Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Eating and Drinking => Kitchen Natter => Topic started by: mumofstig on March 29, 2015, 19:35

Title: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 29, 2015, 19:35
Opened the chest freezer to get veg for dinner and they were a bit soft................Investigate further and find the freezer is caput!
Managed to save all the meat from the bottom, which was still solid, by moving to fridge freezer drawers - all the Easter meat was in there  :ohmy:

But all the veg was softening  :( So .......I now have a huge pot of minestrone on the hob, which should last a few days and will make a big, family-size lasagne tomorrow with all the home grown tomato and pepper portions, that are now in the fridge *sigh*

Now to start looking for a replacement freezer  :ohmy:
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: oldgrunge on March 29, 2015, 19:43
Sorry to here that. It's so upsetting to see your food possibly going to waste, good luck with the rescue bid.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Mrs Bee on March 29, 2015, 19:44
Oh, Mum I am soooo sorry. What rotten luck. :(

I really do feel for you.

Try to look in the bright side; you found the problem before it all defrosted,
 you managed to save the meat,
 and you have the knowledge and skills to use and save the food that started to go soft.

Incredibly frustrating for you. :(
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 29, 2015, 19:46
I know I had to save the meat, because of the cost involved, BUT I had to think of something to use all the toms and peppers, that I'd lovingly grown last summer, IYKWIM  :wacko:
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: surbie100 on March 29, 2015, 20:02
Oh what a pain! I do feel for you - I would lose a lot of stuff if mine broke down.

Happy minestrone!  :)
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Yorkie on March 29, 2015, 20:06
Oh dear  :ohmy:

I've heard that ao.com are very good for prices and rapid delivery, for the replacement freezer.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 29, 2015, 20:10
thanks, somewhere else to look  :)
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: snowdrops on March 29, 2015, 20:10
Such a pain in the derrière. It happened to me 2 years ago twice in quick succession when firstly it got turned off & then a few weeks later when it went caput. Mine was mainly meat at the time but it had defrosted so I had to have a mammoth cooking session. I too woukd be upset to lose any homegrown veg.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: sunshineband on March 30, 2015, 08:45
Oh poor you  :( :(

I do feel for you having been in a similar position last year. It is an awful sinking feeling when you first realise isn't it? Glad you have saved your Easter meat, and have been able to cook up most of the veggies
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Mrs Bee on March 30, 2015, 09:20
I had one of mine that got switched off after my son's party. One of his friends was being helpful and turning off the garden lights. But one of the freezers was on the same socket.

Luckily it was one of the new highly insulated freezers; I discovered it just in time and nothing was lost. It was the one I keep all the fruit in.

It happened the following year too, so we got extra sockets put in.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: GrannieAnnie on March 30, 2015, 09:21
Oh what a shame MoS.  I too know how you feel.  A few years back I found that our 14xxx freezer in the garage had died.  Everything was defrosted.  In fact swimming around in all the water which leaked out of my home grown veg.

There wasn't much I could do with it though, it was too far gone.  I had 40lbs of Tom's and over 40lbs of runners in there.  No proper meat though, which was good.

When I co tasted the insurance, they said can you sent is photo's of the packaging?  What?  Loads of soggy plastic freezer bags?   I didn't think so!   >:(
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 30, 2015, 09:46
With typically now a £100 excess on insurance policies  >:(
I don't think it would often be worth claiming on a small freezer  ::)
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Lardman on March 30, 2015, 10:57
I can fix any "too much food" problems you have there MoS  :tongue2:

The problem with things like that is the price of food exceeded the value of the freezer, just thinking of the little freezer I have there's well over £100 worth of large joints in there.  You could use this as a good excuse to get an even larger chest freezer to store even more stuff  ;)
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 30, 2015, 11:26
Unfortunately I have no room for a bigger one in this tiny kitchen ............this is already the overflow from the fridge-freezer ::)

After Easter family dinner (always a big occasion here) and a sort out to free up space in the fridge-freezer, it is usually turned off until the harvests start coming in.

I'm thinking of going for a freezer with a door & drawers, this time, rather than a chest freezer. Being a shortass, I have trouble getting to the bottom  :lol:
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: plum crumble on March 30, 2015, 11:29
 :D :lol: A Welsh shortass here, concurs with your thoughts Mum!!!  :D
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Lardman on March 30, 2015, 11:51
Drawers on the floor are no fun and the size can really limit what you can store. I tried for ages to rearrange things to get a chest freezer in but ended up with a cheep under worktop one.

At least you have until July before the tomatoes start coming thick and fast.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Mrs Bee on March 30, 2015, 12:17
I had a chest freezer for years and years but as I am also a short bum too I got fed up when defrosting.

I changed to up rights with drawers and they are much better to defrost. Many of the new freezers have big drawers and I have no found them limiting for storage.

I find open freezing and storing in bags give more wriggle room in between the larger items. I am probably teaching sucking eggs here. :wub:
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: barley on March 30, 2015, 13:16
awww mum that's awful - shame it didn't happen when it was sub zero a few months back , you could have left it out side

so its minestrone soup for everyone for the next week then xx
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 30, 2015, 14:06
so its minestrone soup for everyone for the next week then xx

At least  :lol:



I'm old enough to remember my mum's stewpot which just had more 'stuff' added everyday and then reboiled - don't seem to remember it getting all used up and the pot washed. I'm sure it must have been though  :wacko:
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 31, 2015, 17:50
The new under-counter freezer, arrived at lunchtime
I've heard that ao.com are very good for prices and rapid delivery, for the replacement freezer.

I can confirm that ao were a good price, delivered next day, and within the 2hr time slot they promised.

I also thought that £9.99 was a fair price to take the old one way for recycling;)

Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Mrs Bee on March 31, 2015, 18:35
Cor do you have to pay to have yours recycled.

The local place we have used for years, do that for free and always deliver to the kitchen even if it is up many stairs.

Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: mumofstig on March 31, 2015, 19:01
You have to pay £23 if the council collect and recycle  :ohmy: so I thought a tenner pretty reasonable  ;)
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Mrs Bee on March 31, 2015, 19:03
Ooo eerr.  :ohmy:Compared to £23 a tenner is reasonable.

Our council will collect any large rubbish free of charge here, for which I am very glad, seeing how much you would have to pay.
Title: Re: Oh dear - disaster has struck!
Post by: Yorkie on March 31, 2015, 20:22
Glad you're sorted, mum  :D