To buy a freezer?

aggypanthus

Why do you keep grated cheese frozen? do you buy it ready grated ?

floss2

aggypanthus wrote: »

Why do you keep grated cheese frozen? do you buy it ready grated ?

Buy blocks of cheese when on offer, grate, freeze, then just open freezer & add handful of ready grated frozen cheese to meal. Ideal for reducing cheese consumption - especially by DH who eats cheese "because it is in the fridge" and obviously isn't meant for a particular meal :mad:...

karren

weve recently been given a frezzer by in laws and its transformed us as we go to farm foods once a month and bulk by and then i batch cook on a sun and ive more time with the children, its no hassle in the week as know everything is just ready to re heat and they are eating well, healthy and within budget, Ive never been one to feed them junk but they are happy and healthy and I feel better knowing that Ive no stress ful juggling after work and if Im a late shift dad is in the same position so time for homework and fun!

suelizab

I've just bought a John Lewis chest freezer for the brick-built shed. Lots of the reviews state that they keep them in the garage and John lewis state on their web site that you can. Zanussi also do one that can be in an out building. I have a small one indoors but want a chest size to stock up with and make use of special offers over the autumn and winter months .

JulieGeorgiana

I have a chest freezer in the garage (it survived last winter so hope it's suitable to be outside!) and inside we have a fridge freezer.

I bulk buy and store most things outside (including my cheese) and inside I have a soup drawer (as we eat tons of it most days) a bread drawer (we only eat HM bread) a 'open veg' drawer (so open packets, as nothing open gets stored outside) and the last drawer is any meat and ingredients needed for the week.

DH goes outside every Friday and brings in anything needed to make that weeks meals. This means I never go outside, and can live with what's in the house on a day to day basis.

I have a full inventory of the chest freezer and amend it every shop and every Friday. DH has even learned to rotate outside so the dates stay good

I couldn't live without my chest freezer, it saves me an absolute fortune as I can bulk shop from MrA ever 2 months (saving on delivery costs) and I get a monthly MrS delivery, but every 2nd month I stock up on meat to get it over £100 and get free delivery. I couldn't save as much money as I do without it.

It's full of Christmas food right now, I got things as they were on offer

maman

kerri_dfw wrote: »

I bought a 4 drawer under-counter freezer the other week, love it

When we redid our kitchen a few years ago I was determined to fit in another freezer. So we redesigned with extra wall cupboards and moved the washing machine out. So now I have two undercounter freezers. I prefer them as I find the tall ones a bit overpowering. Admittedly if you've got plenty of shed/garage space you can get more in a chest freezer. But I'd say to OP definitely go for it!!

aggypanthus wrote: »

Why do you keep grated cheese frozen? do you buy it ready grated ?

floss2 wrote: »

Buy blocks of cheese when on offer, grate, freeze, then just open freezer & add handful of ready grated frozen cheese to meal. Ideal for reducing cheese consumption - especially by DH who eats cheese "because it is in the fridge" and obviously isn't meant for a particular meal :mad:...

I do both. Doing your own is best IMO as it's just cheese whereas the ready-grated has potato starch added and I don't think it's ever quite so tasty. The best value I can find regularly is Aldi's mature which is under £5 per kg. I use that price as my benchmark. So if I see grated on a good offer or YS then I buy it, otherwise Aldi's it is!

Purple_kitten

We have an ancient chest freezer that holds all of the animal food. it's great for quantity but I can't see anything in it.

This year we picked up an upright freezer 2nd hand from a company in liquidation, and it's perfect as I can see into each of the drawers and has an alarm should anyone (ahem) leave the door open. We went through a really tough time a few years ago now and the freezer stock stood us as a very good investment.

pigpen

I used to have chest freezers.. I have now swapped to an upright one.. much better use of space ... I can see and reach everything in it. It takes up a smaller area of floor space .. so much more practical than the chest freezers.

But yes.. for my family they are worth every penny.

jackyann

People do seem to vary in how much they value their freezers - yes, great for stocking up on bargains, using left overs etc. But you can end up with a number of Unidentified Frozen Objects.
I would take the one you can get for £40 - it will give you a good idea of how well you will use one.
I would also consider a vacuum packer - helps things last longer generally, but especially guards against "freezer burn"

valerie57

No one has commented on the running costs of a freezer. I don't know what they are but would be interested to know as this should be offset against any savings. Anyone know?