Some Great Tips for Getting the Best Out Of Your Freezer
August 9, 2014Where would we be without freezers? I know I wouldn’t be able to prepare and cook as many delicious meals. There are many ways you can make your freezer work more efficiently and save you time and money in the long run. In the following post I will discuss some of my favourite tips and other uses for your freezer you may not have realised.
Preserve Extra Summer Herbs for Use During Winter
It can cost more to buy a bunch of fresh herbs from your greengrocer or supermarket. A great way to preserve any surplus you have is to chop them up, cover them with oil, water or stock and put them in the freezer. That way they will be ready to add to any dish, throughout autumn and winter.
Enable Your Freezer to Run More Efficiently
Did you know there are ways you can make your freezer run much more efficiently? Simply fill empty plastic milk or juice bottles and jugs with water and keep them in your freezer. By doing this your freezer will stay at a balanced temperature and will use less energy to keep itself cold.
Rescue Your Hard Drive by Sticking It in the Freezer (seriously)
Apparently a failing hard drive can be left in a freezer for 24 hours and then very quickly inserted back into your computer to enable you to make a recovery. Or at the very least give you enough time to back everything up before it completely dies.
Keep Food Tasty By Preventing Freezer Burn
Freezer burn can ruin the flavour of lots of things stored in your freezer. To ensure that this doesn’t happen as frequently or at all, keep your freezer at a steadier and level temperature and keep out air as much as possible – in other words, open the door knowing what you want to take out, take it out and shut the door again quickly.
Convert Your Chest Freezer into a Very Efficient Fridge
As chest freezers use only a 1/10th of the energy that most upright fridges use, you could switch to using a chest freezer for the same purpose. If a chest freezer has an adjustable thermostat, you can switch to using it to keep your clothes cool and fresh, without actually freezing them. Although the shape and design of a chest freezer is not the best, you can’t argue with the saving on electricity.
Don’t Forget Grip Seal Bags
If there is one thing I always make sure I have in my kitchen for using in my freezer more than anything, it is grip seal bags. If you don’t know what I mean, have a look at the handy grip seal bags, they have numerous uses and are particular good for freezing various different types of food, either cooked or fresh so that they last a little bit longer. I often buy larger sizes and use them to store stock, sauces, soups and stews.