Prepping for Freezer Failure - Survivalist Briefing

We bought our 20 cu ft upright freezer over 20 years
ago. It’s been through five moves and
spent the first few years of its life in garages that got pretty warm in the
summer and cold in the winter. Though we
haven’t had any problems with it, I fear it could die any day now. I need to have a plan for when it happens so
that we don’t lose that valuable food.

Like others who have dedicated freezers, we use it to buy
our meat once or twice a year straight from the rancher. Right now based on what we paid for the side
of beef last month, that freezer is holding over $2,000 in food. What would I do if the freezer decided to die
overnight?

What would you do? Do
you have a plan? I mean, after the
screaming is over.

Plan A here involves a quick trip into town to buy a new freezer—a
chest freezer this time. They are so
much more efficient than uprights and you can pack more food in them without
risking injury from a large roast falling onto your toes when you open the
door. (We got the upright freezer
because I decorated wedding cakes professionally at the time.) But what if Plan A isn’t an option? What if, like last year, there aren’t any
freezers for sale? How do you keep from
losing all that food?

Checklist for Before the Freezer Dies

Ice chests
Canning jars and new lids
Pectin
Sugar
Pressure canner
Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers
Dehydrator
Food Saver and bags or attachment for using with
canning jars
Crockpot
Smoker
Salt

With any luck, it will be winter and the cold temperatures
will give us some more time. Here are
some other thoughts to keep in mind in your quest to preserve as much food as
possible.

Alternative cooling
options

Dry ice,
about 2.5-3 pounds per cubic foot.
Friends
and family may have spare freezer space and could help you out for a little
while. It may cost you a package of
steaks.
Rent commercial
freezer space.
RVs. If you’ve got a trailer or other RV with a
refrigerator or freezer, fire it up and fill it.
Ice
chests. Fill ice chests, packing as
compactly and densely as possible. Put
the ice chests in a cool, shady area out of the sun and protected from breezes. Cover with blankets to help insulate even
better.

According to the good folks at the Clemson Cooperative
Extension, a full freezer will keep food safe for 2 days. A half-full freezer will do so for only one
day. The longer you can keep everything
frozen or really cold, the more time you have for preserving what thaws in the
meantime.

Most of the following suggestions for saving food from a
dead freezer assume that there is still electricity.

Now take a look at your most expensive foods, the ones you
most want to preserve. For many of us,
that’s going to be the meat. And what
are your options for preserving it?

MEATS

Can. Make sure you have canning jars and canning
lids available at all times. If your
jars are full, are there any you can empty so that you are able to can the
meat? This is a good option for
hamburger, stew meat, and roasts. Of
course, you aren’t limited to these. All
cuts and types of meat may be pressure canned.
Do not use a water-bath canner for this.
Be sure to follow the instructions in an approved canning guide.
Bake. This is my favorite way to cook bacon. Place the strips on a cookie sheet at bake at
275-300°F until they reach the desired doneness and then pack them in Tupperware
or freezer bags. You’ll get a few weeks
from them in the refrigerator, perhaps enough time for you to acquire another
freezer.
Brine. I haven’t actually done this yet, but my
husband does it every Thanksgiving with our turkey. It buys you a little time.
Smoke.
Smoking the meat will give you a few
months.
Dehydrate. This is a really good option for
hamburger. Roasts can be thinly sliced
for making jerky.
Freeze-dry.
Do you know anyone with a freeze dryer
that can help you out? They can’t put
more than ten pounds of food in there per load, but still, that’s ten pounds
that you didn’t waste.
Crockpot. Ribs take up so much space for the amount of
meat on them—they go into the crockpot for dinner that night and perhaps the
next night as well.

I think I would cry if I couldn’t get a freezer in time to
save the steaks. If that’s the case,
they can be canned just like any other meat, or you can have everyone over for
a barbecue.

FRUITS

Fruits are next on the list here. (Really, what are you more attached to—the home-grown
strawberries or the shredded zucchini?) Unfortunately,
we don’t have as many options for preserving them. Fortunately, the options we do have don’t
take as much time and effort as meats do.

Can. Can the fruits as is or turn them into jam,
jelly, preserves, or syrup.
Dehydrate. Dehydrating fruits as is or turn them into
fruit leather. Pureeing them into
leather will let you preserve more fruit more quickly. Dehydrated fruits can also be powdered in a
blender or food processor. The powders
can them be added to yogurt or smoothies.
Freeze-dry. Again, if this is an option, you can only do
about ten pounds at most per load. And
you usually can’t run more than one load per day.

VEGETABLES

The options for vegetables are about the same as for fruits,
with an important exception.

Can. Vegetables must be pressure canned.
Dehydrate. Vegetables should usually be blanched before
dehydrating for best results. Dehydrated
veggies can be used as is in casseroles and soups, or they can be powdered and
added to thicken soup. They can also be
added to breads to change things up a bit.
Tomato and spinach powder are both good for coloring tortillas.
Freeze-drying
is also an option for vegetables.