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Posted: Aug/09/2008 6:45 PM PST
I want to get a freezer to store my harvest. But I'm not sure what size to get. I know it's highly dependent on garden size and stuff but wondering what size others are using. Growing up we had a large one in the basement that was bigger than the refridgerator. Veggies stayed in there so long and got so freezer burned that when the next year's crop started growing, Mom sometimes gave out the old veggies as ice packs when people wanted something to keep their left overs cold on the way home from a barbeque. So I was thinking about a 7 CF chest freezer instead of a huge one. I want enough space to hold a thanksgiving turkey if necessary, which is the reason I'm thinking a chest freezer. We have 2 refridgerator-freezers in our house, one's a side by side which barely holds a week's worth of meals. The other's a freezer on top with a shelf in it, which olds reasonable amounts as long as it's not a long term storage amount. I've been buying a month's worth of meats at a time, so I pretty much fill the 2 fridge/freezers with that stuff. So I'm thinking a seperate manual defrost freezer for long term storage of my veggies. Right now I have half of one of my freezers filled with string beans and squash, so I'm starting to wonder if the 7cf freezer is enough. but i have no idea how many cubic feet the freezers attached to the refridgerator are. This year we grew 6 squash, 6 zuccini and 3 rows of beans. We also planted 6 tomatoes, which haven't started producing yet but are now flowering, and 500 seeds of corn which will be ready for harvest soon. Next year I'm thinking of more tomato, equal or more beans, same zuccini, less squash, no idea how many corn, plus a half dozen pepper plants. In the future we plan to plant raspberry bushes, blueberry bushes and a few fruit trees; but those will take a few years before we get much out of them. In the future I plan to can most of the excess tomato, and can, freeze, and dry the fruit. advice please, |
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Posted: Aug/09/2008 8:55 PM PST
I have a 7.2 c/f chest freezer which I use for one person. It's full. I now wish I had a bigger one, but it would probably be full too, so I don't think it is going to matter that much. Buy what you can afford or willing to spend and have room for. Avoid freezer burn by using FoodSaver vacuum-seal bag for storage. You do not want air next to the food. |
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Posted: Aug/10/2008 7:49 AM PST
I just got a food saver this week. my uncle's been raving about them. he prepares meals for camping in them, freezes them and then takes 2 bags throws them in boiling water and has a no clean up meal of "real food". Yeah the price of a freezer isn't going to make my husband happy no matter what. but it's needed. I bought the food saver the day after we got an offer on our house, figuring I could treat myself. He'd like me to postpone getting a freezer till after we close on the sale, but if I wait till mid september, then I'd might as well wait till next year's crop. lol I saw a 7 cf one for $188. I was really expecting to have to pay $400-$500 to get even a small freezer, so I"m not stressing over the price. Although the husband is. I'm sure he'll love it when I start buying canning equipment next year. hehehe we have a family of 3 soon to be 4. I dream of storing veggies to the extent that I buy very few and don't run out of them until late spring-early summer (about a month before we start harvesting again). but that much of a crop would be a nightmare to harvest and storing that much is a dream. lol |
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Posted: Aug/10/2008 10:29 AM PST
Keep in mind where you are going to place the freezer. A manual freezer needs to be defrosted once or twice a year, which means you need to drain the water from the bottom. Many brands have an adapter to the drain plug to hook a garden hose to it. Hint: Fast defrost. Empty contents and put a hose to the insides for a rapid defrost. Dry. Put contents back in. 20 minutes. Food hardly have time to think about defrosting.  Some people keep their units in their garage and just move it outside for this. Others hook up the drain hose. Something to think about.The expensive units, especially the uprights, are frost-free. Things get lost in chest freezers, so you might want to invest in a small White Board above the freezer to keep inventory. You may 'think' you won't need it but you will change your mind quickly. |
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Posted: Aug/11/2008 7:28 AM PST
my mom used to put pots of boiling water in her freezer with the door open and then complain about the mess. lol somehow she always ended up doing this on the hottest day of the year and the ice chests didn't quite hold all the stuff from the freezer. I'm planning on putting the freezer in the basement next to the sump pump. That's the only drain we have in the basement other than the kitchen sink. I know i'll use the freezer less if I have to put shoes on and go in the garage for it. |
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Posted: Aug/11/2008 10:49 AM PST
A shop vac works well in getting out excess water. Dry with a couple of towels and you're back in business. (I cleaned 4 freezers, mine and friends after Rita) |
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Posted: Aug/12/2008 4:36 AM PST
mom's mess was always on the floor since she had an upright. oh geeze hurricane damage. sooo glad we don't live in hurricane zone. I assume you don't face hurricanes every year or even every other, but watching the news it seems that way. I bought meats and filled a full sized freezer a few days before a freak 100 year flood. Our power relay station was under water for a week, so when I returned home, well about the only thing in the fridge and freezer worth saving was the alchol. We cleaned the upright freezer but never filled it again. Once we moved, we decided that it wasn't worth dragging a 40 year old 6 ft tall freezer out of the basement. |
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Posted: Aug/13/2008 8:20 PM PST
husband gave in, i'm getting my freezer. 7 cf chest freezer. he lifted it at the store and said that the fact he can move it by himself made him happier about the idea. Let's see him try to lift it once I fill it. lol he actually bought it and couldn't fit it in the car by 1 inch and then returned it. So this weekend we borrow a mini van and I'll get it. |
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