What to do with a chest freezer

gettingtheresometime

A few years ago we bought a chest freezer as our dog was being fed raw food, which came frozen & it was mse to buy it in bulk rather than every 6 weeks or so.

Unfortunately he's now passed away so theoretically we have no need for it (we were using an under the counter size one for us) but part of me thinks it we could use it but for what as there's only so much Spag Bol, chilli & curry you can eat (there's only 2 of us) and we're trying to eat healthy.

So would you keep it & use it (any suggestions to fill it?) keep it & but turn it off or get rid?

Owain_Moneysaver

You could get an allotment and fill the freezer with free home-grown veg?

If you aren't going to use it, get rid of it.

in_my_wellies

I bought mine in 1985.
I grow soft fruit so mine is half full of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blackcurrants , etc. Then there are several joints of meat bought on special offer and homemade 'ready meals' for when I don't have time/feel like cooking

suki1964

If you cant fill it, but still don't wish to pass it on, then fill it with empty cling wrapped boxes A filled freezer is cheaper to run

Camomile

Fill it up? Cooked food, raw food, fruit, bread...

[Deleted User]

Fill it frozen veg and chicken fillets. Then you will always have healthy meals in.

PasturesNew

It costs about £30/year just to have it running I bet. If your other F/F is large enough for your needs, then don't be tempted to keep this one else you'll just end up accumulating food you'll never get round to eating and paying £30/year for the privilege.

More freezer space is beneficial, but only up to a point.

joedenise

I'd be lost without my chest freezer! I always keep some bread in there as DH and I eat different ones.

Our local butchers does weekly meal deals and I sometimes buy those as get a range of different meats which will make meals throughout the month. I usually swap the bacon out for extra low fat burgers as we are trying to eat healthily too.

I also keep bags of various veg in it - I keep the usual culprits, peas, green beans, broccoli in the inside freezer but I like to have others in the chest freezer for a change.

I also batch cook food such as chilli, both meat & veg, curry, again both meat and veg. For nearly every meal I cook I make 4 portions so there is another meal for both us to go in the freezer.

I check what's in the freezer towards the end of the month and then do my meal plan for the following month making use of as much as possible from the freezer.

I find it makes life very much easier particularly as we live 8 miles from the nearest supermarket!

Denise

Lily54

I think if it was me I would be tempted to buy for the sake of it just to fill it so I think I would be letting it go.

dingdongsaving

We utilise ours for leftovers to save time at a later date and to let us buy bread for pennies when it's yellow sticker...same for soft fruits, veggies and meat/fish. If veg doesn't freeze well I sometimes par boil it then know it's ready to throw into stir fry dishes, soups, casseroles, sauces etc.
Our chest freezer lets us have our favourite bits and pieces to hand no matter what's on offer/yellow sticker when we need it. We've found it's a game changer to support our meal planning and saving money on food. Esp. as in reality we only get to the shops once a week as we both work full time and when we see offers we can snap them up to enjoy there and then or at a later date.

Working_Mum

You could always Freecycle it and someone will take it off your hands and get loads of use out of it.