Oh, I'm sorry - If it makes you feel any better, most of us have had some kind of freezer issue at some point. Rough rule of thumb is - A freezer full of food will usually keep about 2 days if the door is kept shut; a half-full freezer will last about a day. That doesn't mean all is ruined, especially fruits and vegetables. If they are still cold, some ice crystals present, they can be refrozen understanding there could be some loss of quality.

My worst freezer story is really my sisters. August, 8 3/4 months pregnant, she left the door partially opened with an entire beef in her freezer. She did give some things away, but neighbors, her 4-H group, her sister/me cooked ourselves silly for a couple of days, making meat loaves, spa sauce, pot roasts, stews and were able save and refreeze quite a bit.

I'll keep your point in mind, but the only time I unplug my vintage upright is to defrost about once a year, and even then I hold my breath when turning it back on, always afraid it's not going to start....and who could blame it at 30+ years.

Believe me, there is no worse smell than a 5 kilo (11 lb) box of squid in a freezer which has been switched off for 3 weeks. Don't ask how I know.

denninmi,

Oh, I"m so glad you didn't lose precious harvest!

Believe me, you have sympathy, not scorn, from me, and probably from most people here --- as morz8 says, most of us have had a freezer "issue"!

Morz8, my worst freezer story is also my sister's. Last summer she---also pregnant---had an incident a bit like deninmi's but with worse results. It wasn't even to vacuum---she and a friend were in the basement packing up stuff for her impending move. They wanted to put on some tunes, and THOUGHT they were unplugging the FAN that was in one of the outlets in order to plug in the portable CD Player. But they were really unplugging the freezer that was in the other. The freezer full of pricey organic meat.

They bopped and packed for a few hours, went back upstairs to make dinner, and forgot all about it... till TWO WEEKS later when the move was only a week away. All that meat... and the freezer now needing a serious cleaning and airing on top of the final packing chores.

I had lost some stuff two years ago (my freezer is just a little old and flaky) and swore to get a freezer alarm, but never got around to it. Told my sister my story and she gave me a freezer alarm this summer. Yay!

Z

My helpful neighbor, who was babysitting my dogs while I was out of town, plugged in a heater in the garage for the dogs.

It blew the circuit, which she didn't notice, and the freezer was off all the time I was gone. Ruined: 3 entire lambs that I had just picked up from the butcher, 1/2 a hog, about 1/4 of a side of beef, assorted frozen veggies and ice cream.

I called my insurance company and they covered the entire loss. Some homeowner's insurance covers freezer failure, so that is worth checking if your freezer fails for any reason.

The same neighbor turned on a hose to fill the sheep's water tank (which I had specifically asked her not to do) and walked off and left it running the entire time I was gone. Needless to say, the neighbor was never asked to babysit the animals ever again (which might have been her intention. She loved to get free favors from her neighbors but did not like to repay them)

So I am scanning the topics and I read one started by my friend in Michigan. Denninmi and it reads.

Please Don't Be An IDIOT Like I Am!

Well I could not get here fast enough. And it starts with

I just had to share this, because I am SO STUPID. I learned my lesson and won't ever do this again.

Denn take my advice. Stick with gardening. You were never meant to be a door to door vacuum salesman.

Now I have to meditate and figure out how God can love denninmi so much when he forgets to pull the plug.

Heck, here in Michigan right now it's cold enough in my (unheated) garage where the freezer is, that I wouldn't notice things thawing until spring, I think!

I just put a whole pig in there, so it had better keep working. I never, EVER, unplug the freezer, because I know something bad will happen to me, LOL.

denninmi, I'm glad you didn't lose any more than you did. And my homeowner's insurance will cover what's in the freezer if there's a power outage or something that's not my fault, but not if I unplug it and forget.

Annie

Annie

In our garage, I keep things in the fridge to keep 'em from freezing.

k

>> Believe me, there is no worse smell than a 5 kilo (11 lb) box of squid in a freezer which has been switched off for 3 weeks. Wanna bet!!! Get some chines take out, don't eat it all and throw what's left in a garbage can. Leave it for a weekend in summer in a room that isn't cooled!

Someone did it at an office I worked at - there was a new rule: Take you left over Chinese food outside, do not put it in the garbage. Anyone found violating this will be fired after being beaten and puked on!

Mike