Whats in your fridge? Turning mine off

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

There is a way of keeping food fresh without a fridge it's a ZEER POT

It's better that nothing, but it doesn't really compete with a fridge. At 25C, 50%rh and 1013mb for example, the wet bulb depression is only about 7C.

SailorSam

PasturesNew wrote: »

I bought a fridge/freezer - online so hadn't actually seen it. Once it arrived I realised I'd bought badly.... the fridge was way too big and the freezer too small.

When my old F/F broke down and i had to replace it, i found it awful hard trying to find what i wanted. They nearly all have big fridges, but being here by myself i'd rather the freezer be the biggest.

jamars

Really interesting to read all of your comments. Yesterday we did it, we turned the fridge off. Boy was it time consuming removing the two tubs of yeast that had been the only things lurking in there for the past few months.

We are now venturing into the realms of drying, smoking and preserving a lot more - and the need for the fridge was not worth it's running costs.

Fruball

Interesting thread. No way could I live without my fridge long term however, I do have an old style larder with 2 stone shelves in it and vents to outside. It stays very cool in there so i'd be happy to store cheese and milk products in there for a couple of days, butter probably will be fine in there until use by date (I don't keep my butter in the fridge really anyway) and rely on my nose/tastebuds to see if they were ok to eat.

As for storing meat in there, not for more than 24 hours in winter, probably not at all in summer. We eat quite a lot of meat although we don't have much dairy anymore.

[Deleted User]

Way back when, before fridge ownership became the norm most folks did have a cool larder but most women didn't work and shopped daily for perishables like meat, milk, cheese etc. Most people didn't have cars and walked to the shops so that limited the amount you could carry too. Fridges made life more convenient and allowed us to buy ahead in the knowledge that the fresh foods wouldn't go off before we could use them. The OP obviously knows this already if all he had in the fridge was yeast. It is much more convenient in this day and age to actually have a fridge, enables those of us who are cash strapped to pick up YS bargains but the OP sounds clued up and organised so will most likely live very successfully without one!

culpepper

A lot depends on life style. When we were first married,we had no fridge for about 2 months and were constantly throwing away food. We both worked long hours and needed to be able to get home and make our meals quickly . Now I am home all day ,we could get by with a smaller fridge if we needed to but I utilise left overs throughout the week and the fridge facilitates that . We have a built in cupboard that was originally the larder for this house and had a perforated metal window to let the air circulate.

culpepper

jamars wrote: »

Really interesting to read all of your comments. Yesterday we did it, we turned the fridge off. Boy was it time consuming removing the two tubs of yeast that had been the only things lurking in there for the past few months.

We are now venturing into the realms of drying, smoking and preserving a lot more - and the need for the fridge was not worth it's running costs.

I think you could quite easily store your yeast in a vacuum jar. You know the kinds that you put things in and then pump out the air ?
We have a large one that I use to seal jam jars by putting them inside it and then pumping until the lids 'pop' shut. I don't see why yeast in tubs could not be sealed in the same way inside a jam jar. You don't leave the jars inside the bigger vacuum jar , its only used to achieve the seal.

pigpen

opened jars and sauces
milk
yoghurts
cheese
cooked meat
leftovers
slime-arine
bacon


and the medication for 3 of the children which must be kept refridgerated.

The other fridge has beer, eggs, veggies and fruit and more yoghurts and cheese.

I wouldn't risk not having one and in regards to meds, I couldn't not have one. My children would be taken into care because their medical needs wouldn't be being met and 1 would be dead!

MandM90

Right now lots of booze (OHs birthday tomorrow), dairy free spread, soya milks, and lots of veggies. We grow our own and keep some things in the cupboard but I do find they last far longer in the fridge.

Lots of leftovers are kept in there. I tend to cook more than we need then eat the rest for lunch/dinner in the following days. Open jars of curry paste and fresh ground ginger are also kept in the fridge, as is our yeast.

Our eggs (laid by our hens) are kept out of the fridge - they usually go from bum to mouth in less than 48 hours though - yummy

I probably could live without the fridge but whether I'd have the inclination is another matter - good luck OP!

LameWolf

I agree about the proportion of fridge to freezer in modern fridge-freezers. We have one (well, it's over 13 years old - because it was here when I moved in, in May 2002) and I'd love a little less fridge and a little more freezer.:o

In the fridge bit....

Four cartons of grapefruit juice.
Open jar of tomato puree
Open jar of HM marmalade
Open jar of HM strawberry jam
Open jar of wholegrain honey mustard
Branston
Mayo
Pickled onions
Half carton of unpasteurised cream (earmarked for choccie mousse);)
Cooking chocolate (see item above):D
Half a big carton of live yogurt
Large supply of butter
Eggs (no room on the counter for them)
Open pack of bread yeast
Mr LW's cholesterol-busting yogurt drinks
Small tub sunflower spread
Cucumber
Big bowl of tomatoes
1 x 1kg and 4 x half kg blocks of cheese (we buy our cheese monthly at the farmers market)
Four Bramleys
Several onions
One lonely carrot
HM bread
6-pint carton of milk
2 bottles of filtered tapwater (I like my water chilled)
Energy drink (R3d Bull substitute)
Lucozade
Cooking wine
Half a HM cheese Qu0rn, tomato & onion quiche - we had half today, the rest is for tomorrow's dins
Part of a sliced wholemeal loaf (used for cooking/emergencies/if I need bread and Mr LW's not here to slice it)
Eye-mask - it's filled with gel and you chill it before putting it on; for use when my eyes get tired and puffy - I need it so frequently that it lives in the fridge when not in use

Yes I know some of that lot doesn't really need to live in the fridge, but we have limited cupboard space (no lovely walk-in larder here!!) and counter space is far too precious to have anything out on it that doesn't strictly need to be there.

Also, we've had diabetic dogs staying with us before now, and their insulin had to go in the fridge.