Living without a fridge

Wee_Bargain_Hunter

HOWMUCH wrote: »

If you are not on a water meter then filling the sink with very cold water will keep your milk and drinks cold in this heat and use your cool box for butter cheese etc. Don't forget to chance the water regular if you go with this

I'd heard this too but heard that it's better if you drape a towel or something over the bottles so that the edges are falling into the water. I think it has something to do with evaporation. Think I read it on a caravaning website. You can also use a bucket.

debbiedeejay

Glad I stumbled over this thread - I managed to kill my fridge 11 days ago(I was cleaning it out and snapped the wire to the thermostat!) and have been managing without one since.

Buying a new fridge at the moment is not a option - I can't afford one, so have been looking into purchasing second hand ones through either charity based local shops or the newspaper but they are all around £75ish ( and when a new one costs about £109)Also have been daily on freecycle but have had no luck so far.... so I am thinking I may as well save up for a new one....... but as each day passes I am now wondering if I can survive longer without one?


Well I think I could personally but I have teenage family and its Summer( I think!) and am not sure how long they can last without a fridge!

But up to now they haven't really whinged or moaned about not having refridgerated products "on tap" ie fav yogurts,cold meats,cheese based spreads,cold milk & drinks.....but am waiting for them to start!:o


By the way I do run a second hand chest freezer thats over 10 years old but this is how I have managed so far

• Meal Planned - with what ever needs using first or likely to go off quickest
• Shopped for dairy stuff/veg on a daily basis only if needed though.
• Have used "used" padded envelopes and bubble wrap in freezer to "slow down" the freezing process on milk/butter. Now just keeping milk in cold water at moment.
• Have just freecycled a wanted ad for unglazed terracota flower pots & silicone sealant so to try to make a "zeer pot"- I live near to the coast so obtaining sand won't be a problem!:)

In fact the corner where I had the fridge I have noticed the veg that I kept next to it is cooler so the veg is lasting longer so thats not too bad.And have cut down on meat products too!

Also its making me really think about what food I "need" to buy rather than what we "want"

Anyway anymore suggestions please post and I will see how long we can last!

Dessiree

Our fridge freezer broke the night before news years eve! I have had to order a new one -borrow money too :-( - and it won't be delivered until Thursday! Me and my husband are managing not too bad, coolbox in the garden etc, the problem i'm struggling with is my 1.5yr old and 2.5 yr old. A lot of the time their dinner is from ours made the night before when they are in bed, or individual portions of a larger meal, i.e. a tuna pasta bake frozen in the freezer or on the odd occasions fish fingers. Tonight the poor things have got tinned spaghetti with meatballs (it is heinz though). Its such a pain it really is. The only way it would work is if we all ate our dinner at the same time so i could cook something decent, but they have their dinner at half four, and my husband doesn't get home from work till 6 and then they have their baths. The worst thing is that because of the bank holidays i had a completely full freezer as i had been on a 'reduced section' hunt, so all that is wasted. Great start to the year.

twinkle1981_2

My fridge/freezer broke about 3 weeks before Xmas - well the fridge part. The freezer was still kinda fine (well bottom drawer stuff was still frozen, top drawer stuff was like mush) so I dunno why the fridge stopped working.

Anyways luckily with the snow, and with me living in a flat, I put milk, yoghurts, etc out on my balcony. I managed to borrow a chest freezer until I can buy one.

Thankfully I now have a working fridge again, but I decided to go for a seperate fridge and freezer as if one ever breaks down again at least I will still have the other.

debbiedeejay

Dessiree - Sorry to hear about the fridge freezer - don't suppose you have a kind neighbour that wouldn't mind keeping yours and Hubbies dinner in their fridge to eat later - that way you could still cook for the little ones and both eat when hubby returns?

The kids won't mind eating tinned/dried stuff for a day or two - Or what about using a slow cooker to cook something that doesn't mind "sitting" there for a extra hour(maybe a stew or casserole),you always add a bit more gravy,sauce to it if you thought it might dry out but 9 times out of 10 anything you throw in a slow cooker stays wonderfully moist anyway- plus they free up your time in the kitchen.yippee!:j
Have you tried Freegle or Freecycle if you really are struggling to see if any fridges/slow cooker on there for next day or two then re -freegle it once you have your new one.I managed eventually to buy a second hand fridge for a tenner and it was nearly new at the time I bought it, so I was lucky I guess.

Good luck over next few days - its a pain but you will manage.:)

dandy-candy

My fridge stopped working yesterday
Luckily we had a tiny spare fridge in the garage which we fitted the milk, butter and yogurts in, but there was no room for my eggs and all my sauces like mint sauce, ketchup, bbq sauce, horseradish etc. Eggs I think can be kept out of the fridge ok, but what about the sauces? Given that it is going to be a week until a new one can be delivered will they be no good?

Hovel_lady

Keep the sauces somewhere as cool and possible as I'm sure they'll be OK.
Do let us know as our fridge is making strange noises and may give up soon!

ALIBOBSY

Most sauces don't need to be kept in the fridge to keep, they tend to have things like vinegar, sugar, salt etc in them to help preserve. When you think about it ketchup used to be a homemade type item in america and mint sauce has been made for years in this country even before fridges existed. Its the high heat and sun they need to avoid, pre fridges people had larders which were basically a big cool cupboard, so keep cool and out of the sun. I never put eggs in the fridge and we have alot of eggs as we have chickens-then again ours will be fresher than the shops are anyway.
Our mint sauce always lives in the cupboard anyway. The ketchup/bbq type sauces usually say on them to keep in a cool dark cupboard then once opened keeps best in a fridge, not it must be refridgerated. Ketchup etc keeps fine in the cupboard, but will last longer in a fridge, with 6 of us-4 kids stuff like that doesn't last anyway so not an issue.

Reverbe

Best of luck with this dandy. Our fridge freezer died a slow death last summer and we have had to manage about a year now without one. Cant seem to find one on Freecycle in our area..

Pink.

Eggs are fine kept out of the fridge as are most sauces so I think you're worrying unnecessarily.

This thread may help to put your mind at rest:

Living without a fridge

I'll add your thread to that one later.

Pink