Is it worth having a second freezer

Loadsabob

I have two freezers, and wish they were both bigger! It's only me, and at weekends my boyfriend, but I can't imagine how I got by with just one, now.

I would disagree that it's just stooring food for the sake of it - it depends how you use it. I work full time, and don't drive. So I'm at work when the farmer's market is on. As a result, I have bought meat in bulk. I had half a pig from a colleague, half a lamb from a local organic farmer, and I now put an occasional meat order in with Riverford. And having the freezer means I can do this a few times a year, and always have meat available to pepper my menus. I freeze a huge amount of my own ready-meals, and soups, and it's surprising how quickly a few batches of something tasty can fill a freezer drawer.

So based on my experience, if you have another freezer you'll definitely use it, and if you keep track of what you've got in there (label!!), and rotate your stock, you'll feel the benefits.

laurel7172

I struggle with one freezer, particularly atm as there seems to have been a lot of whoopsied veg recently. I make soup in the slow cooker, put it into individual portions and sling it in...the freezer is full of soup.

What puts me off getting a second one isn't just the cost of buying and running it...if I had a second freezer, would I continue to sling in soup and have the same capacity problem a couple of months down the line? How organised do you think you would be?

alli_baba2

I would definitely get the second freezer, I spend roughly £150 and that lasts me at least 3 weeks (2 adults and 2 ds). I know that if I went shopping weekly I would spend more, so this is the best way for me.

slowandsteady_2

We have three freezeres, the normal fridge freezer which i call the 'convienience freezer' i.e generally shop bought stuff from Iceland that we can just throw in the oven when we feel like it or dh can easily do when im on a late shift, it also has other stuff in there too like meat, bread and dd small portions of her hm weaning food.
There is a tabletop type freezer on top of that which is my 'meat' freezer where (funnily enough!) i freeze joints, whole chickens, mince etc. It fits quite a lot in once ive rearranged it. Then i have an upright freezer i nicked off my dad which he didnt use (waste not want not) that has a drawer for frozen veg, a drawer for fish a drawer for meat that is portioned/diced and then the other drawers have stock and general quick cook stuff, bread etc.

I wouldnt be without my freezers and if i had a garage id have another to put batch cooked stuff in which at the moment ends up with us eating the same thing for days if no room in freezer.

I like knowing i can rustle something up and have a lot of choice too.

I think they are great!

Agapanthus

Get the freezer, but don't buy a new one. Trawl ebay for a bit. I got a big fridge-freezer for £25 and it's still going strong three years later. It was only ten miles away and we were able to pick it up in our estate car. Some sellers will deliver - and even hiring a cheap van for a day may be worthwhile.

Lily-Lu

I recently bought a second freezer. Two adults, a ferret and two cats that are raw fed. The animals food takes up far more space than ours, and I just found it unmanagable with the freezer space we had before (fridge freezer). There is the initial outlay, and then you need to factor in the running cost....But, really, when you are able to get bargains like your hubby does, and are able to avoid takeaway costs, by making more meals yourself, I should think it'll pay for itself in no time

ginnyknit

The cheap bounty you get from Hubby's job could end due to the recession, as we well know if companies can squeeze a few extra quid they will. So I would say yes go for another freezer and keep it full of meat while you can and then fill it with everything else. I do not regret buying a second freezer which is full of cheap cuts, blackberries, last years veg and odds and sods, whilst the other is for everyday use. If ever its empty you can always clean it out and unplug it. Also means I can hide treats from hubby and suprise him when we are low on good stuff

Savannah02K

I'm on my own but still find the second freezer (chest one in the garage) incredibly useful. For me it's about eating better, more healthily and with much more choice. I work full time and have a busy social life at the weekends so tend to do batch cooking in the long breaks from work (as of tomorrow!). Over the next couple of weeks I'll be doing soups, chillies, curries, puddings, various pasta sauces etc plus trawling all the shops for the BOGOFs that I might like. It then means over the next three months or so my food bills only really include fresh stuff plus household cleaners. But the big bonus is I get to eat home cooked food pretty much every day of the week, I just decide the night before what I want, take it out of the freezer and leave it in the fridge to defrost. Next night I can have my own ready meal on the table in 20 mins or so. Helps with my weightwatching too plus is greener (I use the 10 for £1 plastic containers from £Land). I freeze things like chillies etc in two sizes, one for say baked potato toppings and one for eating with rice or pasta. I can also take advantage of reduced stuff in the shops, say plums, cook and freeze.

Trinny

Hello there

We have a fridge freezer ( 50-50 size) in kitchen and another inherited 50-50 fridge freezer in the garage. Also we have an ancient inherited small chest freezer. We have a vege patch and find that it helps to store the gluts of produce from the patch. I am also a keen forager - its a good place to store elderflower cordial, elderberrys, blackberrys, sloes, stewed foraged apple etc. It also makes sense to store all the whoops label goods in there. We just bought three roasting joints in Sainsburys at half price. OH has sliced them into 12 pieces - ideal for sunday roast - by doing this we are sorted for roast dinner for the next 3 months at least. I am not a hoarder - but by having the space, its easier to take advantage of foraged and HG food as well as seasonal bargains.

Best Wishes

Trin

Mrs_Optimist

I am interested in how many freezers you have in your home ? I have 2, considering buying a third, but is that a little excessive ? My plan is to bulk buy milk to freeze and also make use of my breadmaker to batch cook bread and leave in the third freezer (no room in the other 2 !!) I am pretty good at buying frugally most of the time but I often find that having to shop once a week for bread and milk often means I buy other things that I don't really need, which do get used, but we could do without IYSWIM. My thinking is that if I can get better prepared I can shop only twice a month instead of every week.

I am interested in what other OS do.