freezers

[red]

we have run out of freezer space - (and its getting a bit desperate with the courgette mountain!) - would have stored alot more veg if we had the room and we hope and plan to grow alot more next year - we only started digging the veg beds Feb this year! - and maybe if the blight does not attack the tomatoes.. and if we ever do raise some lambs...

well we could do with another freezer. any advice on what to get?

I gather chest freezers are more efficient, but we have the space for an upright.. so will prolly have to be one of those. our plan is to turn off the smaller freezer when we have less stuff.. does leaving a freezer turned off, then turning it on again when needed etc shorten its life?

[Christine]

Chests are definitely more efficient and you can get ones with a footprint as small as an upright BUT they are a pain to defrost and you will find it easier to store things in cardboard boxes. Years ago, I gave my little, old chest freezer to my great aunt and uncle, who regularly bought half lambs, etc. and bought an upright. If you have room for both, one of each is ideal. you can occasionally move smaller quantities from chest to upright, where it's easier to find things in a hurry.
Provided the freezer is dry and very, very clean it should survive being turned off and on again but you may find that it has to be cleaned regularly or mould will stain and smell. You might decide it is better to leave it on the lowest setting. If so, fill it with loaves of bread or cardboard boxes filled with polystyrene or bubble wrap or something - a full freezer is more efficient.

[ina]

I always turn mine off for half the year - I can't see any reason why not? You have to turn it off for defrosting anyway.

[red]

well thats good to know..
as thats how we would prolly use it

I guess I worry cos my parents turned on their spare chest freezer when they got a bullock back from slaughter and butchers.. only to the freezer had died.
now they never turn it (the replacement one) off (usually emptry )

[pskipper]

I've a small chest freezer with half the footprint of a conventional fridge, so if you only need a little bit more storage space that could be the way to go. (It was the only one which would fit in through the door of my old flat!)

[mrsflibble]

where did you get it pskipper?

[pskipper]

I got it from Currys, just checked and they still do them

NORFROST C2BEW WHITE Chest freezer 003385 £109.95

60litre capacity and B energy rating

[Annpan]

On a similar note... why does it seem to be more difficult to get an 'A' energy efficiency rated chest freezer?

Had a quick sqwuint through Argos* catalogue and they didn't have any, and when I found them online, it seemed to be the more costly brands (worth it sometimes, I know)

So... if it is better to have a top opening freezer cause they don't loose the chill, then why do uprights get better energy ratings?




*BTW Argos is the scurge of the devil and should be avoided for its crimes against the eco movement... see pages 1198 - 3890 full of crappy giant plastic toys - IMO

[Jandra]

We got an A++ rated freezer (model with drawers, like a fridge) a year ago. It is a Liebherr. Not sure if you can get them over there. More expensive than other brands, but with energy prices going up all the time and considering the expected life time of an appliance like this, it should be a good investment.

Jandra

[Annpan]

Thanks Jandra, though as I say it seems you can get upright freezers with A ratings but what about 'chest' freezers? (ie. the type with a hinged lid) the idea being that the cold air stays put.

Miele also do A rated ones, though it is another pricey brand

[Jandra]

Right, I wasn't clear. 'Our' brand, Liebherr, only has A+ or A++ chest model freezers too. Here's a link to their site in English.

http://www.liebherr.com/hg/en/products_ ... 5!212298-0

Hope that helps.

Jandra

[hedgewizard]

You might also have a look at alternatives to freezing such as drying, pickling and canning. As a matter of interest, would you be interested in a pressure canner if they were sold in the UK? They're like bigger heavier versions of pressure cookers, with racks inside.

[red]

You might also have a look at alternatives to freezing such as drying, pickling and canning.

we have more chutney than we can hope to eat in a year already stashed. i have pickled beetroot gherkins cucumber and runner beans. I found i had 30 jars of jam stored.. and then made a lot more.

Have not got into drying yet.. but if i do i wont be using a drier that uses electricity!! if I go down that route.. might as well freeze... one day intend to make a not electrical drier.. and experiment using spare heat from cooking etc.. but there is not much you can use dried. dried runner beans for example.. don't appeal...

I haven't done any bottlng/ canning - you do have to be more careful with this process. I do know that more vitamins are killed this way, and the taste of veg canned is...well... like canned veg.. so I find myself reluctant to learn.

I do realise that buying and running another freezer is using energy etc.. however our current freezer is absolutely packed.. and there is nothing in there that is just wasting space.. having a lack of space made us be really good! - IF we get to borrow a ram to visit our ewes.. we *hope* to have lambs to eat next year and another freezer will be essential.

The freezer we are considering is something like this one which only used 277 kwh pa which is pretty good.

[hedgewizard]

Oh, come on. There's always room for more jam!

Do let us know how you get on with non-electric drying, please! Quite a few things such as beans are normally air-dried in any case - our staple bean is the dwarf french "Trail of Tears" which is unbelievably prolific - but this isn't possible for high-moisture foods like soft fruit of course. You do make a good point though. The case of driers vs freezers isn't as clear cut as you might think - 10lb of apples took 4.5kW to dry, and of course once it's done the food stays edible for a couple of years with no further energy input. Plus it gets done in my little office where the heat is used to keep my feet warm when I'm working! I dry lots of stuff, mainly imperfect produce that won't keep in the store - including leeks and carrots (almost identical to fresh stuff in soups and stews), tomatoes, onions (we have special recipes for those), fruits and berries, and I reckon dried foods get a bad rep based on the commercial crap; there's just as big a difference between store-bought and home-made as there is for any other type of produce.

Yup, canning requires a canner to be safe, and you can't get 'em in the UK which is sad. The jury's out so far as I'm concerned because I've never tried it, but I really couldn't see myself canning veg for storage. Fruit possibly, but I think the canner would really come into its own for preparing cooked dishes like spaghetti sauces and ragu for long-term storage. Perhaps I'm just being naive though.

By the way Christine, the thing about full freezers being more efficient is a myth - check out this link to see why! Bosch are quite coy about what their "running cost" actually means, since it depends on how much throughput the unit gets, ambient temperature and a bunch of other stuff; I think their figure is a projection based on a closed unit maintaining itself against a steady ambient temperature. Now if you'll pardon me, I have cucumbers to pickle...

[red]

dont worry hedgie.. i cannot seem to stop making jam..

re the drier - well I have seen solar driers.. and there are some descriptions in Seymour's self sufficiency - its been done.
re beans.. you dont need a drier to dry them. I have grown borlotti beans this year and only yesterday made home made baked beans (with our own tomatoes of course.) the beans were picked and podded fresh ie green not dried (and then frozen) - the beans are sweeter and take a lot less time to cook than dried - put that in your energy calculator !! but of course I could have just left the beans to dry on the plant and stored them in a jar.
btw - i put the left over baked beans in.. my freezer..of course

what do you use your dried apples for? see we dont eat a lot of dried apples.. and apples do store reasonably well in a cold shed. i know.. cos thats where my apples are at the moment.. as i have no freezer space. but.. I could take 10 lbs of apples.. and stew them down to puree and then freeze that.. thats not a large volume.. I suspect its share of freezer space would not cost a lot in energy... and the the apple sauce can be used as.. well apple sauce.. in crumbles etc and best of all in my fab apple sauce loaf.

I'm interested that you find dried leeks and carrots good for soups etc - do you have any information on what happens to the nutrients? do they keep too?

I can see the canner being useful for sauces etc yep.