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living without a fridge/freezer
30 June 2013, 15:09,
#1
living without a fridge/freezer
about 2 wks ago i defrosted my f/f planning to turn it back on again and restock ,out of the blue i thought no ill try to get bye without it.
well so far so good fresh fruit/veg keeps just as well in a cupboard i dont use milk [powdered] iv never been into frozen pies/pizzas ect .
but i do love my chicken cooked one last night ate half put half in micro but had to use it buy about 11oc this morning and warm cider *!"!!! that but i still drunk it .
so far its going ok and a good prepping experience

any tips/advice ?
Survive the jive (youtube )
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30 June 2013, 15:19,
#2
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
Good for you,.. it can be done, I am not sure about offering tips, but I remember well the `pantry` that my parents had before the fridge, it was a very cold room, against an outside wall with no insulation, also down two steps from the kitchen floor level

I think that we have lost the knowledge of how to make these rooms as cold as they always seemed to be years ago

if I was to go without a fridge, I think I would make a storage space by digging it into the ground, and putting a good solid top onto it,... even better if you could somehow have it surrounded by water
A major part of survival is invisibility.
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30 June 2013, 17:03,
#3
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
I could a fridge/freezer asw a luxury and will keep one going as long as I can.

I do see a fridge being a necessity for anyyone with diabetes. Every disaster scenario has them dying off like flies a few weeks after an event. By stocking up and keeping the stock refridgerated you can extend that. I have a 12v fridge just in case someone needs it.

What we really need is something we can make outselves to keep them alive, However, that seems some way off.
Skean Dhude
-------------------------------
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change. - Charles Darwin
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30 June 2013, 17:41,
#4
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
Evaporation helps a lot. Putting a wet towel over a cool box helps to keep things cool in there for longer. Same with the cider. Wrap the bottles in a damp cloth and leave for a while. They'll cool off no problems.

If you really need reliable refrigeration, 12V expedition fridges are very efficient, and can easily be powered by a modest solar panel and a battery. They are pricey though.

We have a camping frdge that will run on 240v, 12V or camping gas. I'm not really sure of the technology, but I understand it works on the absorption principle, which requires a small heat-source. AFAIUI, the heat is supplied by a small gas flame, or an electrically heated element (which makes it much less efficient than the expedition fridges mentioned above). I wonder whether one could provide the heat source in some other way, such as an open fire?

I've seen kits online to convert a chest freezer into a fridge by modifying the thermostat. Freezers are much better insulated than fridges, and having a lid on top keeps the cold in when opened. So, when used as a fridge they consume much less power, again meaning they can be run from a modest solar PV off-grid setup.

Vegetables and, of course, meat, do keep much longer in a fridge, making more effective use of any food obtained post-collapse, whether hunted, grown, scavenged or bartered. However, I'd always plan for a fridge to be a "nice to have" rather than a "survival essential".

(Just got back from a weekends camping with no refrigeration, just a small Coleman coolbox with an icepack in. Had steak, sausages, eggs, milk and some pork pies. All kept cool till today from Friday lunchtime).
Find a resilient place and way to live, then sit back and watch a momentous period in history unfold.
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30 June 2013, 18:07,
#5
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
well we'll all have to learn to live without fridges and freezers and washing machines and microwaves WHEN the power goes off( note I said WHEN not if!). I've got an old "meat safe" I bought off a recycling place for £8.
Some people that prefer to be alone arent anti-social they just have no time for drama, stupidity and false people.
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30 June 2013, 20:34,
#6
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
i too have a pantry / larder always cool in their its been around 65/70 most of today and still cool, i dont know how long ill keep it up for shopping is a challenge remembering not to buy fridge type stuff or if you do eating it before it turns .
iv also found that most things also come in tins .
Survive the jive (youtube )
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30 June 2013, 20:48,
#7
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
If you have access to a running stream its easy to cool stuff ( cider ) submerse a plastic bin say half way into the bed .
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30 June 2013, 21:41, (This post was last modified: 30 June 2013, 21:48 by Highlander.)
#8
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
After an event where we find ourselves without power, we will still have our fridges and freezers, they will still have their uses,.. Bury them in the ground and use them like a chest freezer, and keep the ground around them wet, this will almost certainly be cool enough for medicine, and I suspect for most other foods as well,.... after all, we are most likely to be eating anything fresh as and when we get it,..our stored food doesn't need refrigeration

They will be more of less rain proof, although you could always cover the door with plastic under the rock cover

I have only just remembered, SDs post reminded me but I also have a 12v fridge in the attic from my caravaning days,... thanks SD..Smile

I have just been talking to the other half about this, and she suggested that because a fridge or freezer is insulated that the fridge wouldn't keep cool enough if placed in the ground as I have suggested.
So, with that in mind, maybe a single skinned metal box may work much better

....any thoughts?
A major part of survival is invisibility.
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30 June 2013, 22:04,
#9
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
Interesting post. The Victorians had icerooms to keep their perishable provisions. The Iceman arrived every so often with supplies of ice to keep the whole thing fresh. It must be possible to replicate that. Gotta say this: The Iceman Cometh.

Feel better now.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
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30 June 2013, 22:10,
#10
RE: living without a fridge/freezer
But how did the Iceman make his ice?, we can only just buy Ice cream and get it home in a cool box from the shops an hour away,... how did he transport it after making it,... I feel a google moment coming on
A major part of survival is invisibility.
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