Well the title of this post would explain why I have nine roasting chickens done at the same time, plus seven roasts, plus the canner full of stew meat, and the hot water bath full of cherry’s and am making Elderberry Juice, still need to cook off the two big turkeys, and then put apart all the birds and make broth and can it from the birds bones etc.
So last night I had a craving for a grilled cheese and I sent Dh out to the big freezer for a block of old sharp chedder, and he came in with a look of horror on his face.. I don’t know when it got unplugged but the freezer has two area’s, one the meat area, one the big area and three hanging baskets, everything in the baskets had to go to the birds/hounds or Miss Piggy, everything in the main part of the freezer was ruined other then the cherry’s and the elderberris that were both in food grade buckets, but they were thawed out and so had to be processed.
On the smaller portion that is big freezer meat area, we got a little luckier, while most of them where almost thawed, all where still cold to the touch and when prepping for cooking some still had just frozen spots, so all of them were touched, smelled and then cooked off, and so I was able to save the meat, thank goodness. Have to admit that I was grateful for being able to plug in and turn on the second fridge for cooling and fridge space, normally I don’t have to do that till further into the summer when we are harvesting.
However I could just cry over the loss of the last of my veggies and the rest of the fruit, it will mean a very lean spring for other then canned goods and wild harvested fresh food sigh.
I like canned goods but I like to be able to have the different textures that freezing provides as well, and the hard work of growing/perserving those foods is lost now.
On the other hand the freezer will now get a very good spring cleaning before being plugged back in, and as fate would have it, during the power outage with the high winds, we had moved all our flour out of the freezer just in case, and it turned out to be the right choice, once the freezer is clean and dry and cold again, it can get moved back in.
Just another Day on the Farm 
That’s just awful! I have nightmares about this happening, I have two freezers and am waaay too dependant on them. Such a shame to lose all the work that went into your veggies. Good thing you had that craving, though!
It was awful, thank goodness it was the spring freezer and not the full fall one, and I know just what you mean, I feel sometime like I rely on the freezers to much as well but there is one so many forms of how you can “can” things or dry them and who does not like the flexablity that frozen products gives you.
Never did get that grilled cheese, by the time we slowed down, it was late, and we had pie before bed.
What a nightmare. Makes we want to rush out and buy a pressure canner just in case. I’m glad you managed to salvage something from the mess. Big piece of duct tape over the plug for the future perhaps?
I have been looking online and it appears that there is a gadget that will beep if the freezer gets unplugged as a warning, I think I will invest in one of those just to be on the safe side.
I’m sorry for all the food you had to throw out- it’s heartbreaking to see your hard work go to waste, but as you say, better now than in the fall.
I noticed how freezer dependent I am during the Pantry Challenge but I haven’t figured out a way to be less so yet.
thankfully, I was able to feed all the “throw out” food to the farm critters so nothing went to the compost pile, but still it was a jolt to remind me that I should be canning, drying or salting an smoking more of my foods just to be on the safe side of things.
Oh my! I would be heartbroken too! At least you were able to catch it in time to save the meat. I was debating a freezer alarm – now I know I need to get one for each freezer!