternoon, you should be fine and not lose any food. You can also use the gennie to run the refer at the same time as the freezer. Heck , you can even watch a little tv while it is on.

I live off the grid totally on solar/wind. When both fail due to weather, I can always run one of my back up gennies for an hour or two to charge up my batteries for the evening's. Plan now, and don't lose all your food. Food costs money and lots of it, especially meats.

[sherry in Maine]

Like some others, I rawfeed my dogs & have 2 craigslist freezers in the garage for the purpose of cheap dog meat.
I have another freezer in the basement for our food; twice a year I buy cow and pig sides, plus cheapest chicken leg quarters I can find in bulk on sale. Dogs also get some of that cheap chicken too.
Our generator is only connected (I think) to the house freezer. The other two are usually full, so even if it goes a day or so without electric, dont think dogs would suffer.
This year, I hope to learn to can. The way the weather is wrking my garden, not sure if it will be worth effort or not.

[mpillow]

During the ice storm of 1998 we lost our med. size freezer contents....our ins company cut us a check for $500 to cover the loss....so check your policy....

why didn't I can it? Well in 1998 I had a 4yo a 3yo and two foster sons 2yo and 1yo.....it just wasnt happening!

[Sonshine]

We have a 12 volt solar freezer, so not real concerned about that aspect in the event of a long power outage. BUT, before we got it we had planned on canning what was in our freezer. If you limit opening the freezer you should have a few days to can what's in it. In our case that should be enough.

[olivehill]

We hunt and raise all of our own meat, yes we need a freezer.

If the power goes out the freezers are good for at least a day, two if they're stuffed full -- even in extreme heat. As others have pointed out just an hour here and an hour there on the generator is enough to keep them cold beyond that. If we're looking at prolonged as in months, it's at that point I'd start pulling it out a little at a time and canning and drying.

Will a freezer benefit me if the world "ends" and we lose power forever? No. But it benefits me greatly in our day to day life now and is more than functional in most power outage situations.

[7thswan]

Yes, we have freezers,2 uprights and 1 chest. The chest is empty right now. We have generators,3 different sizes. I am prepared to cann if I had to and also dehydrate,vehicles work great for drying without electricity and I have a wood cookstove outside for summer canning.Moving blankets work good to keep the cool inside the freezer. I have many juice jugs filled with water for the rabbits,twice a day they get frozen bottles. Those bottles would help keep the freezer cool,they also have fresh water,should we have no elec. to run the well and Dh was stuck at work leaving me without the gennie. His job would keep him at work ICE.