Living without a freezer?

Unclutterer ForumsLiving SpacesKitchen

(32 posts) (19 voices)

Started 1 year ago by recycler
Latest reply from djk
RSS feed for this topic

Overall Rating: votes

Tags:

12 Next »

recycler
Member

I'm thinking about replacing my free-standing fridge/freezer with a under-the-counter fridge-only unit to free up some floor space in my small studio apartment (combined kitchen/living room). Now, I'm a bit curious as to how life without a freezer would be like?

I've tried some Google searches, but all I can find are articles about people throwing out their fridge and keeping only the freezer or people who don't have either. Anyone have experience living everyday life without a freezer for an extended period of time in an urban environment?

When I try to think about it, I can't really remember using the freezer that much, but maybe I'm forgetting something? How much of an inconvenience would it be?

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

i have survived for decades with only the small freezer that goes under the fridge.
things i use my freezer for:
1. ice cubes
2. frozen peas
3. frozen berries
4. frozen kangaroo meat for the cats

if i didn't have cats, i could manage without a freezer just fine.
we aren't "get a half a cow" people. we don't bulk buy tonnes of stuff.
we like to shop and cook and eat daily and we don't even use our fridge all that much, apart from dairy and soy and sauces and leftovers.
in fact....my fridge has just broken down this evening and i was looking in there thinking o well, there isn't too much to throw out if push comes to shove.
and we live in a rural place in the tropics.

i guess a lot of it boils down to your cooking and eating style.

Posted 1 year ago #
HelofaMess
Member

I would find it tough to be without frozen pees, ice, frozen berries and as an extension of my pantry. We certainly dont have half a cow but then they had a great sale on some western aussie fish today so I bought 3. We freeze food to be used when we don't want to cook and we live in a very 24hr city. I couldn't live without it but maybe you can!

Posted 1 year ago #
Katha
Member

I'm in Europe, so this might not be applicable: Most under-the-counter fridges you can get here have a small freezer compartment, enough to hold the bag of frozen peas, some ice-cubes, a frozen pizza, a small Tupperware of leftovers and a tub of ice-cream.
As a single person, I always found that sufficient for me, though I enjoy having a fridge now with a separate freezer compartment (2 shelves).

However, it all depends on your lifestyle: what are you using your freezer for at the moment? Do you have your own garden, so that you need to store large amounts of produce? Do you enjoy cooking large quantities at once and freezing the leftovers? Etc.

While at university, the fridge in my student housing was so ancient that the freezer compartment did not really freeze anything. The only thing I really missed was being able to store ice-cream at home. Leftovers can go in the fridge for a few days, frozen pizza can be bought on the same day, frozen veggies bought in small packages so you can use them up in one sitting (or bought fresh). I missed out on some convenience, but it was not a major annoyance.

Posted 1 year ago #
recycler
Member

Thanks for the replies. I live alone, so I don't have the need to store weeks worth of food for a large family. Also, I live in the middle of a city, so not much gardening happening here. I do have access to buying fresh meat, fish and vegetables from nearby stores though.

What I'm most worried about I guess is stuff like frozen vegetables, fish, meat and the occasional pizza or ice cream, but apart from the ice cream, I think I should be able to get all that fresh instead, and thus not needing to freeze it in the first place.

I considered a small fridge with a freezer at the top, but my experience with those is that the freezer takes up much space and is usually not very cold. I think maybe using all the available room for fridge unit is better, but I'm not sure.

Funny you should ask about what I currently use my freezer for, because I can't really remember what's in there. Last time I checked I think there were some bags of frozen vegetables, a pizza and a box of homemade pasta sauce with meat, all more than six months old.

There more I think about it, the more I am convinced that stuff people store in their freezers are mostly unhealthy things I should avoid eating anyway. ;)

I might miss the ice cubes and ice cold vodka though...

Posted 1 year ago #
Katha
Member

If you get an undercounter model with "four-star" freezer compartment, the ice cubes and vodka should not be a problem.

Something like this: http://www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet/product/449504/PROLINE-PF156GWA

Of course, if you do need more fridge space than that, then that might be a problem.

Posted 1 year ago #
djk
Member

Shops here have very limited hours which suit the stay-at-home-mom system. Eg. of course everybody shops between 8 and 5, right? duh. And everything is closed Saturday afternoons and Sundays. When we didn't have our current fridge with two little freezer drawers, we were forced to eat out a lot. We threw out a lot of food that went bad because we couldn't store it properly, and have to shop Saturday mornings. Now I have an ice cube tray! (you can't buy bags of ice here, and it is not served in drinks because it is "bad for your stomach" to drink cold things.) There are interesting concepts of hygiene and health here. Google urine therapy with my blessing.

I like the idea of shopping daily and only buying what you need for dinner that night. I suppose that works if the shops are open when you are not working, and also if you like to cook. The shops are not open, and I do not like to cook. No garden either. So when I am in the mood I make up gallons of soups and stocks and pasta sauces with whatever is in season, and pop those beside the frozen peas and frozen chicken for the cat and I am very very happy.

I lived a year without a proper fridge and no freezer and it cost a lot of money and waste living that way.

Posted 1 year ago #
charmed2482
Member

I've lived for two years with a cube fridge, and I was ok, in the winter, I kept my large gallon water jugs and anything I wanted cold outside my front door in the front entry way b/c it was always cold out there, or in my spare room where the heat didn't really circulate for some reason. i could live with a cube fridge, but I like having ice cubes, so I would at least need that little tiny freezer those cube fridges have, other than that, I think i would be fine without it. Whenever I try to freeze stuff it doesn't work out. maybe I'm doing it wrong. My food ends up in big blocks that are impossible to heat back up and don't taste very good when they are heated back up. I can't freeze stuff for work, b/c it takes to long to reheat. whenever I freeze fresh veggies, they end up in a large block also. I don't have space to separately freeze everything and combine it later. we do use it for pizza and stuff, but I can live without that stuff, I want to make my own pizzas anyway cuz they taste better.

when i did live without a fridge, I did eat out a lot, but I also just bought things that didn't need to go in the fridge, and didn't cook to much so I didn't have leftovers.

Posted 1 year ago #
Anita
Member

I'd love a fridge with a smaller freezer compartment! The only things I keep in there on a regular basis are (1) ice cubes, (2) ice cream and (3) ice packs for occasional small injuries.

Plus, a small freezer would prevent my lovely boyfriend from stocking up on way too much frozen pizza whenever there's a sale... and maybe even curb my ice cream consumption.

Posted 1 year ago #
Claycat
Member

I have a refrigerator with a small freezer compartment. It is hot here most of the year, so I need ice cubes. I also live in a rural area, so when I buy tortillas and bread and meat, I buy it in bulk and put it in the freezer. I don't buy many frozen veggies or fruits, because I prefer them fresh. Occasionally, I buy a bag of roasted green chile, and I have to freeze that. When I have a chance to pick a bunch of blackberries, I freeze those.

Posted 1 year ago #
Lori Paximadis
Member

One of the apartments I had after college had a freezer compartment that didn't actually keep things frozen, so it was pretty much like living without one entirely. It was difficult, because I *am* the kind of person who makes a ton of soup/chili/tomato sauce/stew/whatever at once and freezes it for later. It meant shopping and cooking in smaller quantities (and thus more often), and not being able to take advantage of many sales. It meant not being able to stash a pint of ice cream in the freezer for movie time later that evening, or a frozen dinner or pizza for nights you just can't face cooking (takeout was nowhere near fitting in my budget at that point in my life).

If those things aren't important to you, and you're already in the habit of food shopping every couple of days, yeah, it could be done without a whole lot of inconvenience. But I wouldn't want to do without again.

Posted 1 year ago #
recycler
Member

I think a small freezer unit inside the fridge, as Katha suggested, will be sufficient, as I can easily fit what I need on a single shelf in my current freezer. Ikea also has an nice integrated fridge for my kitchen setup, but it doesn't have a freezer. So, between the Ikea unit and a generic under-the-counter model with a small freezer, I guess it boils down to convenience vs. aesthetics.

Posted 1 year ago #
vicki
Member

I am in the deep south- USA and live in a rural farming area. I recently have decided to eat locally. Therefore, I totally got rid of my huge fridge/freezer combo and bought a pared down used commercial refridgerator only. NO freezer. I am just fine. After all, my ancestors lived without it just fine, even in the searing heat here. I am trying to eat healthier, so fresh is the way to go. wish me luck. Sometimes all these appliances we get are pushed on us as "neccessary" items for a household. I say this as I watch my laundry drying on the porch. Of course, convenience is good too. But as far as stuffing the freezer full of out of season things is not with my new plan of eating fresh in season items.

Posted 1 year ago #
Mimi
Member

i have lived several years without a freezer but a few years ago i bought one and really enjoyed it. in the process of decluttering i have detected that there is a lot of clutter in my freezer. ok, maybe the food will be ok for another more year, but... do i really need such an amount of meat, pizza, icubes and icecream? no, i don´t. one day i put tags on every piece in my freezer and i found out that all the food is lying in there for weeks (at least). maybe it´s as fresh as weeks before but i don´t like the idea of eating old food. now i am eating all of the stuff in the freezer (takes weeks!) and i will have a kind of beta-test without it when it´s empty. if like the result, i will sell it. i am pretty sure that i will sell it ;)

Posted 1 year ago #
bandicoot
Member

vicki, your plan sounds wise and wonderful to me.
you cannot beat fresh, local food! i mean you just CANNOT beat it.
of course things are a little more difficult in the off-season, but we have the luxury of always being able to buy a fresh lettuce and some fruit these days.
i believe the small extra cost of eating imported stuff for a few weeks is quite ok next to the cost and hassle of preparing and storing food for the winter.
i know it was necessary to do that 100 years ago, but it isn't necessary now.
for myself, i like to freeze and dehydrate a few things from the garden.....but i don't go crazy on it, and i don't own a separate freezer.
i'm not hardcore about it.

mimi, i have owned freezers before (usually catering hangovers) and i hear ya on the freezer clutter.
the weirdest stuff winds up in the bottom of those things!
why are we paying to freeze that stuff again?

Posted 1 year ago #
Brandilynn
Member

I'm ill a lot (probably half the month I can't get out of bed) due to some medical conditions so a freezer is a must for me to buy in bulk/make in bulk so that the other half of the month I can eat. (And the husband. His idea of cooking is running to the takeaway, haha. But I do love him!)

However, if you're not using the freezer anyway.. why not get rid of it?

Posted 1 year ago #
dechmont
Member

It doesn't sound like you're getting much use or value out of your freezer and that you aren't happy with something taking up room if it isn't being used. You could get rid of it or you could try using it efficiently for a month as an experiment and see whether your attitude towards it changed.
I used my freezer far more when I was single and, far from increasing the amount of unhealthy foods I ate, it reduced the liklihood of me ordering takeout when I came home from work late and exhausted since I always had some homecooked frozen meals. Perhaps I'm lazy but I can't see the point in making a little pot of soup for one person (with leftovers stored in the fridge to be eaten within a couple of days). I would make a big pot and freeze most of it in individual servings. Likewise, bolognese/chilli, chicken casserole etc. I certainly didn't do the full-on, once-a-month-cooking but I only cooked maybe 3 times a week. Made life much easier.
The thought of having to go grocery shopping several times a week and cook every night whether I felt like it or not would make me very stressed.

Posted 1 year ago #
pkilmain
Member

We do go to the "effort" of freezing a lot of stuff from our garden. It's much better than what's available as "fresh" in Alaska in the winter. And what's called fresh comes from - at the closest - California, and usually Central and South America, so hardly local. My husband also salmon fishes so we have lots of fresh frozen fish all winter. My freezer is currently full, and will be nearly empty come spring.

Posted 1 year ago #
candy
Member

I've tried to sort out why I need a freezer. Here is what I mainly use it for:
- Ice cubes. For drinks (everything from GT to ice tea).
- Frozen berries. Istead of ice cubes in drinks. As base for drinks (strawberry margarita, anyone?) Strawberries or raspberries simply crushed with a little sugar make excellent "fresh jam" for toasts or pancakes.
- Bread. I don't eat a lot of bread but I like to have a loaf of pre-sliced bread in the freezer. I heat it in the toaster.
- Chicken. I eat a LOT of chicken and it's convenient to have a few assorted pieces at home (wings, legs, breasts... you name it).
- Assorted parts of deer/moose that I get from my hunting father.
- Ice cream. I'm addicted to Haägen-Dazs (particularly Macadamia Nut Brittle).
- Fresh pasta. Since I live alone and don't eat pasta very often I don't finish an entire package of fresh pasta before it goes bad, but I've discovered that it works fine to put the remains in the freezer and then just chuck it in boiling water for a few minutes as I would do with any fresh pasta. No, I don't like dried pasta.

I could probably manage without a lot of this, perhaps most of it, except for the meat that my father gives me.

At this moment, I also have some pre-made pie crusts and grated cheese (perfect for making a pie very quickly for dinner when I get home late), some parma ham and goat cheese (leftovers from a party), a couple of salsiccia sausages (absolutely great for making a quick pasta sauce for one), a duck's breast and some chinese pancakes (for making fake Peking duck one of these days) and some bleak roe.

That's all. I don't need a big freezer, but I don't think I would like to live my life without one. And I live right in the middle of a city with the closest shop within 100 meters and the closest restaurant within 25 meters... but I keep irregular hours and often I can't get to a shop before it's closed, so I like to have a minimum of food at home.

Posted 1 year ago #
vicki
Member

All good ideas, folks. BUT- I need to add that I have a dehydrator, (love it) because I have a huge fig tree loaded with figs, they are wonderful home-dried. Also, tomato chips!! Slice tomatoes thin and put in dehydrator shelves. Unreal good. Sure, the freezer helps those who want to cook in bulk, but think critically about how much nutrition may be lost by freezing it all, and having it sit and sit. I am single now, and I love to cook everyday. Just put any leftovers in the fridge, better yet, have a neighbor etc.. over. Or cook for your friends. we have completely lost the love in the kitchen. I love cooking a huge batch of something and sharing it. (or eating it all!!) Brandilynn, sorry you are sick. But why not make alot of soups everyday? Nothing is easier. And so good for you.

Posted 1 year ago #

12 Next »

Reply »

You must log in to post. If you do not already have an account, you can register here.