In case of no electricity, how could you cold...

[Katrina-Sisu]

How could you cold-storage food?

I read in a book that you could cut a hole in the ground, line with straw, and leave your food in that in the winter/year round. I've read about people placing things wrapped up in a creek too.

How could you cold storage things in the summer?

Kat

[MadTripper]

When I was growing up, I used to camp a lot on the hill behind our house. We called it Moss Hill because it was covered with thick, spongy moss all over. It worked out great because you could sleep on it very well without a mattress or pad. Anyway, I spent so much time there, I decided to dig out a cold storage hole. Basically, I dug down about two feet, lined the inside with flagstone that was about 2 inches thick, covered it with a piece of plywood with some moss chunks on top. It worked pretty well however the key was staying out of it during the hot sun.

We are fortunate to have several springs on our property and one is actually piped down to the old foundation next to our house. I would probably use that if we needed some type of cold storage. I believe that instead of concentrating on how to provide cold storage, I would rather can most of the food so it isn't an issue.

Additionally, propane refrigerators work well and would be handy. A friend at work has one he asked if I wanted and I plan on getting it to my house so we have something as a backup.

Tripper

[Katrina-Sisu]

Thanks for the ideas and tips!

Kat

[DM]

My power was out for 3 hours this morning, after about 2-1/2 hours i started my little generator and plugged the fridge into it. It will run 4 hours on a gallon of fuel, so i let it keep the fridge cold untill the power came back on..

I also have a very cold spring i could use if i had to...

DM

[Katrina-Sisu]

I always forget about propane and generators. Thanks for the tips!

Kat

[Mac_Muz]

It depends on where you are and what you got huh? In summer here IF there were no power, I would pack up cold stuffs and triple bag em amd walk just down ta' the brook which stays about 38' all year long.

last night it was 11' F so I could have frozen stuff last night..

[Txanne]

One of the few ways here in South east Texas would be to have a propane frig---

Very few springs---lots of swamps tho!!

In-ground would bring out the fire ants--and critters.
I understand to keep coyotes etc from smelling it---you would have to go 6ft. or better---!!

Off grid I used a very good cooler---covered in [[packing quilts]] and my ice would last 3--5 days.


Txanne

[Weezin]

Before Y2K. I turned our power off at the meter to see what our power needs would be using our 6.5 kw generator.
Found that a 3 hr run, every 12 hrs. where more than enough to keep the freezers solid, the fridge cold, our water pumped from the well , etc...

[Shamrock1121]

Be sure to remember to check for safe temperatures whatever method you are using for cold food storage. Have a refrigerator/freezer thermometer, or other type of thermometer (such as an instant read thermometer). I'd use something other than a mercury thermometer around food, just in case the thermometer would break.....

1. Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours of being at room temperature (1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F).

2. The "refrigerated" temperature should be 40°F or colder and the freezer 0°F or colder.

3. The "danger zone" for food is 45°F and 140°F.

4. Portion hot foods into small amounts so that it can chill quickly to a food safe temperature. Trying to chill a large Dutch Oven of soup/chili is an invitation to bacteria growth. The inside portion of the soup/chili can remain at an unsafe food temperature long enough for bacteria to grow if you try to chill a whole pot of hot soup.

This is why it's important to have foods on hand that don't require refrigeration and to use those that are refrigerated quickly after the electricity has remained off for a period of time.

Single-serving size foods are nice to have under these circumstances so you don't have to cook and store the leftovers. If you need to store leftovers, keep several thermos-type containers for keeping leftovers at a safe temperature, and make sure the foods are as HOT as possible when you place them in the thermos. Pre-heat the thermos with hot water before putting food inside.

Thermos bottles are also great for keeping hot water hot. It takes less energy to heat water once and store it in thermos containers, rather than to use your fuel source for heating small amounts of hot water. Keep the hot water in the thermos containers for mixing hot beverages, like hot cocoa mix, instant coffee or tea, or making single-serving packages of instant soup (homemade or commercial instant soup). Hot water stored in thermos containers will be a welcome source for washing (dishes and people).

-Karen

[AlchemyAcres]

This is why it's important to have foods on hand that don't require refrigeration and to use those that are refrigerated quickly after the electricity has remained off for a period of time.


I agree...I don't think it's wise to depend upon refrigeration or freezing for the better part of your stored food. I've lived for months on end without refrigeration.

~Martin :)

[BrentL]

I keep a propane tank and burnner for the express purpose of canning the items that are in the frezer. if we lost electricity for longer than 3 days I could can the meat that is in there now.

[Northern_bushrat]

Depends on where you live. A root cellar would most likely work (6' deep hole in the ground, lined with boards to make sort of an underground room). Needs an insulated door. Up here in the north, we're also using an ice house, just a little shack filled with sawdust where we bury ice that we cut from the lake in spring. That ice lasts us until about mid-August and by early September it's already cold again at night.
For small things, you can also store them in earthenware crocks (unglazed) and wet the outside of the crock with water. The evaporation will cool the contents.

[WabbitandWeasel]

I visited a farm recently that had a spring house/root celler. The spring was diverted into two streams going through troughs on both sides of the inside of the building (you could walk though the middle and there were shelves above the troughs for storage. The people put their milk/butter/eggs etc in the trough in bowls or crocks and the cold spring water kept everything cold. It also provided their water.

[edward_4576]

I've a couple of things I do (just in case). During the winter I take a few of those 1/2 gal square plastic milk jugs and fill em with water and pet them under the porch. If I loose AC in the winter I can throw a couple in the freezer and it'll keep stuff nice and cold.

In the summer I take plastic water bottles (soda bottles) and small water bottles and pack the freezer with them. They freeze up and if you loose AC they will supplement the amount of time you have before you have to worry about things getting too warm.

A couple of other things, I have a chest freezer and I went out and got one of those cheap indoor out door remote thermometers and placed the sensor inside my freezer, that way I know how cold it is and I don't have to open the door to check the temp (if the power is out). I also have my freezer in my basement where it's cooler.

[TheUnboundOne]

Dear Katrina and Northern Bushrat,

Howdy, folks!

I've read about something similar to what Northern Bushrat was talking about, only it is a smaller crock inside of a larger crock, with a layer of sand in between, with everything kept moist and covered. The evaporation of the water draws the heat away from the food, thus preserving it longer. This method not only works up North, but so I've read, works near the Equatorial areas of Africa.

You could also build a wooden box frame, surround it with thick cloth walls, dip the bottom of the cloth into water so that the water wicks up the cloth walls, put your perishables inside the box, and keep the whole shebang in the shade of a tree or something. I've heard that works just as well too.

I've also read that many people up North keep their perishables fresh in Winter simply by resting them in the cold on a caged window sill.

The refrigerator/freezer itself will hold in coldness for a couple of days without power as long as you don't open it too much. I also use those blue ice pads in freezer compartments to help preserve coldness in the event of a black-out.

There are all kinds of ways to do this, but I also agree with the others that perishables should be kept to a minimum.

I always keep non-fat dry powdered milk on my shelves instead of whole milk and I've found that butter usually keeps well under cover at room temperature for a temporary amount of time. One should also keep on hand Zip-Locked, dehydrated fruits, veggies, and jerky for power emergencies.