Comments on: Can a deep freezer save you money on meals?

By: Julia Baril

Julia Baril — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:06:13 +0000

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By: Beach

Beach — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:37:46 +0000

I would like to have a small freezer for my apartment, but I don’t know where I’d put it. But I think it would help me a lot in saving food for future use. Less waste.

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:10:34 +0000

When I was a kid, my grandmother had a farm and she would give us a cow for Christmas. Our freezer and the meat locker at the butcher’s were well-used, but not always appreciated by us. What’s for dinner Mom? Not steak! Again!

By: Christian K.

Christian K. — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:33:19 +0000

Reading an article about a guy who went off the grid & became totally self-sufficient, he talked about the merits of a chest freezer. He brought up a good point, and that’s the simple concept that hot air rises, and cool air drops. He stated that he believes chest freezers are more efficient because the cold air doesn’t come pouring out everytime you open it, like in an upright. He went on to convet a chest freezer into a fridge:

http://mtbest.net/chest_fridge.html

By: Thrifty Tip Of The Day - Can A Deep Freezer Save Money? | Ifè Oshun: Notes From A Thrifty WAHM

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 05:31:22 +0000

[...] I found this great article, which did most of the math for me, and another one which echoed my own lifestyle. And yes $230 for [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:15:48 +0000

I’m single and a vegetarian and I LOVE my compact freezer, which I inherited from my father. If it ever went on the fritz, I’d run out and buy another one. On Sundays I cook huge pots of vegetarian soups and casseroles so I have indiviudal servings for week-day dinners and lunches. I even cook up big pots of Irish oatmeal and freeze individual servings (complete with dried fruit) to microwave for breakfast on busy mornings. Therefore my nutrition is much better and it saves me time by allowing me to cook big. Like others who have responded above, I buy fresh produce in season and freeze to “eat local” during the winter. I often freeze things (pesto, fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice) in ice cube trays so I can take out one or two cubes for individual servings. The freezer is down in my basement so it isn’t in the way. The only “clutter” I find associated with freezing is managing the plastic containers I use to freeze the food in. I tend to collect too many and have trouble figuring out how to store all my odd-sized plastic containers.

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 11:27:53 +0000

* Since I have been attempting to eat probiotic, enzyme rich, local, organic and sustainable food, I have been using the freezer more and more.
The Dairy that I buy my milk from is a 1/2 hour from the house, so I buy from 9 to 18 gallons of (raw, full fat, Jersey) milk every trip. I take off the cream as soon as I get home to make butter and ice cream, which leaves enough head room (in the gallon jugs) for expansion of the freezing milk. So, my freezer normally has milk, meat, vegetables, fruit, bread and cakes. Freezing desserts (potion size) has allowed us to lose weight, since we do not feel like we have to before it can go bad and allows us to have a variety, so that we do not pig out at any one time.
* I love supporting natural foods for crops (and ranchers) which means natural fertilizer (from animals) – not that nasty petrochemical stuff. When you realize that a normal White Tail Deer “By 9-1/2; years, all cheek teeth are cupped and worn nearly to the gum line” and that a cow by 10 years may have no teeth left – that by harvesting you are supporting a breeding program that allows a healthy gene pool, healthy fertilizer for plants and a natural food for an omnivore that can not hibernate when the local foliage may be covered by ice or snow.
* I loved canned items but canning does not have live probiotics and I believe that the enzymes are denatured.
* A freezer saves gas, time in the store, impulse shopping and can help regulate portion size. It also reduces energy use of the stove and oven if you cook for the week or weeks ahead, by allowing you to cook on a day that the air conditioner is not working as hard and since you can cook several meals or breads at one time and then store in the freezer. (I love Sarah’s foil idea)
* I have also used milk crates (like Melaniesd does) in the chest freezer and Avon type box tops to slide things in and out of the shelves in the upright freezer – to make sure that things are first in first out.
** A freezer unclutters my time and lowers my overall energy / gas usage, while allowing us to eat a diversified menu.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 03:11:28 +0000

About 5 years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) and I bought an upright $850 freezer. It’s just the two of us, but handsdown, the best investment in our home we could have made. We buy split sides of beef from a local organic ranch and my husband freezes what he hunts (deer mostly). Recently, when our fridge in our kitchen broke the ice maker, we were able to move and store all the contents of the freezer no problem – still lots of space leftover. The change to our electricity bill was even less than what you projected. Our 10 year old fridge in the kitchen burns waaayyyyyyy more energy! Good luck on your new investment and thanks for a good article analyzing your decision making process!

By: ellis

ellis — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:04:03 +0000

okay… so i just got my freezer chest on freecycle. what do i do next?

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:28:45 +0000

In calculating the cost savings of purchasing a freezer, I think that part of the cost savings that should be considered is the probable reduction in eating out. I have a small, energy star, compact deep freezer for my family of 5. I try to double meals and freeze them. On a busy night, if I can find “something” easy in the freezer, I’ve saved money on last minute take-out or eating out.

The small sized freeer is perfect for us so that we use things before the frost takes over!

By: Staci Mikelle

Staci Mikelle — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:23:10 +0000

I thought we were the only couple who discussed getting a freezer often. Thanks for the tips…and adding up the cost!

By: Karyn

Karyn — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 12:10:13 +0000

And if you have a power outage that lasts for several days (as we in Ohio have just had–some are still without power a week later)? You either have to get a generator to run it to save all that food, or watch it defrost and go bad.

We have neighbors who have those big freezers…and that’s exactly what happened to them. My elderly neighbor has THREE freezers full of food, and ran a generator day and night to keep the food good…and she still lost a lot when the gas ran out or she didn’t run it at night.

Canned food is the best, most economical food to stash away. If you can your own food, it’s even better. Canned food can be eaten, in many cases, without heating–not so with frozen food.

While frozen food seems a great investment while the power is running and up, think about “what if”. I’m glad my husband dislikes having a freezer stocked with sale items–we ate much better during the outage than most people, and lost a lot less money!

By: Christina

Christina — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 02:23:48 +0000

I think a chest freezer is a great purchase! I save a lot of money by buying meat, frozen vegetables and bread when it is on sale and freezing it.

A chest freezer is much more efficient than an upright, and if the power should go out, a full chest freezer will stay colder longer than an upright.

By: OogieM

OogieM — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:03:06 +0000

As firmly in the freezer owning camp I am currently very rural, 2 people, long distance to grocery stores, 1 person primarily responsible for meal preparation and planning but also raise most of our own food and need to preserve it from the growing/butchering season until we can eat it.

FWIW though I’ve had a big chest freezer even when in a small 2 bedroom apartment in a major city. Once you get used to using one you never want to go back to buying stuff from unknown people. Even when I lived in the city I’d contract for most of my meat from farmers where I could be sure how it was raised. Buying vegetables from a farmers market in season and preserving some for later is also much better than buying unknown imported junk from halfway across the world.

By: Sue

Sue — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:32:22 +0000

I haven’t seen such polarity since the Great Pantyhose vs Bare Leg Debate! LOL!

It might be interesting to see what factors play into views on Pro-freezer vs No-freezer.

1. Do you live in an urban (apartment), suburban or rural area?
2. How many people are in your household?
3. What is the distance to your food store?
4. Is there one person handling the food purchases, meal planning and preparation? Is that person also employed full time outside the home?

Something is not clutter if you are utilizing it. If I were an apartment-dwelling single guy in an urban area, a freezer would likely be clutter.

If you don’t have/need/want/use one, that does not negate the value to those of us who do.