Power is off and freezer is full- wwyd?

[gands]

This had been nagging at me for quite sometime and thought I'd ask the members here "what would you do" if the power went off and your freezer if full of meat? Lets say the power would be off for longer than you could run a generator on limited fuel supplies. Do you cook it all up and share it? Do you try to make jerky, providing you have a smoke house? Do you pickle it? I am puzzled, are there other alternatives out there other than what I mentioned?

[Jeriah]

Without opening the freezer, not even to peek, I'd seal the gasket around the door with duct tape. Should stay frozen in there for, I dunno, a couple days depending on the outside temp. If the power just ain't coming back on, I would cook and eat all chicken and pork ASAP, and would make jerky out of any beef. Slice thin, gas oven, door open a crack, low temp. Or smoke it if you've got a smoker setup.

[HazeyWolf]

If everyone's power is out, its time to crank up the genny and run it every few hours 'til the fuel runs low, then dig a root cellar w/an evaporative cooling system and put whatever unused frozen meat into an ice-loaded 7 day cooler nestled into the root cellar.

Alternatively, cook the meat and cover with oil, rendered lard, honey, or aspic and store in an air-tight, sterile container in a root cellar or sub-surface zeer-pot. The cooked meat can also be ground fine and dried further in a solar oven and combined with flour, nuts, berries, some herbs or edible insects and mixed/covered with rendered tallow to make pemmican.

I suppose some kinds of dried sausages could be made if you had the right equipment. Some salamis and prosciuttos type products are aged for years.

If its cold and dry enough, some large pieces of meat can be hung and aged for weeks and the inner meat will not spoil. If its sunny enough the meat can be jerked and/or smoked, but should be lean and processed thin and covered with cheese cloth (if not smoked) to deter insects.

Some meats and especially fish can extended by pickling with brine, sugar, vinegars, or fermented krauts or fermented rice (the original sushi was fermented rice rice balls which preserved fish.

Might be less work to have a social bbq, or barter some of the meat for other items/services if you have adequate dry food stored. If any meat spoils it can be used for bait or animal feed.

[Sealegs]

Leave it shut for as long as possible.
Drag it outside and let nature freeze it.
Fire up the generator and get it down to temp, leave shut again for a day or so, preferrable in a cold environment.
Invite neighbors over for a cook-off.
Document what spoils, insurance can cover it. (At least mine does.)

A great reason to invest in a new energy efficient freezer.

[JTNieman]

Happened all the time in the winter and occasionally in the summer when I lived with my parents in the middle of nowhere. Always the last to get power back.

Just do what you can to insulate the thing. Blankets over it, etc.

[Dawgboy]

Depends on the situation, I am on a backup power system so it kicks on in 15 seconds. If it's just a temporary power outage I am doing nothing. If it's a major problem and our backup genny goes, (It's a GM 671 beast with 2000 gallons of diesel), I also have my Yamaha 2k genny and 30 gallons of fuel for that. By then, I will have eaten it I think...

[Gainward]

If it's below freezing outside just grab your tuck box or ice chest or a clean trash can, set it out side in the shade fill it up and make sure the lid is locked good. In the summer throw a thermometer that let's u read without opening it ductape the seals wrap in insulation and run the genny when needed. If your gonna run out of gas before the power comes back on you should at least be able to make it last long enough to make use of the food.

[Krustofski]

Two important things to consider BEFORE the power goes out:

- full freezers actually use less energy than empty freezers
- you can always use more water storage

Thus, if there's any free space in your freezer, pack it with water in Soda bottles. Leave a little room in the bottles so they don't burst while freezing. Havin a lot of ice in a well-isolated container like your freezer effectively makes it an ice box, and will keep it cool for days without power. Oh, and if you thouroughly clean the bottles and make sure to use clean water, you can so count that as water storage.

[grennels]

If we're talking LONG term (PAW?) power outage -

I have stocked 150 pounds of salt. I would salt the meat in layers in 5 gallon pails.

Take it out and dry it at leisure.

[DarkAxel]

Two important things to consider BEFORE the power goes out:

- full freezers actually use less energy than empty freezers
- you can always use more water storage

Thus, if there's any free space in your freezer, pack it with water in Soda bottles. Leave a little room in the bottles so they don't burst while freezing. Havin a lot of ice in a well-isolated container like your freezer effectively makes it an ice box, and will keep it cool for days without power. Oh, and if you thouroughly clean the bottles and make sure to use clean water, you can so count that as water storage.

Brilliant!! [insert Guinness Ad Here]

[Krustofski]

I have to admit though, that there is a lot of empty space in my freezer right now. Because I took out over a kg of dear roast for Chrismas... and have since been to lazy to put in some water. Yeah.

[Biggin]

Depending on how long term this freeze is, I would make sure I ate frozen stuff first. Possibly stick the frozen stuff in a ice/salt/water bath in an ice chest.

Jerkying it would be a good plan too

[Confucius]

Probably transfer everything to the chest freezer, put a few blankets on top of it.
Dry what can be, eat what can't be...

[idahobob]

Short term outage....Leave it alone.

Long Term,.....start canning. We do all of our canning outdoors on this:

http://www.campchef.com/tahoe-triple-burner-cooker.html

Have a more than adequate supply of propane in 100 and 25 pound tanks, just for canning and cooking back-up.

We have All American 31 qt canner, tons of jars, and lots of experience at canning meat.

That's what we would do.

Bob
III

[JakkSchitt]

I would do the same thing that Idahobob does, can it up. I have two coleman propane stoves and two canners along with dozens of empty jars. If its short term, I would wait it out a day or two. Any longer and I would start canning.

[Jeriah]

Two important things to consider BEFORE the power goes out:

- full freezers actually use less energy than empty freezers
- you can always use more water storage

Thus, if there's any free space in your freezer, pack it with water in Soda bottles. Leave a little room in the bottles so they don't burst while freezing. Havin a lot of ice in a well-isolated container like your freezer effectively makes it an ice box, and will keep it cool for days without power. Oh, and if you thouroughly clean the bottles and make sure to use clean water, you can so count that as water storage.

Good point, I do that too. We pull the ice bottles out of the freezer for road trips, to keep food cool. When they thaw we drink 'em. I had wondered if they help keep the freezer running w/ less energy, I don't know why or how that works but I kind of wondered it.

[Krustofski]

I had wondered if they help keep the freezer running w/ less energy, I don't know why or how that works but I kind of wondered it.

That full refrigerators and freezers use less energy than empty ones is common household wisdom I got from my grandma. I always wondered how that worked myself.
I had rather elaborate and complicated thoughts on relative heat capacity of air and water, heat conduction, thermodynamics... and then I asked a pysicist. "Because if there is less airspace, there is less cold air that can leach out through the seal, or be lost every time you open the door. Convection, duh." Uh well.

[ZombieGranny]

One of my freezers died recently, so I can tell you exactly.

Took it all out and checked it. What was still safe to freeze got transferred to another freezer, what was iffy got tossed, and the rest was cooked & either eaten or refrozen.
I lost one small beef roast and one small pork roast, and a pound bag of mixed vegetables (the closest items to the outside.)
-
If the power is out for good; I'm canning meat & stock (my freezers are always full of stock) and jerking more of the meat and drying the vegetables.

edit: good looking biscuit recipe on that link. Made me go mix up some biscuits, they're in the oven now.

[Big B]

Two important things to consider BEFORE the power goes out:

- full freezers actually use less energy than empty freezers
- you can always use more water storage

Thus, if there's any free space in your freezer, pack it with water in Soda bottles. Leave a little room in the bottles so they don't burst while freezing. Havin a lot of ice in a well-isolated container like your freezer effectively makes it an ice box, and will keep it cool for days without power. Oh, and if you thouroughly clean the bottles and make sure to use clean water, you can so count that as water storage.

Good point!

Our freezer is pretty full right now (we got half a cow not too long ago), but as we take big items out or notice a empty space I try and throw water bottle(s) in there.

[squinty]

If everyone's power is out, its time to crank up the genny and run it every few hours 'til the fuel runs low, then dig a root cellar w/an evaporative cooling system and put whatever unused frozen meat into an ice-loaded 7 day cooler nestled into the root cellar.

Alternatively, cook the meat and cover with oil, rendered lard, honey, or aspic and store in an air-tight, sterile container in a root cellar or sub-surface zeer-pot. The cooked meat can also be ground fine and dried further in a solar oven and combined with flour, nuts, berries, some herbs or edible insects and mixed/covered with rendered tallow to make pemmican.

I suppose some kinds of dried sausages could be made if you had the right equipment. Some salamis and prosciuttos type products are aged for years.

If its cold and dry enough, some large pieces of meat can be hung and aged for weeks and the inner meat will not spoil. If its sunny enough the meat can be jerked and/or smoked, but should be lean and processed thin and covered with cheese cloth (if not smoked) to deter insects.

Some meats and especially fish can extended by pickling with brine, sugar, vinegars, or fermented krauts or fermented rice (the original sushi was fermented rice rice balls which preserved fish.

Might be less work to have a social bbq, or barter some of the meat for other items/services if you have adequate dry food stored. If any meat spoils it can be used for bait or animal feed.

Why not be proactive and dig the root cellar now?

[Killmoarzombies]

Two important things to consider BEFORE the power goes out:

- full freezers actually use less energy than empty freezers
- you can always use more water storage

Thus, if there's any free space in your freezer, pack it with water in Soda bottles. Leave a little room in the bottles so they don't burst while freezing. Havin a lot of ice in a well-isolated container like your freezer effectively makes it an ice box, and will keep it cool for days without power. Oh, and if you thouroughly clean the bottles and make sure to use clean water, you can so count that as water storage.

Good point, I do that too. We pull the ice bottles out of the freezer for road trips, to keep food cool. When they thaw we drink 'em. I had wondered if they help keep the freezer running w/ less energy, I don't know why or how that works but I kind of wondered it.[/quote]

It has to do with the specific heat of water being significantly more than that of air. I couldn't find a good value for air because it seems to change with pressure but it takes 5-10x more energy to heat water than it does air so the frozen water absorbs 5-10x more heat in your freezer allowing it to stay colder longer. Some where on here was a neat thread about someone who was talking about water walls being used to help heat and cool houses and thermal mass etc. Long story short: we should all be filling our freezers and fridges with water bottles to save energy anyway

[Molon Labe]

Without opening the freezer, not even to peek, I'd seal the gasket around the door with duct tape. Should stay frozen in there for, I dunno, a couple days depending on the outside temp. If the power just ain't coming back on, I would cook and eat all chicken and pork ASAP, and would make jerky out of any beef. Slice thin, gas oven, door open a crack, low temp. Or smoke it if you've got a smoker setup.

^^This^^

[JoeJoeUK]

We had this happen to us at Uni. I'd do as the first response says and seal it up. Keep the air cold, until either the electric comes back on, or for as long as possible. If not then a generator or eat it quick

[Tater Raider]

Power is off and freezer is full? I do nothing. I'm in a decent enough sized town that even though it's isolated we would get power back fast, maybe in 12-24 hours if it's a major issue so I don't put a lot of thought into this.

Besides what others have mentioned, it helps if:

• The freezer is set as cold as it can go before you lose power.
• Your door seals are kept clean and in good repair.