2nd Freezer to save food?

[financialforager]

Just wondering if anyone else uses a second freezer to save food. What kind of food do you save? Do you find it help full? Are you saving money?

[shusherstache]

I'm going to explain why I don't.

So, it's just the two of us.  And I've thought about getting a second freezer, but then I thought again after watching this video a few days ago:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHS_-Umv4E

I have a perpetual, ingrained and inherited fear of not having enough food.  This is now ridiculous, as I have about thirty ways to grab all kinds of food in a five-minute walk from my house.  So, having a freezer would probably exacerbate that issue as I have learned if I have the space, I will work to fill it.

I've been working on The Kitchn Cure and part of what struck me in this process is that a good amount of the stuff in my freezer goes unused if it sits there without a purpose.  So, my plan moving forward is to make sure that meals don't hibernate - that they are an in/out cycle in a month or less.

If I had a larger family, I would probably grab a second freezer to house foods I made from scratch in bulk (burritos, pizza dough, etc) but for now it seems like an easy way to eat conveniently but not well.

[RetiredAt63]

I'd like input too, except it would be my first (except for the one in the fridge).  As my gardens get more productive I am considering a chest freezer for winter storage.  Produce prices are high here in the winter.  But is it cost effective?  I know for the food it is, nothing like fruit and vegetables that went from garden to freezer.

[geekette]

There's just the two of us, and we have a small chest freezer which serves us well. I find it saves us money, being able to buy stuff that's on sale, but it takes a bit of work to break down large quantities, make sure it's packaged to avoid freezer burn, and make sure it's used before it loses quality.

Also many recipes serve 4 or more, so I'll split a casserole before cooking and freeze half.  I'll make a three pound recipe for meatloaf and split it.  I make frequent use of a vacuum sealer - pop frozen casseroles out of the dish, seal it in the bag, store in the freezer, then take it out of the bag and put it back in the dish before thawing in the fridge. 

I also cook large quantities of veggies and freeze in smaller containers to reheat in the winter.  Fruits, too, for cobblers.

[horsepoor]

It depends on what you're planning to freeze.  I think it absolutely makes sense if you are preserving stuff you've grown, or bought cheaply in season.  It doesn't really make sense to me to have a freezer to keep a litany of ends and pieces and processed, packaged stuff.

We had a 7 cubic foot chest freezer for several years, and I liked the size, but organization was always a problem, and food would sort of fall to the bottom and be hard to retrieve, and didn't get used very systematically.  Last year we upgraded to an upright freezer, and it has been much better in terms of regularly using the food that's in there, and being able to keep it properly stored, and rotated through.  Power is fairly cheap here, and I think the chest freezer cost about $2/month to run, and the upright, which is about 15 CF, is probably $5-6/month to run.  It currently contains a locally raised, county-fair-blue-ribbon-winning beef quarter, half a lamb raised next door to my stable, two wild-caught salmon purchased in season for $5.99/lb, peaches and blueberries purchased cheaply in-season, many jars of different pestos from my garden produce, ham bought cheaply at Easter and portioned out, fancy center cut bacon bought at 60% off of regular price, 17 containers of Hatch green chile I just processed during their brief season, several free-range chickens purchased on sale, and homegrown green beans and okra.  Last fall it provided enough space that I was able to take advantage of buying fresh turkeys the day after Thanksgiving for 39 cents a pound, and then later stash their carcasses and random leftover veggies until I was ready to make homemade turkey stock.

So overall, it definitely saves money, and allows us to eat some excellent quality foods that aren't easily available most of the year, or in small quantities at the regular grocery store.

What I have discovered is that it's too much work organizationally to freeze small bits of this, that and the other.  I forget what's in there, and have to put forth extra effort to sift through the random items to figure out what can be used, what's oldest etc..  Now that it's mostly meat and a few specific veg items, it's easy to keep a mental inventory and shop around that, and continually use up the freezer stash.

[Goldielocks]

Check out the preserving the harvest thread.

Some have had good luck with bulk meat eg half a caow.  I buy two extravturkeys on thanksgiving sales.

A small 2ft x2 ft chest freezer is pretty cheap and hard to overfill so you lose items.
 
I would not want to be without one...  But definitely for those that eat meat and or cook and bake.  Dried beans, rice, dried and canned veg don't need a freezer after all.

[1967mama]

Yes, I have two chest freezers. I do agree with the other posters on a few things:

1) It depends on what you want to freeze. I buy 50 organic chickens once a year and every summer, put in about 150 lbs of blueberries, 75 lbs of strawberries, 50 lbs of raspberries and 30 jars of freezer jam.  Add to that things that I find on sale at the grocery store and I'm filling 2 chest freezers no problem. We have a large family, so we have more food in there than a pic ally sized family.

2) Organization can be an issue.  I have to be very careful to not lose things in the bottom of there.  Freezer burn is such a waste!

When my family starts to move out, I think I would like to sell the two chest freezers and just have one upright. That will make it easier when I'm a little older too.

[DarinC]

I wanted to go with a chest freezer, but they're kind of inefficient. My wife and I mulled it over, and when we ran the numbers we realized that if we kept our 18ft^3 fridge and added a 7ft^3 chest freezer, we would end up paying an extra $500 over five years and $800 over ten years for the freezer/electricity. Of course electricity is expensive in CA, so YMMV.

We ending up going down to the ears (really begins with an "s") outlet and found a 25ft^3 fridge for ~$1200 OTD, which in our opinion was worth the extra $400 since it was brand new, had french doors/a bottom freezer, which my wife wanted, and used the same amount of energy our old fridge did, which I wanted.

With that said, I do want to take a shot at converting our old fridge into a chest fridge/freezer, since I've read that even old fridges have more efficient compressors and more insulation than new chest freezers. Then we would have ~38ft^3 of cold storage that uses the same electricity as ~25ft^3 of cold storage.

[Rural]

When my 24 cubic foot chest freezer died last summer, I downsized to a 13 cu ft one, and I'm finding it's just about enough for two. We don't have space for a side of beef in addition to my foraging, but we do have space for plenty of venison.


I wouldn't be without one, and I don't have trouble losing things generally because I know what I have. Actually, that's easier with the 13 cu ft, so maybe that's a good size.


I'll also point out that freezer burn doesn't actually do anything to food that would make it unsafe to eat. Freezer burned food isn't as yummy anymore and gets a bit dried out. So if there's much freezer burn in a package, it works better in soup. People talk about freezer burn as if it's this terrible thing that requires food to be thrown out, and it just isn't. It's still preferable to package well, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to throw food out if you're hungry.

[MrsPotts]

Freezers are more efficient when full.  So you might want to try to use every square inch of the one you have, first.

[backyardfeast]

How many in your household? And, not sure if you mean a 2nd freezer after your fridge one, or adding a 2nd chest freezer.

Like others here, we have a 13 cu ft chest freezer in addition to our fridge one (which is a decent sized bottom freezer).  We REALLY use it (household of 2): buckets of frozen berries, other garden veg or in-season bulk from farm veg/fruit; half pig; several free-range chickens (including our own); some bulk Costco regulars (like orange juice); 4-5 sockeye for the year; fresh hops for beer making.

In fact, this year, DH started mumbling about a second freezer, because we're at bursting capacity.  But I'm resisting.  A second freezer starts to negate the energy savings we got when we got rid of a second old fridge.  And I get wary about hoarding food unnecessarily: some of the big items in the freezer are being held before they get processed further (like the berries waiting to become jam).  The full freezer is a signal to me that we're storing too much and need to eat it down a bit.

I also worry about having too many eggs in one basket.  The power does go out, freezers get unplugged accidentally, they occasionally fail for one reason or another.  I'd rather not have ALL my stored food frozen, and try to mix up home canned, root cellared, gardened, etc.  It really sucks when someone loses thousands of dollars worth of food...

So, for now, I'm holding out.  But if we were a bigger household, I'd definitely go for it, and most of the folks we know in this rural, homesteading community have 2,3, even 4 freezers!  The only way I'd do that is for short periods of time; ie plug in the extra freezer for a month or two for overflow..  But then there's the space issue around here...

[horsepoor]

The only way I'd do that is for short periods of time; ie plug in the extra freezer for a month or two for overflow..  But then there's the space issue around here...

I've thought about that too.  If the temporary freezer is a chest freezer, it can double as a work surface and maybe storage for other stuff during the times of the year it's not on duty as a freezer.  I sometimes regret selling our little chest freezer, but agree that limited capacity can be a good thing to prevent hoarding and encourage using everything properly.

[1967mama]

I'll also point out that freezer burn doesn't actually do anything to food that would make it unsafe to eat. Freezer burned food isn't as yummy anymore and gets a bit dried out. So if there's much freezer burn in a package, it works better in soup. People talk about freezer burn as if it's this terrible thing that requires food to be thrown out, and it just isn't. It's still preferable to package well, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to throw food out if you're hungry.

Thanks for this .. I think my comment on freezer burn being such a waste is a hold over from my pre-mustachian days.  Another step in the journey :-)

[Rezdent]

Check out the preserving the harvest thread.

Some have had good luck with bulk meat eg half a caow.  I buy two extravturkeys on thanksgiving sales.

A small 2ft x2 ft chest freezer is pretty cheap and hard to overfill so you lose items.
 
I would not want to be without one...  But definitely for those that eat meat and or cook and bake.  Dried beans, rice, dried and canned veg don't need a freezer after all.

I do put rice, beans, etc., in the freezer for about a week when I first buy them in bulk.   This helps to prevent pantry moths from getting started in the house.  I transfer to Mason jars after the week.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-get-rid-of-pantry-moths-109729

[Fi(re) on the Farm]

I have an upright freezer and wouldn't want to be without it. I grow lots of veggies fruit and hate to can in the heat of the summer. I also make double or triple batches of meals so if my life gets busy we're not tempted to eat take out. The key to success is to be organized. I date everything and keep an inventory on my computer. It starts to get a little empty in spring so I freeze gallon jugs of water to fill up the space.

[Elderwood17]

I have an upright freezer and wouldn't want to be without it. I grow lots of veggies fruit and hate to can in the heat of the summer. I also make double or triple batches of meals so if my life gets busy we're not tempted to eat take out. The key to success is to be organized. I date everything and keep an inventory on my computer. It starts to get a little empty in spring so I freeze gallon jugs of water to fill up the space.

Same here.  In the summer we start filling it with vegetables, fruit and fish.  In the fall we have to organize it well to fit the venison in.  As winter arrives we start adding milk jugs filled with water to keep it full as we work off the supplies.  Saves a lot of money, I think.

[MayDay]

We have a quite small chest. Second smallest size that the standard big box stores sell.

We use it to freeze garden produce, meals made in bulk (prevents eating out!) And a few Costco items as we live a ways from Costco.

Costco frozen veggies are our main winter produce, so we go through several bags in the time between Costco trips.

Another thing I do is freeze tomatoes from the garden as they ripen. Then once it's cool in the fall, I can them.

We are a family of four. Before kids we managed fine without, even with all the gardening.

[Goldielocks]

I'll also point out that freezer burn doesn't actually do anything to food that would make it unsafe to eat. Freezer burned food isn't as yummy anymore and gets a bit dried out. So if there's much freezer burn in a package, it works better in soup. People talk about freezer burn as if it's this terrible thing that requires food to be thrown out, and it just isn't. It's still preferable to package well, don't get me wrong, but you don't have to throw food out if you're hungry.

Thanks for this .. I think my comment on freezer burn being such a waste is a hold over from my pre-mustachian days.  Another step in the journey :-)

Ah, but you have reminded me...  I have had power outages that thawed the freezer at least 5 times in 20 years.

Why?  One or two were hubby unplugging it to use power tools.  Recently, Kids left the upright freezerdoor open(ajar), and then there were at least three power outs.  So not all bliss.  Usually we noticed in time to cook and recover at least 2/3...

I really liked my 5 cuft chest freezer.  There is one on sale at best buy right now for $159 and uses 172 kW per year.  It fit in an apt closet.  I think the people worrying about energy were thinking of the old old ones.

My 7 cuft upright I was gifted does not hold much more than a 5 cuft chest due to shelves.  Similar model uses 328kw per year, too.  Easier to find stuff and use as a daily freezer, not just bulk foods.

[socaso]

My parents have one. I would but I don't have the room. They freeze garden surplus and many years will go in on a cow with friends and family. It's a very good deal that way. My mother is very organized about her frozen and canned garden stock. She tends to like to use it up over the course of the year before the next summer's garden starts producing.

[APowers]

We have a standard fridge/freezer, a big chest freezer, and an upright freezer. I like having the extra freezer space.

The little freezer over the fridge gets used for frequently accessed items-- the sausage roll that we cut off what we need and then re-wrap, random bags of nuts and dried fruit, the ice cube tray, etc.

The big chest freezer is in the kitchen and provides a nice counter space (one that can't get too clogged up, because it has to stay clear), and we keep less-frequently accessed items in it-- all the backstock of butter (I've been waiting until it goes on really good sale and then buying like 60lb.), a couple half-gallons of ice cream, frozen fruits/veggies for when we don't happen to have fresh, extra batches of soup/chili/beans/rice/etc.

The upright freezer is out in the garage, and I've got backstock of large roasts (pork shoulder for $0.99/lb? I'll buy 8!), our hoard of ice cream, ground beef, other stuff that we don't access very often.

[Jessa]

We recently got a small (4-5 cubic feet, I forget exactly) energy star rated chest freezer in addition to our regular fridge/freezer combo. Partly my SO eats a TON of ice cream, and I would stock up on frozen veggies while they were on sale and then not be able to fit them in the little freezer. We used credit card points to get a gift card that more than covered the cost during a sale, and we've been really happy with it. We've had a huge crop of our own broccoli this year and plenty of space to store it, plus a ton of blueberries from his folks, again, no worries about being attacked by things falling out whenever we open the freezer. I've also been wanting to check out the free-range farm raised beef in the next town, but until now we've had nowhere to store it.

[iris lily]

Two adults  here. In addition to a regular refrigerator, in the basement we've got a big chest freezer and an extra refrigerator.

My DH is a squirrel by nature. He does not know how to subsist entirely on store bought food, he has internal need to squirrel away food he has produced himself. He grew up on a farm where they butchered animals and froze that meat, had a huge garden, and his family canned, dried, and preserved everything.
He brought those habits to our inner city property and we have, every summer, huge quantities of vegetables and fruits.

It's not about saving money for us, I've never run the numbers. It's about maintaining a lifestyle that is comfortable for him and that is convenient for me.

That said, I do like have extra freezer space for making meals ahead. Today I'll be making 2 pans of lasagne which I'll cut up into squares for dinners at night.

We seldom eat out, it's so much easier to get something from the freezer for dinner.

[Davids]

We have a chest feezer in the basement. We use it to store beef, chicken and pork when we see it on a real cheap sale (i.e. about to expire so the grocery store is getting rid of it). Also we have a 3 month old so we also use it store all the milk my wife pumps.

[Basenji]

I'm going to explain why I don't.

So, it's just the two of us.  And I've thought about getting a second freezer, but then I thought again after watching this video a few days ago:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHS_-Umv4E

I have a perpetual, ingrained and inherited fear of not having enough food.  This is now ridiculous, as I have about thirty ways to grab all kinds of food in a five-minute walk from my house.  So, having a freezer would probably exacerbate that issue as I have learned if I have the space, I will work to fill it.

I've been working on The Kitchn Cure and part of what struck me in this process is that a good amount of the stuff in my freezer goes unused if it sits there without a purpose. 

Thanks for that vid, awesome. We were debating a second freezer for say sale turkey or bulk buying. But the fact is we have food getting freezer burn now, so we're going to focus on eating away the excess and freezing homemade dinners to prevent too tired too cook order out syndrome...

[BooksAreNerdy]

Homegrown items:
A full steer
25 chickens
Tomatoes
Strawberries
Blackberries
Pesto
Butter

We also have a months worth of home made crock pot meals and spaghetti sauce in there right now as we are expecting a baby any day.

When our milk cow is in her 2 month dry period, we have enough frozen skim milk (whole doesn't freeze well) to get us through until she calves again.

I also store breast milk in there when I am nursing.

We have a 25cuft freezer that costs about $50/year to run.

[Write Thyme]

We've had a deep freezer since we moved out on our own. The inlaws gave us their old one. We sort of live in the middle of nowhere so this freezer helps to store things we buy on sale and stock up on. Every year my husband gets a free ham and turkey voucher, and we currently have one of each in there along with leftovers, ice cream, meat, etc. I can't imagine not having this freezer to be honest. The little one that comes with the fridge isn't big enough.

[falcondisruptor]

I was really excited when we were given a stand up freezer, tried it out and have unplugged it for now.  I think it would be great if we hunted or grew our own produce, but the sales are frequent enough that we can stock up with just the freezer space we have in our fridge.  Now I don't have to worry about food getting lost in the freezer or about us losing food months of food in a power outage.