Why Not to Rely Only on Frozen Food for Preparation
I know some folks who almost entirely rely on freezing food, including all of their meats and veggies. I even know people who freeze their grains. While freezing is a convenient and important part of food-saving, you should always try to include a variety of methods in your plan, including drying and canning. I have always thought canned meat would be “gross” for some reason, but I will be giving it a try the next time I process a deer.
Speaking of deer, the one I killed and processed a couple of weeks ago is on its way to the dumpster today while my wife disinfects our freezer. Along with the deer, other casualties include 3 T-Bones, 13 packages of ground beef, and dozens of packages of frozen fruit, veggies and bagels. It looks like I will be doing a better job of labeling the circuits in the breaker box too…
That’s awful! I’m so sorry to hear it! Makes me want to go check our freezer….
Hugs, hugs and more hugs to you and your poor wife! I know EXACTLY how you feel, though not a curcuit….ours just died.
Unfortunately, I went through the same thing some years back, When three of my kids were still in diapers. Stressful times, to say the least. I have canned some meat, actually meat meals, but comfort-wise, I still lean toward frozen and fresh meat. It takes time to get used to this. All I can remember is my Dad calling canned meat ‘chop meat’, refering to the meat that was given out to folks on welfare by the government.
Laura thanks for the hugs! I still don’t know if it was the freezer causing the circuit to overheat due to a short, or if the circuit was just overloaded. I’ll probably have to pay to have an electrician come in on this one.
Herb we’ll still be freezer too, but I’ve heard from a lot of people that you can can meat that tastes really good if you use a pressure canner and mix in some rice, veggies, stock and whatnot. Then it comes out like those cans of commercial beef stew, chicken noodle soup, etc… Sounds pretty good to me! But I don’t know if I could sit there looking at JUST meat in glass jars on our shevles and then eat that same meat six months later. We’ll see!
Anna I take it your freezer was fine? The weather is getting cold enough that you’ll be able to just leave the freezer off outside before long!
E.
Glad to see you murdered an innocent animal for nothing!
Withheld you are an idiot. And a cowardly one at that for not even bothering to use your name. I didn’t murder an innocent animal for nothing. I killed a doe for food. I don’t sport hunt. I don’t care about trophy bucks or collecting racks; I don’t keep deer heads on my wall. I feed myself and my family like human beings, as fellow-animals, have been doing for many thousands of years. I’m not going to get into a vegetarian / vegan argument with anyone because, frankly, your argument is so ludicrous as to be not worth my time.
@ withheld- I seriously doubt you could grow enough food to be a vegan year-round (a major failing of those who push plant-based diets only); I know I can’t, and I farm! You would have to live in an area like Florida or California, and you still run the risk of cold destroying your food supply. Plant based diets are idealistic, for those who have a lot of money. If you are talking about buying veggie burgers or that tofu cheese stuff, you’re no better than the people buying pop tarts with fiber or the other junk food. It’s still processed food! Get back to reality!
this sucks. maybe hook it up to a solar panel ?
i lost two hogs i buchered cause the wind blew the door on my freezer open on over 100 deg day
so i understand
I have worried over this issue quite a bit, freezer/refrigerator dependency. We are just in the beginning of moving off-grid in the planning stages and under construction. Our initial move will be to get all refrigeration onto renewable power. We want to build a system which takes all of it off the grid with the ability to expand to other systems in the home later. Cooking is propane only already and we’re working on a deal for a very nice woodburning cook stove, a real user not a decorative piece. Both of us have cooked and heated with wood before so it isn’t that difficult for us to return to what we already know.
The stove can be backed up into a stone nook that ties into the passive ductwork of the house, much like interior trombe walls, returning radiant heat into the home in winter and manually closed to the house and venting in the summer.
We have a root cellar and a smokehouse; we dehydrate foods for storage. Only what can’t be preserved any other way is frozen or refrigerated. We raise Heritage Red Wattle hogs, Pilgrim geese, Jumbo Pekin ducks, Buff Orpington and Jersey Black giant chickens. Yes we do hunt as well, deer, rabbit, and squirrel. We also fish. We eat meat, but also grow 2 to 3 acres of garden every year and raise grains and corn to feed our livestock fresh from our land. Vegan is fine for those who want to be. I’m glad for you, but don’t push your lifestyle morality on others. I don’t force anyone to eat what we eat. Try to respect that.
As a meat eater it is my responsibility to promote fair and cruelty free husbandry of livestock. I control their treatment and how they die. It is my job to see them want for nothing and to have their life ended as quickly and as gently as possible with the least possible stress or fear. Can your Wal-Mart meat expect the same? Production meat is treated cruely and inhumanely for the sake of a dollar. I choose a different path.