Really resonate with this one. We just put everything we own in storage to go on the road for eight months, and it hurt to realize how much I'd packed away in our freezer and never used. Some of it got given to friends and neighbors, but a lot of it was stuff I was "saving" and no one else we knew would know what to do with -- halibut cheeks and salmon trim, orange syrup, all kinds of odd stuff. It reminded me that future me might not exist, and I gotta enjoy things NOW, not stash them away for some imaginary future. The waste hurts too -- it sucked to have to toss so much -- but I hope the sting of it stays with me, just so I don't forget.
A timely reminder, especially since Dex is going on your OK hunt this weekend. If he comes home with a deer, the temptation will be to store a bunch of it while we travel. But this makes me think we should feast wildly and then just give away whatever we don't eat, instead of hoarding it for some imaginary future.
I took up canning ans freeze drying ater I lost a large upright freezer filled with Chinook, venison, wold turkey and so much more. Heart braking but now I have many options. Sort of like having many baskets for the eggs..and I feel a bit more secure during ou weather events here on the oregon coast.
Hank, I feel your pain. Went through something similar late in the summer. Garage deep freeze door left just barely ajar. Lost a bunch. It's heart breaking.
Insightful comments. Looks like you're subscribers like a particular remote temperature sensor. Cheap protection. I'll be getting some.
As I live in a remote area and we've experienced lengthy power outages I have made a habit of sterilizing my canning jars as they're emptied. When they come out of the dishwasher too hot to handle, I place a square of waxed paper over the mouth and screw a ring over it.
It then gets placed into a properly fitted cardboard box with dividers (in case I need to transport them in a bug out) and sealed up. Should the power go out for an extended period for any reason, I have sterile jars ready to can the contents of my freezers as they thaw.
I have several wood burning camp stoves, pressure canners, hot water canners, salt, vinegar, spices, paraffin wax, single use and reusable canning seals and hundreds of canning jars always ready for the unexpected.
It would be a helluva couple days and nights, but The protein in your freezer might be more valuable than the contents of your gun safe.
Reading through the comments brings 2 things to mind: You are not alone - many of us have gone through something close at least once. Probably not with the treasure trove of frozen food that you had, but still hard to stomach when one is tossing what was perfectly wonderful food in the trash. Death of dreams. Second, this is one of those life learning curves - we do some things differently going forward. Change is hard (and you're had your fair share this past year or so), but in so many ways, it's a good thing. And you're recovering in a wonderful, positive and productive way! And you can certainly feel good about that!
I recently saw a low-tech and cheap method for preventing the user-error fails, e.g., didn’t fully close the door, the seal broke because of the ice cream carton in the door, etc.: a couple of child safety strap locks. Not much of a monitor if the unit fails, but for < $10, it does a lot of remove the variable of my absent-mindedness.
Our freezer is a treasure chest of memories past and yet to come. Moving across the country last year, we gave away what we could but kept the best of the vacuum-sealed salmon, lingcod, goose, and such. We protected that cooler more than anything else in the vehicle over those two days!
I have several freezers since our average hunting season is a moose, elk, and whitetail. Then there are fish and prawns. The fruit and vege freezer is separate. Buy YoLink sensors. They are fabulous. Bluetooth, check your freezers on your phone from anywhere in the world. Had them for years. I was in Mexico and got an alert that my moose freezer was showing increased temperature. Alerted my neighbor and problem solved. I even have one in my fridge. Get phone alerts of temp changes etc. I’m a total YoLink fan.
Living on the coast we have three freezers full of fish, carb, oysters, and venison. Also tons of vegetables from the year round garden. A while back one of the freezers died and we lost lots. We found an alarm that will send a warning to your phone when the freezers go above a temperature that you can choose. Now we have them in every freezer and frig. Yolink is the brand. It will always be fun filling them back up. Good Luck.
Our ancestors didn’t have freezers! Guess that’s why the created processes of drying and/or fermenting to preserve a harvest for future use. It’s too bad that we have lost a lot of these processing skills for the reliance and convenience of refrigeration/freezing.
By the way…the meat I dried never made it into machaca. I ended up eating like jerky on my desert trip. I’m going to make more!
We lost power when we were away and all of our venison and pheasant meat in our freezer spoiled. We are using these smart plugs, they are worth it! Check it out.
My freezer could feed a family of 4 for 6 months. Its great for utilizing everything and not having waste when writing a cookbook but its also overwhelming. Fresh starts are good!
This is a theme. I like it. Thank you.
Plan on being in mission Texas 1 st week Jan 2-4 we will fill it again with doves.
Really resonate with this one. We just put everything we own in storage to go on the road for eight months, and it hurt to realize how much I'd packed away in our freezer and never used. Some of it got given to friends and neighbors, but a lot of it was stuff I was "saving" and no one else we knew would know what to do with -- halibut cheeks and salmon trim, orange syrup, all kinds of odd stuff. It reminded me that future me might not exist, and I gotta enjoy things NOW, not stash them away for some imaginary future. The waste hurts too -- it sucked to have to toss so much -- but I hope the sting of it stays with me, just so I don't forget.
A timely reminder, especially since Dex is going on your OK hunt this weekend. If he comes home with a deer, the temptation will be to store a bunch of it while we travel. But this makes me think we should feast wildly and then just give away whatever we don't eat, instead of hoarding it for some imaginary future.
I took up canning ans freeze drying ater I lost a large upright freezer filled with Chinook, venison, wold turkey and so much more. Heart braking but now I have many options. Sort of like having many baskets for the eggs..and I feel a bit more secure during ou weather events here on the oregon coast.
Hank, I feel your pain. Went through something similar late in the summer. Garage deep freeze door left just barely ajar. Lost a bunch. It's heart breaking.
Well, I woke up Sunday mornin'
With no way to hold my head that didn't hurt
And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad
So I had one more for dessert
Then I fumbled in my closet through my clothes
And found my cleanest dirty shirt
Then I washed my face and combed my hair
And stumbled down the stairs to meet the day. From Johnny Cash.
Man, I love that song.
Insightful comments. Looks like you're subscribers like a particular remote temperature sensor. Cheap protection. I'll be getting some.
As I live in a remote area and we've experienced lengthy power outages I have made a habit of sterilizing my canning jars as they're emptied. When they come out of the dishwasher too hot to handle, I place a square of waxed paper over the mouth and screw a ring over it.
It then gets placed into a properly fitted cardboard box with dividers (in case I need to transport them in a bug out) and sealed up. Should the power go out for an extended period for any reason, I have sterile jars ready to can the contents of my freezers as they thaw.
I have several wood burning camp stoves, pressure canners, hot water canners, salt, vinegar, spices, paraffin wax, single use and reusable canning seals and hundreds of canning jars always ready for the unexpected.
It would be a helluva couple days and nights, but The protein in your freezer might be more valuable than the contents of your gun safe.
Wow, that is so sad. Good on you for turning it around bravely after all.
Reading through the comments brings 2 things to mind: You are not alone - many of us have gone through something close at least once. Probably not with the treasure trove of frozen food that you had, but still hard to stomach when one is tossing what was perfectly wonderful food in the trash. Death of dreams. Second, this is one of those life learning curves - we do some things differently going forward. Change is hard (and you're had your fair share this past year or so), but in so many ways, it's a good thing. And you're recovering in a wonderful, positive and productive way! And you can certainly feel good about that!
...it happens! But I feel your pain. I also feel that pain when I find wild game in the very back/bottom that is a decade past its freshness date!
I recently saw a low-tech and cheap method for preventing the user-error fails, e.g., didn’t fully close the door, the seal broke because of the ice cream carton in the door, etc.: a couple of child safety strap locks. Not much of a monitor if the unit fails, but for < $10, it does a lot of remove the variable of my absent-mindedness.
Our freezer is a treasure chest of memories past and yet to come. Moving across the country last year, we gave away what we could but kept the best of the vacuum-sealed salmon, lingcod, goose, and such. We protected that cooler more than anything else in the vehicle over those two days!
I have several freezers since our average hunting season is a moose, elk, and whitetail. Then there are fish and prawns. The fruit and vege freezer is separate. Buy YoLink sensors. They are fabulous. Bluetooth, check your freezers on your phone from anywhere in the world. Had them for years. I was in Mexico and got an alert that my moose freezer was showing increased temperature. Alerted my neighbor and problem solved. I even have one in my fridge. Get phone alerts of temp changes etc. I’m a total YoLink fan.
I ordered five of the sensors with the hub for my five freezers. Thanks for the reference.
I ordered the yellow link sensors and hub for my five freezers today. Thanks for the reference.
L. Hildreth
Living on the coast we have three freezers full of fish, carb, oysters, and venison. Also tons of vegetables from the year round garden. A while back one of the freezers died and we lost lots. We found an alarm that will send a warning to your phone when the freezers go above a temperature that you can choose. Now we have them in every freezer and frig. Yolink is the brand. It will always be fun filling them back up. Good Luck.
Our ancestors didn’t have freezers! Guess that’s why the created processes of drying and/or fermenting to preserve a harvest for future use. It’s too bad that we have lost a lot of these processing skills for the reliance and convenience of refrigeration/freezing.
By the way…the meat I dried never made it into machaca. I ended up eating like jerky on my desert trip. I’m going to make more!
I do a lot of fermenting and drying, etc. But as a modern human, I like my freezer.
We lost power when we were away and all of our venison and pheasant meat in our freezer spoiled. We are using these smart plugs, they are worth it! Check it out.
Happy Thanksgiving Hank!
https://gfinotify.com/product/extra-smartplugs-gfi-notify/
My freezer could feed a family of 4 for 6 months. Its great for utilizing everything and not having waste when writing a cookbook but its also overwhelming. Fresh starts are good!