TXQFMom Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 OK.... down here in TX... and lost power for 2 1/2 days with Ike. I had 3 freezers and 3 fridges... even with full freezers including frozen water bottles we lost things... So now to deal with it and some ?'s all meat that was soft is in ice chests and being cooked.... all meat that was still hard went to Blocks freezer yesterday and will come home tonight I think my frozen milk & cheese came through intact... what about all my frozen veggies??? most of them were SOFT (live in freezer baskets in the top of the fridge)... Can they be refrozen? Can I can them? going to make jelly from the defrosted juice throwing out 2/3 of the condiments... planning to keep the sealed horseradish sealed ketchup open mustard open miracle whip was still cold when I packed it in ice... big salsa was NOT real cold, but I got it into ice 2 jams sat out 36 hours??? chocolate syrup soy sauce My feta went into the ice chest my parm was still on the freezer door ?? not cold saved all my goat meds & cheese & yogurt cultures biggest ? is all the thawed frozen veggies.... OH! and thawed frozen cheese! I had 2 bags at least of mozz that went soft... Oh and sweet pickles and pickle relish... I had NO ice chest rm for those....??? Link to comment
Cricket Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 If the veggies were defrosted but stayed good and cold, I'd dehydrate them. Link to comment
Violet Posted September 16, 2008 Share Posted September 16, 2008 This link should help you out. I am so sorry for your misfortune. At least you are OK. Basically, if the food still had ice crystals it is OK to refreeze or do something else with. They also need to be kept at degrees not higher than 40 degrees for 2 hours. If they sat longer at that temp. or more then there will be enough bacteria to make you sick. http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/...,0_564_,00.html Link to comment
TXQFMom Posted September 16, 2008 Author Share Posted September 16, 2008 thank you that was very helpful Link to comment
Violet Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 You are welcome. Glad it helped you. Link to comment
Shandy Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Oh, Mrs. J, I'm so sorry! I didn't think about how the power outage would hurt you. Did you lose any garden? Did the goats all come thru ok? Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 OK I want to ask a question and I need some REAL answers? How can you all keep freezers going all year long and still think you are saving money buying things cheap or getting from your garden? I mean with the price of electric and the cost of the freezer (not to mention lost due to power outages). That is one reason we can everything we can. Reuse jars, cook on woodstove or outside on big propane stove, free vegetables (for the most part). Anything that will save us money and get good food all winter long? Convince me please so I can see the benefits? Link to comment
brendajo Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 There are times when I have meats and produce to can and not enough time.Last week I had 7 gallons of strawberries,2 gallons of green beans,and 8 family packs of chicken breast to can.Due to a family emergency I was away from home for 3 days.Everything went into my freezer where it stayed fresh until I had the time to can it. Link to comment
Granny Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Sorry to hear of your loss TXMom. We lost power for 28 hours over weekend due to reminents of Ike making it's way north through the states. Sent our generator to neighbor for milking cows so freezers were my concern also. Ours held and power restored just in time. AH, you are probably right if evaluating cost only. However we enjoy the benefits of a freezer from the standpoint of variety. For instance, milk, steaks for grilling, hamburger for making meatloaf, and my favorite "corn on the cob" don't work from a jar. In addition it's helpful to have a way to store things you get in large quanity until able to convert to canned. Extra berries, apples so forth can be held until turned into juice, pie fillings etc. Not everything can be canned or canned fast enough. A freezer adds variety and another layer of options while still canning everything you can. Link to comment
Robert Z Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Originally Posted By: Amishway Homesteaders OK I want to ask a question and I need some REAL answers? How can you all keep freezers going all year long and still think you are saving money buying things cheap or getting from your garden? I mean with the price of electric and the cost of the freezer (not to mention lost due to power outages). That is one reason we can everything we can. Reuse jars, cook on woodstove or outside on big propane stove, free vegetables (for the most part). Anything that will save us money and get good food all winter long? Convince me please so I can see the benefits? I hunt, so therefore sometimes I find myself with a surplus of meat. I could can it and do can some but sometimes you want a sudo fresh piece of meat. Also, I live in a rural area, so if I find myself needing a few pounds of hamburger on a Saturday when I wasn't going into town, I have it on hand instead of burning $10 in gas to go buy it. I also buy 2 lambs a year form a friend that raises them, her lambs are better than any lamb I have ever bought in the store and substantially cheaper. I understand that it costs money to run the freezer, but not very much. I have used a kill a watt meter on it and it averages +/- $60-$80 per year to run, so for $5-$7 per month I consider it a bargain! Link to comment
Violet Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 The freezer I have is over 30 years old. I know a new one would be more energy efficient, but I don't want to buy a new one yet. The cost of gas and my time going to the store so many times is worth it to me to freeze extra things that were on sale, cheap or free. I agree, I can freeze many things I am unable to can, like grated cheese, breads, crackers, cereals, chips, etc. Makes my life a lot easier. Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 well thank you all for the good answers to this. We too have a small chest freezer we use for the meat we don't can and yes lots of hamburger goes into it too. AS for price I guess $70.00 a year to run one isn't too bad and like you said it bets driving to town and useing gasat what $4.87 now? Link to comment
TXQFMom Posted September 18, 2008 Author Share Posted September 18, 2008 Shurleen all the animals came through good... all fences and guildings intact. We lost trees but nothing ON anything! PTL!! On freezers... first what has already been said... can't can pork chops or bbq'ed steak... also my dh has very bad teeth and works hard... as long as we have power smoothies using frozen fruits, my homemade yogurt from our goats milk, and our eggs are a blessing that keeps him going. Canned fruit is not the same in it... frozen veggies are *healthier*... due to less salt and less cooking... BUT after this I am rethinking this for us so we shall see Frozen cheese, butter, milk etc for the slow season. I sell milk & cheese yr round, but production is not HIGH yr round... and many customers want frozen so they only have to pick up every few weeks... We only have 1 vehicle and it is rarely here as dh works with it.... and having him *stop* for things is not the wisest use of my money... 1 of my freezers is JUST the dairy... We just use our freezers so extensively... for now... I am grateful to have them. Adding in... I had never canned a thing before this yr... What I DO prefer is chest freezers with manual defrost and all fridges.... most of what I lost was in the 1 upright freezer and the freezer over the one standard fridge we have. Oh frozen zucchini that is added to almost everything I cook for vitamins... I think in some ways it is cost effective for me and other ways it is a health benefit... BUT when my dh offered a generator for me I refused as I see it as a short term TSHTF.... and my long term list is still long. Instead I got a canner and a hand grain mill. Link to comment
JCK88 Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 I just got a freezer--and I'm a confirmed canner. The freezer I got is a small chest freezer, manual defrost. Cost $199 at Costco. I got it because we had talked about it and because dh is constantly complaining there is too much in the fridge freezer for him to find the ice--and because I needed a place large enough to freeze the bulk grain and flour we buy and store in five gallon buckets. I am finding that this first summer with a freezer, I have used it to store the ice cream I won in a contest, froze bags of rice for storage, put in many quarts of blueberries I didn't have time or energy to do anything with. Froze gallons of blackberries I was too ill to handle that week-- and so on. We don't get power failures often here. If we do, they are in the winter usually. Still, I prefer canning most things and think of the freezer as a place to keep things for canning when it's more convenient. I have really liked having the extra freezer space for when I find meat on sale and can then buy a large amount of it, stick it in the freezer if I can't can it right away. The freezer doesn't cost a lot to run, not even $50 a year if I remember right. I think it's worth it mainly because I have chronic diseases that sometimes make me tired and this way, I can take advantage of sales and large harvests without having to do them up in jars that same day or that same week. We are saving up for a dual fuel generator, one that runs on liquid propane and or solar. But I want this not for the freezer, but for the well pump. This was dh's idea. We recently got a gas stove and had a small propane tank installed. He wants a big tank now, LOL!! (and decided it would make sense to not have a gasoline powered generator because lp can be stored safely in a large tank and the gas would have to be in containers in an out building. My long-term list is still there...but smaller now. Like you, I opted for grain mill and canner early on. (and water filter and storage barrels) I do feel that having the freezer will help save some bucks because there will be plenty of weeks I simply won't have to go to the grocery store for anything since we have it all here at home between the freezer, the storage, and the canning shelves. Those weeks, I take the grocery money, put it in a kitty and save it for larger preps, like the generator fund or something else that's big. Link to comment
Crazy4Canning Posted September 18, 2008 Share Posted September 18, 2008 We just lost our freezer...but it is now holding a zero, maybe once a week going into the teens. Still too unsafe for me. I'll use it for bread and maybe jam or berries, but NOT meat. I love my freezer because I can make large quantities of soup, stew, etc. other items that might not be safe to can and have dinner FAST! Also, we buy our beef from a private party (grain fed angus-herford blend) and LOVE the variety and low-fat. Also, we are berry maniacs living in the NW so berries are frozen and used year-around. It also helps with jam, cheese, etc. Our next freezer, though, will be in the basement, so I can get to it easily. This one is in the garage/ shop and I am constantly having to leap-frog over an air compressor or move wood to get to it. Link to comment
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