Cleaning the Freezer (How old is too old?)
Yes, it's time. Dallas is coming on Monday (when we're supposed to get an inch of rain) to slaughter beef. I bought a pig locally and it should be ready next week. That means it's time to clean the freezer, I need space for a whole hog and half a cow.
Anyway, it was time for me to defrost the upright freezer and go diving in the chest freezers, just to see what I could find.
Hey, look, it's a roll of maraschino cherry/white chocolate shortbread left from Christmas baking. I'll stick those in the oven now:
Here's a brisket, looks like the vacuum pack lost its seal. What does that date say? December 2013? I think that might be dog food...
That goes straight into the crock pot, although it really doesn't look all that bad...
Well, that filled up the crockpot, so what else is there? A package of rib steaks, extremely freezer compromised and a stray soup bone that never made it into the roaster for stock, both dated 2013. Elery put those into the instant pot, and they became dog food too...
Two packages of our homeground chicken sausage had also lost their seal, although they were only dated 2017. (sigh) My Foodsaver is not dependable, even though Elery bought me a newer and more expensive version. I lose seals about half the time, no matter what I do. It seems sealed when I put it in the freezer, but it is unsealed within a matter of weeks. Sometimes I find it and fix it, sometimes not. Unfortunately, this time it was a "not" so I cooked them and they are also in the refrigerator for dog treats...
Ooooh, look here, moose loin. That is still sealed, thank goodness, I was planning on having one for Easter dinner and saving the other one for the next time Peppi visits. Back into the freezer with these, in the bottom basket next to the venison.
The Princess is spending the night and she brought her Golden Retriever, who just loves to eat at my house. I told Makayla that Miley picked the perfect night to stay, when I cleaned the freezer. Because Miley weighs nearly 100 pounds, and my old Sadie is a St. Bernard/lab cross and weighs over 100 pounds and our shelter dog, Molly, weighs 80 pounds, all that old beef won't last long enough to get any older.
I really have to try harder to keep things sorted out and use the oldest stuff first, though. This is what we're having for breakfast with pancakes:
I think I need to invest in some more baskets, just to keep things sorted. Yeah, like I'll actually do that. (sigh)
I also found a gallon ziplock full of frozen jalapenos, already seeded but left whole in case I decided to make poppers. I never decided to do that, of course, but we're out of jalapeno relish, so I'm going to can some of that tomorrow too.
I try to clean and defrost the freezers every year, but obviously a few things get lost in the shuffle. I do have baskets for fruits, other baskets for vegetables, I try to keep wild game in one place, pork in the upright freezer, chicken/fruit/vegetables in one chest freezer, beef in the other one. Things like ice cream, apple cider, extra butter go in the refrigertor/freezer. How do you keep things straight? How often do you clean the freezer?
Annie
Comments (18)
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
5 years agoI've had my giant up-right for a couple years now. It has pull-out bins...fish, meat, veg and fruits. Open shelves hold stocks and soups and one for dog food, (we grind our own). The bins pull out so I can sort on the work counter. A top shelf bin (Ikea) I use to place meal ideas or what needs to be used...I also have a big hunk of moose I'll use soon.
Just went through it as I do this time every year. Also summer crops are being used up and fall stocks and soups, chili, bolognese, etc. Anything 2016 I have to toss a coin if I'll ever use it. Or pups food.
I get pork and beef every Spring from a friend that has a farm so I'll have plenty of room for that.
No broken seals since I started double sealing the food saver. I have noticed too much shuffling frozen foods can poke holes in the bags hitting each other.
At the Newfoundland home I have a horrid chest freezer. Hate that deep-thing-hole-to-China. I cover the entire bottom with gallon water jugs, (emergency drinking water) and it still is hard to organize. I started using the medium Ikea bags and that has helped a lot. Short and long handles make it easy to pull out. And a shoe box size basket where I freeze flat pack stuff and anything else coming in from the sea, then they go into the designated Ikea bags when frozen solid.
I have an Ikea nearby but all the bags are on eBay. Really strong and don't stick together in the freezer. I think I have the small ones. 3.5 gallon seems right.
(can't wait to get some of the new colors, lol. I'm so sick of that blue). They are everywhere...in the garden shed, back of our cars....
ci_lantro
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Used Sub Zero- how old is too old
Comments (9)Lafacia, this may help: 20 years ago we put one of the smallest size SZs in when we bought our house. Ten years later, we reno'd the kitchen and replaced it with another slightly larger SZ. The old one went into storage in the garage, where it sat with the spiders for another ten years. A year ago, we pulled it out of the garage, cleaned off the spiderwebs, and set it up on the porch to handle overflow for a party. It works just fine - to the point that I so loved having the extra space, we've just kept it on. Had the SZ maintenance guy come out and check it out -- got a clean bill of health, didn't have to do a thing for it other than clean off the condensers. I'm now planning a new house, and plan to put a SZ in that one too. I think you'd have to pry my SZ out of my cold dead hands at this point . The only thing I can tell you that the new ones do better on is energy efficiency. Would I buy a used one? Yep, I probably would. HTH.......See MoreHow old is too old for long hair?
Comments (62)Jlc, you're stunning dear. Your hair is faboo… Like the others, it's not at all what I expected. I have seriously curly hair, and wear it just past my shoulders with very long layers. Any other cut would be treacherous on a humid day. I'm a bit older than you, and that style works for me. I have had too many bad haircuts to worry about if I'm too old for what works best. I color it because I don't feel old enough to be all grey. Maybe one day I'll move to a silver bob, but probably not for another decade or so… Ellendi and BBee3 mentioned Keratin. I tried about 5 different professional Keratin treatments, and there is a wide range of results. Some are poker straight, others hardly any difference. I like the one that just makes the curls "drop" a little, and still take a curling iron if I want more "boing." There are temporary 30 day treatments, others last about 6 months. The 30 day doesn't make a huge difference, but it will make blow drying time shorter. It's a nice entree into the keratin products, and maintains the flat iron even on rainy days. I remember when Laurie Partridge and Marsha Brady hair was the style. After one of the Keratin treatments where my hair wouldn't hold a curl, I was cured of wishing for that. I'm accustomed to big hair, and it's just not me in pin straight. You rock those curls Jlc! Here is another great Dove Campaign: Dove Curly Hair Campaign...See Morehow old is too old??
Comments (14)wintercat- Interestingly enough, mayonnaise (unopened and stored in a cool, dark, environment) is on a list I have of "indefinite (or nearly so) storage items" I received from a Food Storage Class, and also from other scientific sources on-line. After being opened, however, it goes downhill from there as determined by other contributing factors. An opened and partially-used container of mayo that has food debris in it, cross-contamination from meat on the knife and back into the spread, and/or has spent long periods of time sitting out of the refrigerator or at an unsafe refrigerator temperature (and most people haven't any idea what their refrigerator temperature actually is, nor what a food-safe temperature is), will be something I would consider "questionable for safe use" BOTH before or after the use-by or best-by date. A jar that has been kept free from food particles and cross-contamination, and has spent 90% of it's in-use time at a food-safe temperature will keep much longer even after opening, and I wouldn't hesitate to use it long after the date expired. This is where common sense comes in when asking if something is "still good". -Grainlady...See MoreOk how old is too old for a bikini?
Comments (83)Body image is so subjective and personal. I am sure we have all had the experience of beating ourselves up at a point in time, and then looking back later and saying ... "what was I thinking; I looked great." I think it would be very regrettable if a woman looked like Lady Gaga and felt she needed surgery for the curve of her tummy, especially after having had children. And especially if she was not performing half naked on stage, LOL! But I do know it happens. I do hope that the public consensus agrees that Lady Gaga is a beautiful specimen of the human form, one of many versions of beauty. Because everything we can do to empower young girls and help them find their own "perfection" is good for them and humankind....See Morecooper8828
5 years ago
Jasdip
5 years agoannie1992
5 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
5 years agoOn the rolls, when cutting and sealing, I just seal the bottom again, just the heat seal. After filling and it seals on its own, I pull the bag a 1/2 inch and seal again, with my eyes rolling, lol. (impatience). A double seal on both ends.
When I put them in the freezer for the freezing process, they are placed on a top shelf and sometimes I have a stainless lasagna pan on that shelf so flat-pack items freeze 'flat'. Sometime later, a day or three, I move those recently frozen to where they belong....that way I can check the seal.
I like the off market cheaper brand idea. But Costco is so convenient.
I don't FoodSaver as many things as I used to. Cherry toms from the garden freeze great just whole, then grab a few for pizza, frittatas, etc. Pop them on frozen and they thaw an heat during cooking. 'FlavorBombs', I call them, are just in thin small bread bags tied tight without air, then into a gallon zip-lock. Roasted toms, garlic, onion, are lust in quart freezer zip-locks. Again, easy to seal without air being so soft and liquid.
ediej1209 AL Zn 7
5 years ago
gyr_falcon
5 years agoleahikesgardenspdx
5 years agoannie1992
5 years agoKatieC
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agowintercat_gw
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
5 years ago"Plus I have to break my husband of the habit of picking up beef at the processor and just upturning a box and dumping into the chest freezer...."
(lol) : )
We have two 'organized' kitchen 'everything-else' drawers that need organizing once a month when it gets to look like a dump/junk drawer...after I collect all the contents from all over the house, lol.
I keep a small folded card stock credit card sized note paper in my wallet with shelf hight, width and depth sizes for pantry, closet, linen closet, freezer....and anything else I'm searching for. I so dislike shopping, but when I see something that might work I have the sizes on me at all times.
Put in an extra shelf in the pantry that holds two boxes of flat packed parchment from the Webstaurant store, 4 sheet pans on top of them and the food saver and bags, just by luck, has an easy access slot next to them. Real estate is tight.
I need to finish the freezer soon. One shelf needs to be moved up a bit waiting for a couple baskets I found cheap to use as slide-ins. Perfect depth. Like this...straight sides so they will not waste space. Similar, but longer.
Most of the organizers specific to fridge/freezer are way over priced.
pkramer60
5 years ago
2ManyDiversions
5 years agoannie1992
5 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
5 years ago
annie1992Original Author