Comments on: A Love Letter to the Freezer, with choosing and care tips http://leslieland.com/2009/01/a-love-letter-to-the-freezer-with-choosing-and-care-tips/ in Kitchen and Garden and all around the House Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:52:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: leslie http://leslieland.com/2009/01/a-love-letter-to-the-freezer-with-choosing-and-care-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-1288 leslie Thu, 29 Jan 2009 23:08:36 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=1928#comment-1288 Hi RW Congrats on the new freezer. Even a frost free one will probably do better at keeping food quality than something from the '50s. ( I say probably; some ancient appliances are STILL performing fine all these years later.) As far as sustainability goes, why not think of it this way: electricity itself isn't evil; wrongheaded methods of generation are the things that pollute and warm the planet. I'm hoping to still have our freezers when "buy green " is an option from our power company. There are a few places that already offer this, none of which I can think of at the moment. But even in our current imperfect world, if you use the freezer to cut way down on trips to the store and long-distance eats bought there, running it might well be no more polluting than all the driving that otherwise would be done - by both you and the food. And thanks for mentioning sodium; I never stopped to think about the salt angle. Wow! THAT sure knocks a hole in a lot of low-tech preserving. (thanks also for the good wishes; surgery was to repair the acl I tore last spring - while dancing! Phooey. I'm healing well but won't be able to negotiate the very steep, narrow cellar stairs for quite a while yet, hence the map) Hi RW
Congrats on the new freezer. Even a frost free one will probably do better at keeping food quality than something from the ’50s. ( I say probably; some ancient appliances are STILL performing fine all these years later.)

As far as sustainability goes, why not think of it this way: electricity itself isn’t evil; wrongheaded methods of generation are the things that pollute and warm the planet. I’m hoping to still have our freezers when “buy green ” is an option from our power company.

There are a few places that already offer this, none of which I can think of at the moment. But even in our current imperfect world, if you use the freezer to cut way down on trips to the store and long-distance eats bought there, running it might well be no more polluting than all the driving that otherwise would be done – by both you and the food.

And thanks for mentioning sodium; I never stopped to think about the salt angle. Wow! THAT sure knocks a hole in a lot of low-tech preserving.

(thanks also for the good wishes; surgery was to repair the acl I tore last spring – while dancing! Phooey. I’m healing well but won’t be able to negotiate the very steep, narrow cellar stairs for quite a while yet, hence the map)

]]> By: ruralway http://leslieland.com/2009/01/a-love-letter-to-the-freezer-with-choosing-and-care-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-1289 ruralway Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:52:43 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=1928#comment-1289 Man, this is impressive. We purchased an energy star upright freezer a few months ago and I love it. I have to confess I went with a self-defrost model because after suffering for years with a huge, donated 1950's freezer from my sister-in-law that made a mess in the garage every time it needed defrosting, I crumbled. Now, I have no excuse for not processing more summer garden food except for lack of time. I pureed basil with water and froze it in ice cube trays last year and I like the results-I pop a cube or three into soups or sauce and summer just wafts across the kitchen. Being active in a sustainablility group, I've struggled with the whole idea of using electricity to store food. For me it is the best option for now. I need to be very careful about my intake of sodium ( getting older is great, no?) and canning uses too much. It will be hard to give up pickles and I love making them-but, oh well. And you mentioned surgery again-I hope all is ok, or will be-best thoughts sent to you both. Man, this is impressive. We purchased an energy star upright freezer a few months ago and I love it. I have to confess I went with a self-defrost
model because after suffering for years with a huge, donated 1950′s freezer from my sister-in-law that made a mess in the garage every time it needed defrosting, I crumbled. Now, I have no excuse for not processing more summer garden food except for lack of time. I pureed basil with water and froze it in ice cube trays last year and I like the results-I pop a cube or three into soups or sauce and summer just wafts across the kitchen.
Being active in a sustainablility group, I’ve struggled with the whole idea of using electricity to store food. For me it is the best option for now. I need to be very careful about my intake of sodium ( getting older is great, no?) and canning uses too much. It will be hard to give up pickles and I love making them-but, oh well.
And you mentioned surgery again-I hope all is ok, or will be-best thoughts sent to you both.

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