Let’s ‘Build’ a Deep Pantry. “Freezer”

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Guest Article by NRP & Blue, May 17, 2021.

A Freezer, now some will say “A Freezer is not a Deep Pantry” others will argue that it’s an essential.
I’m not going to get into that discussion, what I will say is, A Deep Freezer aka Freezer in my honest opinion is something I believe that every household should have, maybe more than one (more on that later).

Chest Freezer:

Yeppers, there it is, a very typical LARGE Chest Freezer.
A 24.8 Cubic Foot (CUFT) Frigidaire will run ya about $854 at Home Depot, $949 at Lowe’s. Do your shopping folks.
These puppies will cost around $50+ to run for a year, depending on where you put them of course and how many times you keep opening that thing.
IMHO (In My Honest Opinion) I like the Chest Freezers.

The Plus Side:
You can put a heck of a lot of stuff stacked on top of each other.
The Cold Air doesn’t fall out when you open the lid.
They seem to be “colder” than the Uprights for some reason, maybe the settings.
The Down Side:
They take up a LOT of floor space.
If you don’t keep a GREAT inventory you will lose stuff in the bottom.
If you want something on the bottom, aka HUGE Turkey, you have to dig and move a lot of things above.
If you’re ‘Short’ the bottom of that freezer is going to be a very long reach, don’t fall in.
You can’t stack stuff on top the Freezer, the lid opens up to almost 6’ so shelving has to be above that.

Chest Freezers have been around since the beginning of Time Itself, I remember my Father would get a full Beef every year, and still have room for a LOT of homegrown vegetables in that freezer.

Upright Freezer:

Personally, I have two of these, I set them side by side and they take up about the same room as the Chest Freezer, so almost double the Freezer Space in the same floor space (Floor Space is valuable real-estate),
An Upright 20 CUFT freezer at Home Depot is running right at $800, at Lowe’s for a 19.6 CUFT is right at $849
These will cost right at $61 per year to run, again where ya put them makes a difference, AND if you open the door 50 times a day won’t help.

The Plus Side:
A LOT less floor space.
You can ‘see’ what’s in them a lot easier than the Chest Freezer.
You can stack a lot of stuff in the Door and see it better.
The food is easier to get to for the most part.
Ya don’t need to crawl 1/2 the way into it to get stuff on the bottom.

The Down Side:
People don’t know how to stack stuff in the Upright Freezers, look at that photo, really?
Every time you open the door you replace all that Frozen Air with nice warm air, so it takes more to keep it cold.
If you slam the door, stuff WILL fall out next time you open it, go ahead, ask me how I know.

One last thing on Both Freezers, Lock the Door/Lid, seriously if you slam the door stuff WILL shift, and maybe, just maybe, force the door open and guess what?
Also on a Chest Freezer, you had better keep that locked especially if you have youngsters around, think on it. BE SAFE!!!

Generator:

Ok so what’s a Generator doing in an Article about Freezers, right?

Here is a little hint…. POOF, no power for a few days, maybe a week, month.
You have done your due diligence and have 3 freezers full of food for your Family.
Then the Ice storms hit Texas AGAIN.
Some say a Freezer will be no problem from 24 to 48 hours without Power, Honestly more like a3-4 days, IF you keep the darn door/lid shut.
So what are you going to do after that 48-hour mark?
Well first thing I would do is fire up the ole BBQ and have me a nice T-bone steak and a hunk of Chuck grilled up for Ole Blue.
Next thing, how about get out a couple of heavy-duty extension cords and fire up the Generator???
All you need is 4-5 hours run time per day and you got it made in the shade, A little hint, run then at night/early morning when it’s cooler, but whenever is good.

Now I don’t give a Wooden Nickle people, Am I going to lose ‘thousands of dollars’ worth of food because I did not spend $700 on a Generator, even less if you get one that Gas Only ($350ish).

Personally if I was you, get a Duel Fuel Generator, it runs off Gas and Propane. Why Propane you ask???? Because Propane will store 99.99% indefinitely, whereas Gas you have 1-2 years max. BTW, try buying Gas when the Panic Hits or even better, try to buy a Gen-Set, good luck with that one.

AND, guess what, that little 2000 watt Gen-Set can be used for a LOT of other stuff.
Get One, save yourself some grief.
And learn how to use it for crying out loud, don’t be sitting there reading the Manual during a power outage.

Freezer Alarm:

One last thing on Freezers, get a couple sets of Freezer/Refrigerator Alarms.
I’m not going to tell you why, you are smart enough for that.

BUT here is a story of one of my neighbors, that were not that smart as to have an alarm……
Yeppers, you guessed it, one of his 24.8 CUFT Freezers went out, for whatever reason. AND no Alarm, a week, or more, later he discovered a “strong smell” coming from the Detached Garage.
Well let’s just say, a Full Beef, probably 50+ pounds of Venison, some Elk (30-50 pounds) and a pile of Vegetables. Can you say close to $3500 or MORE?
AND guess what, the “fool” (for lack of a better word), still does not have alarms for his other freezers OR the New Replacement, Really Dude?????

Anyways, if you want to actually “Save” money, spend a little on a Freezer and start buying Bulk when stuff is on sale, Find a 1/2 OR Full beef, and think ahead.

As an example:
Safeway T-Bone Steak $14.99 per pound, ARE THEY NUTS !!!!!???? That sucker is 1/3 Bone and Fat!
Junk Hamburger and I do mean JUNK, 20%/80% and I can’t even stand the smell of it cooking, $3.29
Beef Roast the stuff I cook and toss out to Blue, $4.29 per pound
And here is one for the books, Stew Meat, just plain old Stew Meat… Wait for it…. $5.99 per pound OMG, it’s for making Stew and Soups for crying out loud.
Since you asked, that Full or 1/2 Beef, In the Freezer…… $3.75 per pound, and it actually has GREAT Flavor and don’t come from a Feed Lot with 1 million other cows.
Ohhhh yeah, how about Chicken that’s well over two bucks now? Buy it on sale for $1.29.
So are you convinced?

Panic Buying:

Ohhhhh Yeah, this looks like fun……
I wonder how many folks out there are still Panic Buying every time there is a Crisis, can you say Gasoline Pipeline Shutdown? How about TX freezing, Hurricane Season coming, Virus Scare, How many would you like for me to list?
I got hundreds of reasons to get stuff stored and BUILD that Deep Pantry…… But the best reason I could ever think of…
Your Family.