Does everyone else have ENORMOUS freezers?

“I do run a tight freezer though, in that every month to six weeks I run it right down, then fill it up again almost immediately.”

DH and I would do well to follow 3dognight and Urmstongran.

@ Romola - there’s nothing clever about my freezer drawers. GG13 has posted a better response.

Hmm! What’s in my freezers? Gluts of fruit, plums, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, white currants, mulberries, blueberries,loganberries, blackberries, rhubarb, and apple purée.these keep us going in the winter and would otherwise be wasted. They are frozen fresh so retain their nutrients far better than boughten ones. Very healthy.

What else? Frozen elderflower cordial, homemade soups, and home made meals such as curry which you can’t dehydrate.

Also free range and organic meat which is best consumed within a shorter range of time as texture can become impaired. Different items do have different recommended storage times.

Regarding vegetables we try to grow in season so we have something all year round fresh from the garden.

I think all that is pretty healthy and I really don’t know how I would manage without a freezer. My poor mum was bottling tomatoes and salting runner beans amongst other tasks.

HeidiJoy do enlighten and tell us what unhealthy food we are all storing. Fresh Vegetables frozen as picked, fish, portions of home-cooked batch prepared meals, etc.

It is long time since we did not know how to avoid freezer burn, and as for outages, not only are they so very rare, but even if they occur an unopened freezer can go many hours without problems.

You, obviously do not have a freezer and appear to have no idea how to use one.

HeidiJoy2u2

Yikes! Doesn't all that stuff get freezer burn and "lost" in the consumption strategy of life? Don't you get power outages? I choose to dehydrate things from my veggie garden and prefer it that way. I wouldn't keep all that unhealthy stuff in my house anyway.... but, that's me.

Everything is properly packaged there seems to be no 'freezer burn'. I don't lose things in the freezer - because I could, so I keep a list on the inside door. Unusual as I'm not a 'list maker' - but needs must.

Germanshepherdsmum

You don’t get freezer burn if items are properly wrapped. No, items don’t get lost and the power has to be off for many hours before a freezer will start to thaw.
What’s unhealthy about frozen food? If vegetables are frozen shortly after picking they retain far more of their nutrients and texture than your dehydrated stuff will.

They said on the ZOE podcast the other day that, if you want to eat more organic food, unlike when you buy fresh food, frozen or tinned organic food is quite often not much more expensive than non organic.

HeidiJoy2u2

Yikes! Doesn't all that stuff get freezer burn and "lost" in the consumption strategy of life? Don't you get power outages? I choose to dehydrate things from my veggie garden and prefer it that way. I wouldn't keep all that unhealthy stuff in my house anyway.... but, that's me.

No, everything in our freezers is either well wrapped up or in sealed contained, and we regularly have 'freezer days' where we make a point of using up things which have been in there for a while. We also rarely get power cuts (touch wood!) here. What makes you think that things in a freezer are necessarily unhealthy?

HeidiJoy2u2 Not if you are well organised. Rarely get power cuts and they are usually of short duration.

You don’t get freezer burn if items are properly wrapped. No, items don’t get lost and the power has to be off for many hours before a freezer will start to thaw.
What’s unhealthy about frozen food? If vegetables are frozen shortly after picking they retain far more of their nutrients and texture than your dehydrated stuff will.

Yikes! Doesn't all that stuff get freezer burn and "lost" in the consumption strategy of life? Don't you get power outages? I choose to dehydrate things from my veggie garden and prefer it that way. I wouldn't keep all that unhealthy stuff in my house anyway.... but, that's me.

Thanks to all who replied to my original post. I am surprised as to how much freezer space so many people have. Suppose it is easier in a house (particularly those with utility rooms and garages), to have this extra space.

Back in the later 1960's hubbie was working for a chain of fish & chip restaurants, and we purchased one of their very large commercial chest freezers. Except for fish that we bought frm his employers), we had great difficulties in finding ways of buying anything to go into that freezer which lived in our garage. We were so pleased when Bejams opened for business!!!

As the family grew (six children plus fosterings), I always had a large amount of freezer space. Was pleased when that fchest freezer finally did die - detested the clearing out and de=frosting (which usually involved me climbing into it with loads of towels), but found large upright machines - (and later, wonderful self de-frosting ones) an essential part of my home making.
Even when I lived by myself in a house, I had a very tall larder fridge in the kitchen and its matching partner in the utility room. WHen I was in the prcess of de-cluttering ready to move to a flat, I actually lived out f that freezer for several months with regard to ready meals, (from my batch cooking), meat, fish etc. I made the decision that for the future I wuld no longer freeze home cooked left overs, as they tended to be left in there waiting for the emergency that never occured.

If I want a virtually immediate meal now, it is likely to be a baked potato with salad and tinned tuna/salmon, or something involving eggs. I prefer my meal to be fresh cooked. S, arriving at the flat, I just purchased a small under the counter freezer. When I had the kitchen re-done I treated myself to a tall 50/50 Fridge/freezer, and was going to sell on that small machine, but thought that as there is room in my garage I may just as well keep it there. It is useful for me to be able to purchase the multiple (BOGOF) offers.

No full meals anywhere kept. however, as a small piece of salmon cooks in less than three minutes in its own container in my microwave (having first been defrosted in there), and I always have lot of fresh salad in the large fridge salad drawer. I can still have a very healthy, enjoyable meal made in well under ten minutes - which is probably less time than it would take to use a pre-pared meal from left-overs.

Romola, I did look at the Fisher and Paykel cool drawers when I was building the kitchen. I liked the option to change them from fridge to freezer (and back) as needed. I didn't have enough space, widthways, where I needed them, though. Next house, maybe?

I just have a small freezer part at the top of my fridge and a large freezer in the garage - that's only in use when I have guests or for parties. There's a spare 'party' fridge in there too.

I don't feel the need to store a lot of food, as I can have anything delivered in thirty minutes if I want. I do freeze meals when I batch cook, but use them frequently, so only need an extra cubic foot or so for that.

There's always fresh fruit and veg in the fridge (weekly box delivery) and I keep a lot of dried or canned supplies. In fact, my family-sized fridge is often quite empty, spaces filled with containers to stop it losing chilled air when I open it. When I replace it, I'll be getting a smaller one.

Interesting to hear most of you have fridge freezer and separate chest freezers. I always thought it was a north American thing.

We also have a fridge freezer that is about the third the size of the fridge, and a small chest freezer. We live near the ocean and often have salmon and halibut caught by DH or given to us. I often buy whole chickens when they are on sale, and will pop them in the freezer.

The fridge freezer holds frozen veg, bread, ice cream, etc.

I have a 50/50 fridge freezer in the kitchen and a large chest freezer in the garage. I bought my first chest freezer in the early 1970s and have never been without one. I am on my 3rd one now which I bought at the start of covid. My old one still worked so it went to a good home . I would be totally lost without one. I freeze rasps and strawberries to last the winter , make my own soups and freeze meals .
I bought the latest chest freezer to comply with the need ( so I was told ) for a special one for a cold garage. Well it is the only one that runs with condensation all winter. My others never did . I really like to have a stock of food to feed any family who decide to visit with short notice and we do not have anything like Tesco in our small town . We also run the risk of being snowed in in a bad winter though we have not had one for a good few years.

For just the two of us we have a 50/50 freezer which is generally ample for us. It is stocked with bulk buy meat which is delivered every 3 months or so and a variety of vegetables along with a few fishfingers and other GCs favourites. I don't tend to batch cook (if anything I under cater as I'm not a lover of leftovers!) there's always room for pudding if we are still hungry!!
But if using a large pack of mince for example will make a chilli and we will eat that for 2 or 3 evenings rather than freeze for another time.

silversand12

We have a 50/50 fridge/freezer, an undercounter freezer, a table top freezer, a fridge with an icebox and a tabletop freezer....and still never enough freezer space

I proof read that and still got it wrong! That should read chest, not table top.

So a 50/50 fridge/freezer, an undercounter freezer, a chest freezer, a fridge with an icebox and a tabletop freezer

We have a 50/50 fridge/freezer, an undercounter freezer, a table top freezer, a fridge with an icebox and a tabletop freezer....and still never enough freezer space

I have a 50:50 fridge freezer in the kitchen and an identical one in the garage. (To be accurate, it is the same size but not the same make, and was advertised as being suitable for a garage.) Both freezers are full, with uncooked fish and meat, bread, veg, and a few items like fish fingers, for a quick meal.

When I cook in the slow cooker, I always freeze two portions. When DH was alive we regularly cooked a roast, and froze slices of beef in gravy for later meals. If I cook mince, I cook the whole pack to a basic sauce and freeze most of it in small portions, which I can then turn into bolognese sauce or cottage pie or lasagne.
So my freezers are full, but the fridge in the garage is almost empty. I no longer have a delivery. I have Aldi just 2 mins away, so I can easily buy fresh items.

I have a fridge freezer in the kitchen which is big enough for my needs. The freezer has four drawers and two of them are full of meals created from leftovers and also soup. I don't need any more than that. I don't have a garage but I suspect I would have a freezer in there if I did!

Or maybe we are all just 'perfectly freezered' for our own particular needs!

Chocolatelovinggran

Oh no - another thing to worry about; I am underfreezered...

No, they are all over freezered 🥶🥶🥶

We have a 50/50 fridge freezer and a 6 drawer freezer upright in garage

We have two full size freezers in the garage, both with 5 drawers.
I was buying a new one and a friend offered me hers, which is identical. I tend to buy enough bread and milk for the week, and a bit over, so that takes up a lot of space. Frozen veg , meat, fish and ready prepared meals. I also portion cakes and freeze those
Like Foxygloves, I also take advantage of 3 for 2 offers.
We do not have a freezer in the kitchen, as I bought a larder fridge, which suits me better.
But, my freezers are not frost free, so I shall be looking to replace them, perhaps with just one, bigger one.

Romola

Has anyone got the type of built-in freezer with pull-out drawers, rather like the deep drawers that are (I think) designed for saucepans?

These are the freezer drawers that I have at the bottom of kitchen fridge/freezer.

I have a fridge-freezer in the kitchen and an upright freezer in the garage