Great video! I have both...a chest and upright freezer. I also have the jackery 1000. Here’s a great story for you: We recently moved. We literally loaded our chest freezer (full of food) on the moving truck. We plugged it into the jackery during the day while we drove. At night we would recharge the jackery in the hotel room. Next morning plugged the freezer back into the jackery. We did this for three days on a cross country move..worked like a charm!
I'm so glad that someone stated the idea of freezing jugs of water! I live alone and don't have very much frozen foods. I have several jugs of water in my freezer. In the hot summer months I simply take out a jug, turn it upsidedown, and place it in my potted plants outside. The sun melts the ice & it waters my plant all day long. Many horticulture "shows" do this underneath some peat moss so their plants stay fresh for the weekend. Those same jugs of water have helped when the power goes out by keeping my freezer cold longer. It's saved my frozen foods through several hurricanes.
I prefer 2 liter soda bottles. They are stronger than biodegradable water jugs and safer than re-using milk jugs, if planning to drink melted ice water. After freezing them, I can lay them on their sides in my freezer. Further, I often use them when I need ice water to blanche vegetables or cool down a pot for the refrigerator. For example, put the pot in the sink and fill sink with cold water. Add an ice filled soda bottle to chill the water further. When done, wipe off the bottle & return to the freezer.
Thank you for the information. I can't believe it took me like 20 videos to find the exact and necessary information I was looking for. Great job for making it simple enough for everyone to understand. You're definitely in the right field of work.
We've survived extended power outages by running our generator only a few times a day - 2 hours in the morning, 2 at noon, and 3 or 4 at night. That allows us to keep the fridge/freezer cold, run the well pump, take showers, cook, etc. during those times. The wood stove keeps the house warm so we don't run the furnace. We went about a week this way and used less than 10 gal of gasoline.
Love the stretchy pants comment. We once lost power for 8 days during a hurricane.. and I had just bought a lot of meat about 3 days prior. I knew I was going to lose the meat so I started cooking it. No use wasting it so I shared with the cat.. I had a hard time getting him to eat Friskies again, lol.
Provident Preppers, thank you for the freezer video. In my opinion, freezers are like a hedge against the rising inflation and shortages. Every time I add food to my freezer I feel like I'm making a deposit at the bank. Food spoilage would be as if my bank had been robbed. I have a solar setup on my house that has a large LG battery backup. Also, I had my solar company install an EMP device on my system. To better protect my food supply, I put my two freezers on separate house circuits. Once again, thank you for your insights and may God Bless you and your families.
This is such an important topic. So many people think in terms of SHTF, but there are everyday things that cause you to lose your freezer. For me, it was shutting the freezer door but having things shift that popped the door open. I lost everything. Now, I have one of those freezer monitors that sends a message to my phone if the temp goes above 20F degrees. I also got a portable freezer cooler. I can use it for camping, but usually keep it plugged in for things that can survive without cooling (bread, nuts, etc), but those would be replaced with the expensive proteins if my main freezer goes out. Sort of like the multiple freezer idea here. I’ve found it to be very reliable - going on 6 mos.
One lesson I learned from my husband .. you can cook a huge pot of meat and veges , eat what you want, then cover it with a good layer of fat or lard, it solidifies and seals the contents from any air .. it preserves it. This would work well in ‘cooler’ weather not so well in our Australian summers as the fat must solidify over the whole surface. When you want to re-heat it, break the fat, put it aside, heat up the stew, eat what you want, add a bit more meat and veges, cook, then replace the fat while stew is still hot. He lived out in the country trapping rabbits with his family without any power, and this is how they ate, and ate well.
I live in a cold climate so my hot garage is very seldom hot, but my garage is great in the winter as that is when I have more power outages. This was an excellent video! Thank You
Hey Auntie Pam...good point...in the cooler climates, and especially in winter, the freezer in a garage requires less energy to stay cold. Thanks for being part of the solution!
I plan to put the freezer content in a large can with a secure lid outside in the snow until power comes back!!! If the power doesn’t come, before the thaw, my smoker and the pressure canners are lined up to go to work!!! I invested in dual fuel, propane/gas generator to keep things cool until I get it all preserved and to charge the Jackery when there is no sun light! Excellent video!!!
My freezer runs off my Titan solar generator 24/7. The solar generator has never gone below 89% charge. But I haven't had 5 days of straight clouds yet. So it does require monitoring. It is really helpful that you are showing real life use. I have the same temp monitor.
I have the frozen water jugs in my freezer, but we also have a generator. 2 years ago we lost everything we had in the freezer and refrigerator when we were without power for 4.5 days do to a tornado that went through out city. The kicker was that our area didn't have any tornado damage. On the first night the power came on for 30 seconds and then was out for 4 more days. That taught us to keep water in the freezers. It also taught our son a lesson, as he had college assignments that were still due on a certain date to be prepared- he went and purchased the largest portable generator he could find that would power a freezer, refrigerator and and the internet connection. The result, we haven't had to use it yet, even in winter.
I have always kept the bottom of mine lined with frozen 2 liter bottles of water - bonus water if ever needed for a long term outage that I hope to never need and it helps too so that I can reach to the bottom of my food. Short person struggles. If I ever have any empty spots I will plug them with 1 liter bottles of water to keep it full.
IMPORTANT: the compressor will draw much more (often 10x more) power on startup than in steady-state. Your backup power supply needs to have sufficient surge capacity for 10x the reading on your power meter (i.e. 700W for junior, 900W for dad per the figures cited in the video). I tried to get away with a Bluetti AC50s rated for 300W, but my small chest freezer (60~80W steady state) surges to 600W when the compressor starts. I bit the bullet and upgraded to the AC200max, which handles the surge easily. Before you commit to a battery system for the express purpose of sustaining your freezer, be sure it can handle 10x the measured power.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I love my Kill a Watt meter. The best $20 I’ve ever spent. Thanks for covering this topic again. Love the wireless thermometer. No need to open to check temps and bonus there is an alarm you can set to warn you if the temp increases above certain temp. 👍👍
Great video guys, right up my alley with my two chest freezers. I love that temp gauge, will get one of those soon. Nice to know a bigger power unit like that might do the trick in a pinch. Although my main way to "protect" my frozen food is to not have to freeze so much with my dehydrated ground beef hack saving my having to get two more chest freezers, oldest meat is at 8 months now, and still super good. Meat is on sale this week, so will be stocking up again. Course if funds and space were no object i'd like to have two more and a fuel genny to have just in case, but that'll have to wait till I get out of the apartment. Honk for those truckers up here in the great white north & you guys are having a convoy going across the USA, soon too!! Many Blessings!!
Can you please tell what your dehydrating hack is for ground beef? I've been dehydrating all kinds of veggies for a year now, but never saw any info on doing so w/ meat like this. Please N thank you in advance 🙏
@@jcrsh1638 Sure, I got it from this video th-cam.com/video/WhTqUQQtUuE/w-d-xo.html on the Cairn of Dunn Croft YT channel I use a cast iron pan, just cause thats what i have, the boiling water step after its cooked is critical, I forgot once and just used hot water to rise off the meat and those few packs did start to get mold. so make sure you have plenty of boiling water on hand for that step. I usually cook @ 25 lbs, 2.5 lbs at a time (makes a day of it) Then I put it on two big metal oven drip pan type trays in my oven and dehydrate it @ 165 F. A couple twists I do is I dehydrate it for longer @ 18 -24hrs & ( at your own risk) I put a tablespoon of bleach into the boiling water just before i dump it in the bowl (@12 lbs cause thats how big my bowl is) cooked ground beef to make sure any surface bugs that may cause mold are killed off. You don;t have to do that step, I have some I didnt, I bagged back in July thats still good, my oldest meat is @ 10 mo old (I eat it every so often, so the stuff from may, june is all gone) and it's all perfectly fine. Where I plan to mylar bag some of it for long storage thats why i do that extra bleach step thats not in the video, but again since its YT, proceed at ur own risk. It's let me put @ two 11cu ft freezers worth of meat out in a shelf stable format, so its worked well for me. Now that its getting warmer, I'll be doing more (one downside of the frying pan is all the water from cooking it, goes into the house, so best to have open windows or a dehumidifier going when you do a lot of it0. I've found it's a game changer for long term food storage to be able to add meat to the equation and not have to go the jerky/pemmican route. Oh yeah, have some jars handy when you do it and you can save all that rendered tallow as it cooks off, I usually get @ 2-3 spaghetti sauce jars full of it when doing 25 lbs(medium grind), like ghee and coconut oil, it keeps about forever, once you collect it, melt it again and filter all the crumbly bits out though, not sure how long it will store with those in there, they might go off. either way It's bonus fats that usually you would just get rid of. I usually use some of it when im adding the beef to chili or soups, etc anyway and it kind of puts them back together again^^. Good luck, with the coming hikes in corn/gas/fertilizer prices beef will be crazy expensive next year, so whatever you can put away now will be a blessing. Let me know how it goes for you XD.
@@goofyroofy Thank you so much for taking time to write back to me-I really appreciate the time you took in your added instructions. I will for sure let you know how this turns out! I'm hoping to try a small batch from our reserves very soon-😁
I've got plans to do a couple things... generator w/ fuel, solar generator, Camper freezer. OR... worse case if it looks like it might be longer outage... start canning like crazy. I have propane stoves for this. Yikes. Thanks for teaching people... there will be hard times ahead and we have to think of these things.
After the Texas power debacle in 2021, I saved up and just bought an eco flow Delta Pro. It was pricey and maybe overkill. Better to have the power and not need it than get caught in a prolonged power outage again. Once was enough for me.
A power invertor and extension cords, you can run one freezer or refrigerator for a couple hours from your car battery, you can pull the car out of the garage (for fume safety) to feed continuously thru or re charge the car battery so you never run the battery too low! Every couple hours move to a different appliance. Make sure all other appliances are turned off while targeting one to recover or use. In my case my furnace with the auto spark and fan, I'm considering including it in my couple of hours sequence. Running it even a couple hours a day for heat could be precious. And turn off furnace auto run fan setting as well. You must monitor the surge amount to start each appliance so you can run one, then a second one during the same time period, if you have enough surplus amps after the first appliance.. Never have 2 appliances start at once, the compound surge is too much for that to handle without very big batteries.******* I suggest a written log of what you do when and know the amps (or watts x volts)and surge for each appliance. That can be estimated online, look up specific appliances norms for their surge. Knowing this kept in writing ahead of when or if ever needed, is essential for managing. A timer is also helpful, even if just the alarm setting on a battery powered alarm clock. Just make a habit of keeping your gas tank in your vehicle(s) full. And perhaps some storage gas as well. Mike please check this and perhaps do a video on this. People who can't afford the power stations can benefit from this information. It is a less expensive option. To go a week or more instead of 2 days could be very valuable.
Thanks for your comments...not sure what size inverter you could use with a car...great research project! Those with electric cars have a crazy amount storage, especially with some solar to add to the mix. Keep making great progress!
We also use jugs of frozen water, both for filling up the freezer, keeping it cold in a power outage, and for ice in a cooler. During long summer power outages we have a gas generator and we alternate using it on our freezer and our kitchen refrigerator/freezer.
I fill the freezer with water bags ,at night I place 2 in fridge to keep body of fridge colder,run my generator about 10 hrs, off at night, glad to hear that 25 , I been staying around 20. So doing it right
@@JonathanBJones I've now turned my small unused chest freezer in the garage into a safe food storage container. I can pack away boxes of pasta rice and beans without the worry of mice getting at it. It can also be turned on if needed. Thanks for all your hard work.
So nice to see Provident Prepper Jr. You should do a video showing flashbacks of the kids when they were little. I love the one when you did your no heat experiment and they were all in the tent together.
Thermal buffering for the win (keeping it full of frozen stuff, even if thats water) after far too many freezer and power failures (including some that happened while we were away) i learned to freeze a jug of water and then, once it was frozen, to put a clean coin on top of the ice. if the ice melts the coin sinks.... that way if the power does go out, you have a "at a glance" of how much thawing happens, AND if it thaws and re freezes you know you had a thaw.... (back in the day a friend of mine got food poisoning from frozen food that had thawed and re frozen...)
Thanks for speaking my language (science lol)! And all of those were reasons I bought a chest freezer. For my job I work with the other side of the temperature scale and use steam table data for efficiency and fluid/thermal dynamics. Same principles, but adding heat rather than taking it away. Another great vid. Thanks guys!!!
Ha ha! Stretchy pants!!! Such a fabulous invitation! Good info guys. I mostly depend on our generators. But One thing we invested in was severely really good Yeti coolers, we can pack them tight and seal closed if it’s winter, outside goes the frozen foods, summer, they keep stuff frozen for many many days! If you are looking for a more budget friendly option Arctic makes great alternatives to the Yeti.
Thanks for all the great ideas to keep the freezers freezing. You guys were great!!! Gotta get us the temp monitors and the frozen jugs were a wonderful item to have in freezers.
Wow! If I'd known that little Jackery could handle running small chest freezer like mine, I would have plugged it into my EcoFlow Delta which is triple the size. Thanks for that info. As it turned out just having a full chest freezer probably is what saved the food. There were also many freezer packs stuffed in here and there. I also covered the lid of the freezer with blankets to provide more insulation.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a science class. That graph and explanation really helped me understand the importance of staying below freezing. Thank you
Great tips! You can also buy an extension cord that has a car adapter plug located at one end and a female connector on the other end. I bought one that is 12-feet long. Our car sits on the driveway which is near a window. During a power outage, we could place the freezer next to that particular window, plug the freezer cord into the female end of the extension cord and then plug the end with the car adapter plug into the power port inside the car. We own two cars, so if one runs out of gas, we can park the other car next to that window (or even next to a different window to connect something else. Any window of the house will work as long as a car can be parked close to it and the freezer placed as close to that window as possible. It might require removing food from the freezer until it is light enough to move to that spot, but that shouldn't take very long, especially if the freezer is a small chest freezer/fridge or whatever. We always make sure we have two very large, thick-walled Styrofoam coolers on hand in case we need to empty a freezer. We got the big coolers from our hospital pharmacy, (where I worked for 32 years) which usually disposes of those coolers after they check in their drug shipment. The dietary/cafeteria department also receives huge coolers when they order frozen foods. If you are lucky, you can find some near the loading dock behind the hospital. Our small chest freezer has to be defrosted manually, so they come in handy for getting that done without having to worry about food spoilage/thawing. We also toss in some plastic freezer bricks. The coolers can also be placed inside freezers to provide an additional wall of insulation. During one Thanksgiving holiday, we placed a whole frozen turkey inside one of those big coolers and set the cooler on our deck, thinking we could thaw it that way. Plus, our fridge was too-crowded with other food to thaw the turkey in the fridge. After 3 days, the turkey in the big cooler was still frozen! When we aren't using them, we use them to store cooler packs (freezer bricks), extra ice-trays and jugs of water. But, they can be used to store whatever you want. One time, I used them to store extra Sherpa blankets I bought on sale at Costco for $10. We gave them to friends at Christmas. For Christmas's after that, we gave them different survival supplies, such as headlamps, solar-powered items, batteries, 6-hr tealights, pocket warmers, Cocoa Powder, Coffee, etc. It is our way of helping them to get ready so they won't be banging on our door if, or when, the grid goes down.
Some cars do have standard household outlets that can be used for small loads, or you can use the cigarette lighter plug to charge most power stations...generally when the car is being used as you will drain the battery on the car if the car is not recharging. People with electric cars can often access the energy from the large storage batteries. Some of the small car inverters could provide some temporary power, but again standard car batteries will need to be recharged. Thanks for your comments and for being part of the solution!
@@debbiecurtis4021 Most definitely! Fortunately, the window only needs to be opened wide enough to accommodate the width of the cord. Plus, the exhaust pipe is located at the tail end of the car (at least 12 feet away from the cracked open window). We have carbon monoxide detectors; so to be on the safe side, we would definitely place one near the open window. Thanks for the warning. 🙂
Your Right Lab MomOF2, I also have chest and upright freezer. But I am not sure if anyone mentioned this. I live in Southern AZ & to help with keeping things cool, it does take up some space, but I will keep (2) 24 Packs of Water in the very Bottom of the Freezers & then put the food on top. Don't know if someone in the comments mentioned that.
Super helpful video. Thank you. I've done the frozen jug thing for years. Glad to see someone else doing this. I am gonna test my stand up freezer to see how much I need to run it. Gonna get one of those freezer alarms.
Funnily enough I just bought a book this afternoon called Agricultural Stockpiling and just as the notification for your video popped up I was reading the chapter on salting food - there the tip was given when the freezer fails and defrosting the Freezer and thus the food cannot be prevented from preserving meat, by salting it to stop the spoilage process; the meat stays fresh for quite a while. If all else fails, I don't think that's a bad idea. Sorry if that is somehow incomprehensible, English is a foreign language for me and Google translator seems to be producing a strange sentence structure. Edit: salting in means curing, of course - I couldn't think of the term yesterday. Since salt is extremely cheap, it may be worth storing larger quantities.
Perfect timing! And that is another video that would be fun to do. That is a old-time real-world way of getting things done, but not many people today know how to do it. Thanks for your comments! Keep being part of the solution!!
Thanks for this great advice! Just ordered the energy monitor and the freezer temp device. We have a small chest freezer in the basement that is full, in part because of bottles of water.
My plan is to can everything if there is more than a few hours of power outage. I have a small chest freezer, and the fridge freezer. I dont have them crammed full, but i do have ground meat & strawberries in the chest freezer. I would do the strawberries first, because they will thaw faster. Then i will partally cook the burger & hot pack it. For the fridge stuff, i recently bought a mini fridge that takes less than 150w. It is large enough for milk, eggs & leftovers. I will run it off solar/battery bank. I will still have enough juice left to run my other kitchen appliances as needed. Not ideal, but its what i could afford and how my apartment is setup. I have 3 25w amorphus panels hung in a southern window. They are not visible to passers by this way, but do a good job charging.
I agree around 25 to 22 degs ~ Also more you can keep your freezer pack. The less energy it uses ! Mine are pack tight. This also cuts down on freezer burn
For the reasons mentioned above, I used to keep gallon jugs of water in my chest freezers, then I decided to replace some of them with large jugs of olive oil because olive oil is denser and will stay frozen longer and provide much needed calories.
@@brokenpencil57 Depends on the type of oil. Some oils float on water because their molecules are larger. Try comparing the actual weight of a gallon of olive oil to that of a gallon of water. (I was told this but haven't actually done it, thus you may still be correct.)
@@hottuna7 Hey, scientist here, glad to help... Floating has everything to do with density, nothing to do with molecule size. Olive oil is about 0.9 g/cc compared to water at 1.0 g/cc (so less dense means oils float). More to the thread topic: is Specific Heat. Olive oil is 2.0 J/g°C vs water at 4.1 J/g°C, so water holds (or releases) twice as much heat and is the highest heat capacity liquid of all (excepting exotic mixtures of water & methylic alcohol). Some think that antifreeze is better but it is worse than pure water (for removing heat) but is used in auto because it lowers the freezing point well. Olive oil does freeze, around 37°F, depending on variety, and contains a bunch of food calories (actually kilocalories) so good for staying alive, but hopefully you have some hard bread, hot tuna, cheese and wine as well.
I use 2 lit coke bottles (my grand daughter used to devour the stuff ugh) and saved the bottles for me .. winter is approaching here (Australia) but as I live in the tropics, we have to be watchful all year round as our winters rarely go lower than maybe 10*. We try to keep my car full of fuel as that would run the generator for a few weeks or more if we only run it a few hours a day. The trick is to only open it when necessary and as you said, take what you need for a few days. Out ‘Genny’’ will run our 2 big fridges and chest freezer plus lights etc while we have fuel. Hopefully by then the fridges at least will be empty and the freezer well on it’s way. Then we will look at our stash of dry goods. Thank you for your helpful video, much appreciated. The Sunshine State, Queensland. 🌻
We are doing well where we are, but others down south in Gympie, Maryborough, Toowoomba and Brisbane not so good. The rain system dumps a huge amount of rain, goes out to sea, sits there and gathers momentum, then comes back to where it was before and drops another downpour. It eventually moved down Accross the border into New South Wales and now they are having floods down there like has never been experienced before. The Aussie spirit is resilient but this, after covid, will be hard to recover from. If you pray, pray for those in these flood ravaged areas .. whole towns have gone under water up to the eaves of the houses. The water breached the levey and it happened so quickly, people were sitting on their roof tops for over 24 hours before they could be rescued. 🌻
Great tips and explanation. I use frozen water jugs all the time in the summer months for my coolers, so easy to maintain. We just bought an upright freezer only for ease of finding the food when we open the door. So much easier than digging through our chest freezer although we kept it for back up...
Hey CB...you are right on that. During "normal" times the extra power is not a huge deal. It becomes a huge deal when you are having to generate it one way or the other. Thanks for your comment...and thanks for being part of the solution!
I’ve had this thought about storing foods in the freezer. Freezer burn is caused by the loss of water to air and by repeated freezing and thawing. Say one was to freeze items inside blocks of ice. The water in the food wouldn’t escape to the air. Also, the surfaces of the ice would melt before the food if there was an outage. One could remove the top of milk jug, place food in jug, fill with water, freeze, stack jugs in freezer. Haven’t tried it, just thinking.
I forgot but back in the 50's my dad would take the half gallon square paper milk cartons and put the cleaned trout in them, fill with water and put in the freezer, worked great.
H'mm. With three freezers one may wish to prioritize the movement of extra frozen jugs from #3 freezer to another one to boost its support. Note: It also could be a nutritious drink, if not just water.
Love your channel and because of it we have bought a 7cf chest freezer, a duel temp monitor in the last 2 weeks. Question, we have a 500 watt solar generator, will it run the new freezer for a while?? Thanks in advance.
Hey Butch...it is likely that your power station will run the freezer. A couple of issues to consider. First, I am guessing the 500 watts is the output of the station...pretty sure it is? Second, how much storage does the power station have? I am guessing that it has somewhere around 500 watt-hours of storage, but it could be different? Third, how much solar can you input, and do you have the solar panels to feed the station? I am guessing you can input up to 100 watts...just a guess. If you can output 500 watts, that is usually sufficient to cover startup draw (usually 3 to 5 times the standard draw) for a small freezer...you would need to try running it to verify that. Most small freezers draw about 100 watts (plus or minus some). If you do have 500 watt-hours of storage, actual usable energy is probably about 400 watt-hours, or perhaps slightly more, in which case, you could run your freezer for about 4 hours of run time...not too much, but it might get you through a day or 2 if you leave the freezer closed, and depending on how much solar you can input, and if you can charge while you are powering the freezer (some units allow that and some don''t. If using the freezer monitors, you can control how often you run the freezer, and maximize the capability of the power station. While a larger power station would be nicer, you can likely get some functionality with the one you have. You may want to purchase an energy consumption meter which would help in understanding your load(s). A great next step would be to charge the power station and run the freezer for a while to get a feel for your specific situation. Using the freezer monitor, you can practice what you would do in a crisis. Figure out how you will charge with solar and how you can maximize your possibilities. Connect back if you have other questions...might be easiest on our contact page at our website. If you do that, tell me the make and model of the power station and we can explore more details. Thanks for being part of the solution!
Thank you for the tip and that is a problem when you live in an apartment iso i was thinking if there is small portable freezers that runs on batteries
Hey my friend...they do make DC appliances that you can run off a battery bank...generally 12 volt. Definitely a challenge. Thanks for being part of the solution...keep blessing lives!
Some good ideas and info here that I can use. I do have the remote sensors with alarms already. For power, I have a small 4000 watt (continuous) inverter generator and 7-9KW of solar power for the day. The solar is grid tied, but I can disconnect from the grid at the main breaker and then the generator will provide the required 240 Volts to activate the solar. Other than having to keep the generator gassed up every 12 hours, I am good for many days as long ads I change the generator oil every 4 days.
I did not know that about upright compared to chest. Great video. I'll have to try and change my house around so I can have a chest freezer. I like the solar gen stuff, but do I have the budget to warrent such a device that I may not use 😒.....
@@JonathanBJones It is something I must consider, but my day to day living budget is extreamly tight. After watching some other videos you've done, I've come to the conclusion that my next prep effort, energy and finance should be directed to water. Then, maybe it'll be back up power.
I have freezers, but, that is not my long term storage. That is done in glass jars (home canning). You have 2 days to cook & can any meats in your freezers. Previously frozen veggies & fruits do not can well.
Very informative video indeed. I had already known everything you two covered but the way you guy's presented it made me remember things I had not thought about for some time. So all in all I like this a lot. I have 3 , about 5-7 cu ft, chest freezers, one pretty full , the other two not so. The full in the house and the other two in the garage. I am going to combine the two in the garage to one (the newest one) because watching your video woke that forgotten point up in my brain (: Good Job Fella's ! I also have a new Duel Fuel 6500 watt generator in case &%it hits the fan and I need it. Or the power goes out.
Hey Nancy...there are several good power station brands out there...and there are a lot that might be good...seems lots of players in this game...many of the names new and some I can't even pronounce. Thus far, I like EcoFlow, Geneverse, Jackery, and Inergy. For running a fridge or freezer, I would go with a unit that has 1500 watt-hours or more of storage. You can get by with something smaller if you have the ability to input lots of solar (400-800 watts) and you have lots of consistent sun. Each station has pros and cons...some have longer lifetimes (number of charge cycles...some as low as 500 up to 3000 or more charge/discharge 80% cycles), some have better solar input, etc. EcoFlow makes the Delta Pro that has 3600 watt-hours of storage...lots of capacity and solar input. Prices are obviously higher on the larger units. Make a little list of your critical loads, then take a look at some websites and see if there are a couple units that appeal to you. I will be happy to give my opinion...just connect on our contact page. Thanks for being part of the solution!
Appreciate this coverage of maintaining power , for Freezers and Fridges.. 😍👍💓💗💖 Can you do a comparison video on Offgrid power source, with Freezer Vs Frid 4:40 ...Do you ever use Ice packs in the freezer during power outages..prolong the cold in the freezer. Loving your Science Perspectives with Prepping...There is no Prepping Channel that covers the Science lessons with Prepping.....Well done Junior 10:26 ....We have ice boxes outside..that go in the potato cellar outside....
Hey Kanzee...yes, Ice packs, jugs, or whatever really help. Thanks for your comments! Give me a bit more information on the comparison video you are interested in...we might be able to do something interesting. Perhaps connect with us on our contact page. Thanks!!
I nice way to find out if your power goes out when you're gone is to freeze a clear container vertical with a penny in it if it drops to the bottom the food probably won't be safe.
I purchased the wireless monitors some time ago but had difficulty with battery longevity for the transmitters inside the freezers. I used ones recommended for a freezer, but still poor results. Hopefully the technology has caught up with this, so do you have a recommendation for battery brand and how much ‘life’ do you get out of your batteries. Thanks, and a very good informational video.
Great vid. Tks for the wifi temp indicator. Luv that. Something I learned: place 1 large ice cube in a zip lock baggie and tape it to the underside of the lid so it doesn't get lost in the bottom of the freezer. ...A few years back, I returned home after a week vacation to find all my clocks blinking. I had no way of knowing how long the power had been off. The freezer contents had since re-frozen. I worried if it was safe. Now, if I return home to find the ice in the baggie still in "cube" form I know that it didn't melt meaning the food didn't thaw and it's safe. But if I find the contents of the baggie no longer in cube form then I know to be concerned.
What if you are without power for weeks, do you have a video on how to hook up a solar panel system that will run a couple of freezers and a large frig? I don't know how it works or how to put it together, I need a guide for solar, Thanks 😊
I have a few ideas on trying to save the food in the freezer but my main plan once it starts to thaw I will can like crazy until I have no more jars and lids. We do have a generator but you can only store so much gas before it goes bad. If anyone has a way of extending the life of gas I would sure like to know. I like the idea of putting water bottles in the freezer. Thanks for another great video.
Gas.... One is to keep your gasoline rotated. Buy the grade of gas that your vehicle(s) use. Periodically, empty your gas containers into your vehicle and refill them. Rotating your fuel storage is just as important as rotating your short term food storage. Next, is to buy ethanol free gas for storage. Gasoline ethanol mixture has a very short shelf life when compared to gasoline that doesn't contain it. You can add Stabil gasoline stabilizer to newly purchased stored gasoline. This additive extends storage life to about 2 years. There may be other stabilizers on the market. If so, I haven't used them so I can't comment. Hope this helps.
"can like crazy". At one time I considered this approach until I thought it through. With the grid down and no fuel for the generator, how long will it take you to clean out the freezer, before the food spoils? Do you have a non-electric energy source for canning? Do you have enough fuel for it? Years ago I switched from an electric kitchen stove to propane because hurricanes and ice storms have taken out the power in this area for 2+ weeks on several occasions. Our generator can run on gasoline or propane from our bulk propane tank. Will you have enough water that's need for the canning processes? Washing jars, filling applicable canners, adding liquids to the jars, and cleanup afterwards? If you have a well, will your generator power your well pump and your other needs? If you're on city water, do you have sufficient alternative plans, if the disaster takes out city services? Finally, do you have enough time between the time the food in your freezer thaws and the time it spoils? That is the factor that led us to reduce, considerably, reliance on our freezers. (Side by side & an upright) Thought about it yesterday, as I was raw packing Boston butts for canning. Just how much time it took to wash the jars, cut up the meat, load the canner and wait till it exhausted plus 75 minutes under pressure, then the cool down. That was just 20 lbs of meat. ONE canner load. (Wish I'd actually tracked the 2 loads I did yesterday.) Today, I try to limit what's in our freezers. Can or dehydrate most of our fresh foods, where practical. We do keep some foods for the grill, roasting and steaming. That quantity is relatively low, so it can be cooked, canned (if applicable) not a major loss, if it has to be discarded. A few Cornish hens, chicken leg quarters, hamburger and broccoli, for example. And a few things like ice cream, frozen slices of sweet potato pie and such. Our freezer is also storage space for lard, tallow and ghee, which are shelf stable, if the power fails. Freezer storage prolongs their shelf life. Our freezer is a holding tank for foods purchased on sale that will be either canned or dehydrated. One example are the turkeys I canned last November when they were on sale for $.29/lb. It's also storage for 2 liter soda bottles filled with water for "block" ice. There's room in it, when I remove a few soda bottles to freeze a 20 lb bag of rice for a few days. Easy to return them to the freezer afterwards to freeze again. In closing, you mentioned jars. Have you calculated how many jars and lids you would need to can the contents of your freezer, if the need arises? A general calculation: A pint is a pound, world around. Naturally this varies with the density of foods. Yet, it can give a ballpark figure. Twenty pounds of Boston butt will yield about 17-18 pints after bone & excess fat is removed. Do you have enough jars to make the option of canning practical for what's in your freezer? Just some food for thought, that I hope might help. I went through that exercise about 3 years ago. FWIW, I'm glad I did.
the solar battery power station is as good as the recharge time and if you have 2 of them the watts using to run till the other is ready to change off. more than 1/4 inch of ice buildup will raise the internal temperature by insulating the cooling coils so defrosting will need to happen.
That Jackery 1000 will not run a freezer for days. A few hours is more likely. Then you need to worry about how long it will take to charge the unit. I have a shed with a French door fridge and an upright freezer. It’s connected to six 100ah batteries. They are connected with an automatic transfer switch if the power fails. The batteries are being charged with two 360watt panels. I’ve ran test to see how everything can keep up. Everything ran fine. You need to definitely run your test now and not during an emergency. You don’t want to find out the things you got won’t work.
How to save frozen foods and meats from spoiling in a grid down situation. Table salt: rub copious amounts of salt on as much meat as you can, then store it in a cold dry dark place. I would recommend storing inside sealed five gallon buckets. Smoking; Dehydration; Freeze Drying; Canning; Sealed Mylar bags; sealed five gallon buckets; vacuum sealed jars
I have ice in mine for the same reason, but i don't plan on powering my freezer and my fridge I plan to rotate then into a couple coolers I saw the thing about using salt water in the jugs that takes them out of the drinking water plan but they keep the cooler colder longer ?? .. I haven't experimented with that one yet
Jonathon, I recently bought two of those fridge/freezer monitors with the alarm. I followed the instructions exactly, but the numbers showing on the outside of the fridge are not the numbers I set as minimum and maximum. I have only set up one alarm sensor so far (fridge). Will the numbers show correctly after I set up the second alarm for the drawer freezer below? Thank you in advance for your reply! I watch all your videos and you, Kylene and all the family have been so helpful! God bless you all 🙌
Yes...they should all work well when you finish setting them up. Your minimum and maximum will generally be different from the inside temperature since you are just telling the monitor to let you know if the temperature gets too high or low. If your temperature gets too low, you are using more energy than you need to, and you may be freezing things in your fridge. If the temperature gets too high, you know that you have a problem, or possibly that someone put something really warm inside that is heating the interior, at least temporarily. Generally, the interior temperature is somewhere close to the middle of your minimum and maximum. Hope that helps...sounds like you are making great strides...Keep it up!
@@JonathanBJones Thank you so much for getting back to me! I haven't set the second alarm for the bottom freezer (Maytag) yet and don't even know if this device works with fridge on top and freezer drawer on the bottom. I am telling myself to just follow the instructions and try not to pay too much attention to numbers showing on the device. You and Kylene are such sweet people and I have enjoyed watching your youtube videos so much!
Great tip with the remote thermometers. I never considered it despite knowing they existed for indoor outdoor. I've been considering a power station but it would be woefully insufficient for outages lasting a week or longer such as we have following a hurricane. A thermometer is a great starting point as I will be able to drop the temps enough to increase the time before going over 32 degree. I'm curious if some form of thermal blanket that would repel heat energy would be of any benefit. The only "covers" I have seen are simply for keeping dust and moisture from the freezer but not to add an additional thermal barrier. Any thoughts?
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Great video! I have both...a chest and upright freezer. I also have the jackery 1000. Here’s a great story for you: We recently moved. We literally loaded our chest freezer (full of food) on the moving truck. We plugged it into the jackery during the day while we drove. At night we would recharge the jackery in the hotel room. Next morning plugged the freezer back into the jackery. We did this for three days on a cross country move..worked like a charm!
Great to hear! And no gas fumes!!! God bless solar generators!
That is a sweet story...I love it!! Thanks for being part of the solution!!
Brilliant!
Question, how does the jackery do if you need it daily say during a power outage to supply power/ charge it,vto supply your freezer?
I'm so glad that someone stated the idea of freezing jugs of water! I live alone and don't have very much frozen foods. I have several jugs of water in my freezer. In the hot summer months I simply take out a jug, turn it upsidedown, and place it in my potted plants outside. The sun melts the ice & it waters my plant all day long. Many horticulture "shows" do this underneath some peat moss so their plants stay fresh for the weekend. Those same jugs of water have helped when the power goes out by keeping my freezer cold longer. It's saved my frozen foods through several hurricanes.
I like that idea for watering plants.
Deedie...thanks for your comments...well done! Great idea for others! Thanks for being part of the solution!
I prefer 2 liter soda bottles. They are stronger than biodegradable water jugs and safer than re-using milk jugs, if planning to drink melted ice water. After freezing them, I can lay them on their sides in my freezer. Further, I often use them when I need ice water to blanche vegetables or cool down a pot for the refrigerator. For example, put the pot in the sink and fill sink with cold water. Add an ice filled soda bottle to chill the water further. When done, wipe off the bottle & return to the freezer.
Thank you for the information. I can't believe it took me like 20 videos to find the exact and necessary information I was looking for. Great job for making it simple enough for everyone to understand. You're definitely in the right field of work.
Glad it was helpful!
We've survived extended power outages by running our generator only a few times a day - 2 hours in the morning, 2 at noon, and 3 or 4 at night. That allows us to keep the fridge/freezer cold, run the well pump, take showers, cook, etc. during those times. The wood stove keeps the house warm so we don't run the furnace. We went about a week this way and used less than 10 gal of gasoline.
Exactly right...you have this figured out! If we are smart like you, we can get through the challenges we face. Thanks for being part of the solution!
Wait... it's cold outside and you found a way to keep food cold?
I have learned so much off your video!
Love the stretchy pants comment. We once lost power for 8 days during a hurricane.. and I had just bought a lot of meat about 3 days prior. I knew I was going to lose the meat so I started cooking it. No use wasting it so I shared with the cat.. I had a hard time getting him to eat Friskies again, lol.
Love it!! Thanks for being part of the solution!
Provident Preppers, thank you for the freezer video. In my opinion, freezers are like a hedge against the rising inflation and shortages. Every time I add food to my freezer I feel like I'm making a deposit at the bank. Food spoilage would be as if my bank had been robbed.
I have a solar setup on my house that has a large LG battery backup. Also, I had my solar company install an EMP device on my system. To better protect my food supply, I put my two freezers on separate house circuits. Once again, thank you for your insights and may God Bless you and your families.
I think this is the most helpful clip I have seen on freezer efficiency
Your son did a great job! I look forward to seeing more videos with his scientific explanations.
Thanks...he is quite talented...I'll pass that along. Thanks for your comment and for being part of the solution!
Amps are the biggest concern and no mention of it. Not very scientific 😲
Nice to meet your son, thank you guys for the helpful information, take care and God bless
Thanks for your comments...keep being a part of the solution!
We’ve always kept frozen milk jugs in the freezer for that very purpose. We even have a contingency fund frozen in a block of ice.
Love it...thanks for being part of the solution!
Cold hard cash lol
This is such an important topic. So many people think in terms of SHTF, but there are everyday things that cause you to lose your freezer. For me, it was shutting the freezer door but having things shift that popped the door open. I lost everything. Now, I have one of those freezer monitors that sends a message to my phone if the temp goes above 20F degrees. I also got a portable freezer cooler. I can use it for camping, but usually keep it plugged in for things that can survive without cooling (bread, nuts, etc), but those would be replaced with the expensive proteins if my main freezer goes out. Sort of like the multiple freezer idea here. I’ve found it to be very reliable - going on 6 mos.
Hey Kristin...thanks for your contributions...you are blessing lives. Keep making progress!
One lesson I learned from my husband .. you can cook a huge pot of meat and veges , eat what you want, then cover it with a good layer of fat or lard, it solidifies and seals the contents from any air .. it preserves it. This would work well in ‘cooler’ weather not so well in our Australian summers as the fat must solidify over the whole surface. When you want to re-heat it, break the fat, put it aside, heat up the stew, eat what you want, add a bit more meat and veges, cook, then replace the fat while stew is still hot. He lived out in the country trapping rabbits with his family without any power, and this is how they ate, and ate well.
I live in a cold climate so my hot garage is very seldom hot, but my garage is great in the winter as that is when I have more power outages.
This was an excellent video! Thank You
Hey Auntie Pam...good point...in the cooler climates, and especially in winter, the freezer in a garage requires less energy to stay cold. Thanks for being part of the solution!
I plan to put the freezer content in a large can with a secure lid outside in the snow until power comes back!!! If the power doesn’t come, before the thaw, my smoker and the pressure canners are lined up to go to work!!! I invested in dual fuel, propane/gas generator to keep things cool until I get it all preserved and to charge the Jackery when there is no sun light! Excellent video!!!
My freezer runs off my Titan solar generator 24/7. The solar generator has never gone below 89% charge. But I haven't had 5 days of straight clouds yet. So it does require monitoring.
It is really helpful that you are showing real life use. I have the same temp monitor.
How many watts or panels do you have charging the Titan?
Well done...sounds like you are doing great things...keep it going!
I have the frozen water jugs in my freezer, but we also have a generator. 2 years ago we lost everything we had in the freezer and refrigerator when we were without power for 4.5 days do to a tornado that went through out city. The kicker was that our area didn't have any tornado damage. On the first night the power came on for 30 seconds and then was out for 4 more days. That taught us to keep water in the freezers. It also taught our son a lesson, as he had college assignments that were still due on a certain date to be prepared- he went and purchased the largest portable generator he could find that would power a freezer, refrigerator and and the internet connection. The result, we haven't had to use it yet, even in winter.
I am guessing you will use it in the future and will be thankful for it...way to go! Thanks for being part of the solution!
In addition to powering a fridge, freezer and internet connection, our generator is used to power a temporary a/c window unit for the food pantry.
I have always kept the bottom of mine lined with frozen 2 liter bottles of water - bonus water if ever needed for a long term outage that I hope to never need and it helps too so that I can reach to the bottom of my food. Short person struggles. If I ever have any empty spots I will plug them with 1 liter bottles of water to keep it full.
Well done...love the comment about short person struggles! Keep doing great things!
IMPORTANT: the compressor will draw much more (often 10x more) power on startup than in steady-state. Your backup power supply needs to have sufficient surge capacity for 10x the reading on your power meter (i.e. 700W for junior, 900W for dad per the figures cited in the video). I tried to get away with a Bluetti AC50s rated for 300W, but my small chest freezer (60~80W steady state) surges to 600W when the compressor starts. I bit the bullet and upgraded to the AC200max, which handles the surge easily. Before you commit to a battery system for the express purpose of sustaining your freezer, be sure it can handle 10x the measured power.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I love my Kill a Watt meter. The best $20 I’ve ever spent.
Thanks for covering this topic again.
Love the wireless thermometer. No need to open to check temps and bonus there is an alarm you can set to warn you if the temp increases above certain temp. 👍👍
You said it well...money well spent on both of them! Thanks for being part of the solution!
Great video guys, right up my alley with my two chest freezers. I love that temp gauge, will get one of those soon. Nice to know a bigger power unit like that might do the trick in a pinch. Although my main way to "protect" my frozen food is to not have to freeze so much with my dehydrated ground beef hack saving my having to get two more chest freezers, oldest meat is at 8 months now, and still super good. Meat is on sale this week, so will be stocking up again.
Course if funds and space were no object i'd like to have two more and a fuel genny to have just in case, but that'll have to wait till I get out of the apartment. Honk for those truckers up here in the great white north & you guys are having a convoy going across the USA, soon too!! Many Blessings!!
Hey Friend...thanks for your comments. We appreciate all the good you are doing...keep it up!
The US America truckers freedom convoy is moving.
Can you please tell what your dehydrating hack is for ground beef? I've been dehydrating all kinds of veggies for a year now, but never saw any info on doing so w/ meat like this. Please N thank you in advance 🙏
@@jcrsh1638 Sure, I got it from this video th-cam.com/video/WhTqUQQtUuE/w-d-xo.html on the Cairn of Dunn Croft YT channel I use a cast iron pan, just cause thats what i have, the boiling water step after its cooked is critical, I forgot once and just used hot water to rise off the meat and those few packs did start to get mold. so make sure you have plenty of boiling water on hand for that step. I usually cook @ 25 lbs, 2.5 lbs at a time (makes a day of it) Then I put it on two big metal oven drip pan type trays in my oven and dehydrate it @ 165 F.
A couple twists I do is I dehydrate it for longer @ 18 -24hrs & ( at your own risk) I put a tablespoon of bleach into the boiling water just before i dump it in the bowl (@12 lbs cause thats how big my bowl is) cooked ground beef to make sure any surface bugs that may cause mold are killed off. You don;t have to do that step, I have some I didnt, I bagged back in July thats still good, my oldest meat is @ 10 mo old (I eat it every so often, so the stuff from may, june is all gone) and it's all perfectly fine.
Where I plan to mylar bag some of it for long storage thats why i do that extra bleach step thats not in the video, but again since its YT, proceed at ur own risk. It's let me put @ two 11cu ft freezers worth of meat out in a shelf stable format, so its worked well for me. Now that its getting warmer, I'll be doing more (one downside of the frying pan is all the water from cooking it, goes into the house, so best to have open windows or a dehumidifier going when you do a lot of it0. I've found it's a game changer for long term food storage to be able to add meat to the equation and not have to go the jerky/pemmican route.
Oh yeah, have some jars handy when you do it and you can save all that rendered tallow as it cooks off, I usually get @ 2-3 spaghetti sauce jars full of it when doing 25 lbs(medium grind), like ghee and coconut oil, it keeps about forever, once you collect it, melt it again and filter all the crumbly bits out though, not sure how long it will store with those in there, they might go off. either way It's bonus fats that usually you would just get rid of. I usually use some of it when im adding the beef to chili or soups, etc anyway and it kind of puts them back together again^^.
Good luck, with the coming hikes in corn/gas/fertilizer prices beef will be crazy expensive next year, so whatever you can put away now will be a blessing. Let me know how it goes for you XD.
@@goofyroofy Thank you so much for taking time to write back to me-I really appreciate the time you took in your added instructions. I will for sure let you know how this turns out! I'm hoping to try a small batch from our reserves very soon-😁
I've got plans to do a couple things... generator w/ fuel, solar generator, Camper freezer. OR... worse case if it looks like it might be longer outage... start canning like crazy. I have propane stoves for this. Yikes. Thanks for teaching people... there will be hard times ahead and we have to think of these things.
Hey Janet...there will be challenges, but you've got this...way to be part of the solution!
After the Texas power debacle in 2021, I saved up and just bought an eco flow Delta Pro. It was pricey and maybe overkill. Better to have the power and not need it than get caught in a prolonged power outage again. Once was enough for me.
Nicely done Garden Girl. They are a bit pricey, but what is your peace of mind worth? Thanks for being part of the solution!
A power invertor and extension cords, you can run one freezer or refrigerator for a couple hours from your car battery, you can pull the car out of the garage (for fume safety) to feed continuously thru or re charge the car battery so you never run the battery too low! Every couple hours move to a different appliance. Make sure all other appliances are turned off while targeting one to recover or use. In my case my furnace with the auto spark and fan, I'm considering including it in my couple of hours sequence. Running it even a couple hours a day for heat could be precious. And turn off furnace auto run fan setting as well. You must monitor the surge amount to start each appliance so you can run one, then a second one during the same time period, if you have enough surplus amps after the first appliance.. Never have 2 appliances start at once, the compound surge is too much for that to handle without very big batteries.*******
I suggest a written log of what you do when and know the amps (or watts x volts)and surge for each appliance. That can be estimated online, look up specific appliances norms for their surge. Knowing this kept in writing ahead of when or if ever needed, is essential for managing. A timer is also helpful, even if just the alarm setting on a battery powered alarm clock. Just make a habit of keeping your gas tank in your vehicle(s) full. And perhaps some storage gas as well. Mike please check this and perhaps do a video on this. People who can't afford the power stations can benefit from this information. It is a less expensive option. To go a week or more instead of 2 days could be very valuable.
Thanks for your comments...not sure what size inverter you could use with a car...great research project! Those with electric cars have a crazy amount storage, especially with some solar to add to the mix. Keep making great progress!
Thats what I have, can run off trctor or car battery
We also use jugs of frozen water, both for filling up the freezer, keeping it cold in a power outage, and for ice in a cooler. During long summer power outages we have a gas generator and we alternate using it on our freezer and our kitchen refrigerator/freezer.
Well done...You've got this!! Thanks for being part of the solution!
I fill the freezer with water bags ,at night I place 2 in fridge to keep body of fridge colder,run my generator about 10 hrs, off at night, glad to hear that 25 , I been staying around 20. So doing it right
Thoroughly enjoyed this educational video. You work great together. I've just ordered the wireless temperature alarm. Thanks
Thanks for your comments and for being part of the solution!
@@JonathanBJones I've now turned my small unused chest freezer in the garage into a safe food storage container. I can pack away boxes of pasta rice and beans without the worry of mice getting at it. It can also be turned on if needed.
Thanks for all your hard work.
So nice to see Provident Prepper Jr. You should do a video showing flashbacks of the kids when they were little. I love the one when you did your no heat experiment and they were all in the tent together.
Great memories....there are lots of them. Great idea for a video...Thanks...and thanks for being part of the solution!
Thermal buffering for the win (keeping it full of frozen stuff, even if thats water)
after far too many freezer and power failures (including some that happened while we were away) i learned to freeze a jug of water and then, once it was frozen, to put a clean coin on top of the ice. if the ice melts the coin sinks....
that way if the power does go out, you have a "at a glance" of how much thawing happens, AND if it thaws and re freezes you know you had a thaw....
(back in the day a friend of mine got food poisoning from frozen food that had thawed and re frozen...)
Great tip...thanks for being part of the solution!
Last week our electric company told us power would be out for 8 hours. Used a jackery for our fridge!
Doing great things...well done! Keep being part of the solution!
Thanks for speaking my language (science lol)! And all of those were reasons I bought a chest freezer. For my job I work with the other side of the temperature scale and use steam table data for efficiency and fluid/thermal dynamics. Same principles, but adding heat rather than taking it away.
Another great vid. Thanks guys!!!
Thanks for your comments...and thanks for being part of the solution!
Ha ha! Stretchy pants!!! Such a fabulous invitation! Good info guys. I mostly depend on our generators. But One thing we invested in was severely really good Yeti coolers, we can pack them tight and seal closed if it’s winter, outside goes the frozen foods, summer, they keep stuff frozen for many many days! If you are looking for a more budget friendly option Arctic makes great alternatives to the Yeti.
Hey Friend...thanks for your comments. Good ice chests are great investments...your advice is even better! Thanks for being part of the solution!
Thanks for all the great ideas to keep the freezers freezing. You guys were great!!! Gotta get us the temp monitors and the frozen jugs were a wonderful item to have in freezers.
Thanks for your comments...keep being part of the solution!
Thank you for sharing. Y'all are such a blessing
Thanks for your kindness...and thanks for being part of the solution!!
Wow! If I'd known that little Jackery could handle running small chest freezer like mine, I would have plugged it into my EcoFlow Delta which is triple the size. Thanks for that info. As it turned out just having a full chest freezer probably is what saved the food. There were also many freezer packs stuffed in here and there. I also covered the lid of the freezer with blankets to provide more insulation.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a science class. That graph and explanation really helped me understand the importance of staying below freezing. Thank you
Very educational and extremely useful information. Thank you, gentlemen.
Thanks for your comment! Keep being part of the solution!
Great tips! You can also buy an extension cord that has a car adapter plug located at one end and a female connector on the other end. I bought one that is 12-feet long. Our car sits on the driveway which is near a window. During a power outage, we could place the freezer next to that particular window, plug the freezer cord into the female end of the extension cord and then plug the end with the car adapter plug into the power port inside the car. We own two cars, so if one runs out of gas, we can park the other car next to that window (or even next to a different window to connect something else. Any window of the house will work as long as a car can be parked close to it and the freezer placed as close to that window as possible. It might require removing food from the freezer until it is light enough to move to that spot, but that shouldn't take very long, especially if the freezer is a small chest freezer/fridge or whatever. We always make sure we have two very large, thick-walled Styrofoam coolers on hand in case we need to empty a freezer. We got the big coolers from our hospital pharmacy, (where I worked for 32 years) which usually disposes of those coolers after they check in their drug shipment. The dietary/cafeteria department also receives huge coolers when they order frozen foods. If you are lucky, you can find some near the loading dock behind the hospital. Our small chest freezer has to be defrosted manually, so they come in handy for getting that done without having to worry about food spoilage/thawing. We also toss in some plastic freezer bricks. The coolers can also be placed inside freezers to provide an additional wall of insulation. During one Thanksgiving holiday, we placed a whole frozen turkey inside one of those big coolers and set the cooler on our deck, thinking we could thaw it that way. Plus, our fridge was too-crowded with other food to thaw the turkey in the fridge. After 3 days, the turkey in the big cooler was still frozen! When we aren't using them, we use them to store cooler packs (freezer bricks), extra ice-trays and jugs of water. But, they can be used to store whatever you want. One time, I used them to store extra Sherpa blankets I bought on sale at Costco for $10. We gave them to friends at Christmas. For Christmas's after that, we gave them different survival supplies, such as headlamps, solar-powered items, batteries, 6-hr tealights, pocket warmers, Cocoa Powder, Coffee, etc. It is our way of helping them to get ready so they won't be banging on our door if, or when, the grid goes down.
Some cars do have standard household outlets that can be used for small loads, or you can use the cigarette lighter plug to charge most power stations...generally when the car is being used as you will drain the battery on the car if the car is not recharging. People with electric cars can often access the energy from the large storage batteries. Some of the small car inverters could provide some temporary power, but again standard car batteries will need to be recharged. Thanks for your comments and for being part of the solution!
@@JonathanBJones Thanks for sharing that info.
If running car by open window, please be careful of carbon monoxide.
@@debbiecurtis4021 Most definitely! Fortunately, the window only needs to be opened wide enough to accommodate the width of the cord. Plus, the exhaust pipe is located at the tail end of the car (at least 12 feet away from the cracked open window). We have carbon monoxide detectors; so to be on the safe side, we would definitely place one near the open window. Thanks for the warning. 🙂
Your Right Lab MomOF2, I also have chest and upright freezer. But I am not sure if anyone mentioned this. I live in Southern AZ & to help with keeping things cool, it does take up some space, but I will keep (2) 24 Packs of Water in the very Bottom of the Freezers & then put the food on top. Don't know if someone in the comments mentioned that.
Super helpful video. Thank you.
I've done the frozen jug thing for years. Glad to see someone else doing this.
I am gonna test my stand up freezer to see how much I need to run it.
Gonna get one of those freezer alarms.
Funnily enough I just bought a book this afternoon called Agricultural Stockpiling and just as the notification for your video popped up I was reading the chapter on salting food - there the tip was given when the freezer fails and defrosting the Freezer and thus the food cannot be prevented from preserving meat, by salting it to stop the spoilage process; the meat stays fresh for quite a while.
If all else fails, I don't think that's a bad idea.
Sorry if that is somehow incomprehensible, English is a foreign language for me and Google translator seems to be producing a strange sentence structure.
Edit: salting in means curing, of course - I couldn't think of the term yesterday.
Since salt is extremely cheap, it may be worth storing larger quantities.
Perfect timing! And that is another video that would be fun to do. That is a old-time real-world way of getting things done, but not many people today know how to do it. Thanks for your comments! Keep being part of the solution!!
Thank you for the great advice and very effective explanations.
Thanks for this great advice! Just ordered the energy monitor and the freezer temp device. We have a small chest freezer in the basement that is full, in part because of bottles of water.
Well done!! Thanks for being part of the solution!
Those temperature monitors look incredible, just bought 2 sets, one to use, one for the faraday cage
Loved this video. So much good information.
Thanks Debbie...you are part of the solution!!
My plan is to can everything if there is more than a few hours of power outage. I have a small chest freezer, and the fridge freezer. I dont have them crammed full, but i do have ground meat & strawberries in the chest freezer. I would do the strawberries first, because they will thaw faster. Then i will partally cook the burger & hot pack it. For the fridge stuff, i recently bought a mini fridge that takes less than 150w. It is large enough for milk, eggs & leftovers. I will run it off solar/battery bank. I will still have enough juice left to run my other kitchen appliances as needed. Not ideal, but its what i could afford and how my apartment is setup. I have 3 25w amorphus panels hung in a southern window. They are not visible to passers by this way, but do a good job charging.
Hey Pippys mom...Pippy should be proud of you...you are doing great things...well done!! Keep being part of the solution!
Thank you! I love the scientific explanation!
Thanks for your comments and for being part of the solution!
Another option in an outage is to get, if available, a block of dry ice to put in the freezer. This can be repeated indefinitely.
Great option if you can get it...does an excellent job!
Great video! Thanks guys!
I agree around 25 to 22 degs ~ Also more you can keep your freezer pack. The less energy it uses ! Mine are pack tight. This also cuts down on freezer burn
Great video guys.
For the reasons mentioned above, I used to keep gallon jugs of water in my chest freezers, then I decided to replace some of them with large jugs of olive oil because olive oil is denser and will stay frozen longer and provide much needed calories.
You can freeze oil?
@@denisegirmer4550 Yes.
How is oil denser than water? ...oil floats on top of water.
@@brokenpencil57 Depends on the type of oil. Some oils float on water because their molecules are larger. Try comparing the actual weight of a gallon of olive oil to that of a gallon of water. (I was told this but haven't actually done it, thus you may still be correct.)
@@hottuna7 Hey, scientist here, glad to help... Floating has everything to do with density, nothing to do with molecule size. Olive oil is about 0.9 g/cc compared to water at 1.0 g/cc (so less dense means oils float). More to the thread topic: is Specific Heat. Olive oil is 2.0 J/g°C vs water at 4.1 J/g°C, so water holds (or releases) twice as much heat and is the highest heat capacity liquid of all (excepting exotic mixtures of water & methylic alcohol).
Some think that antifreeze is better but it is worse than pure water (for removing heat) but is used in auto because it lowers the freezing point well. Olive oil does freeze, around 37°F, depending on variety, and contains a bunch of food calories (actually kilocalories) so good for staying alive, but hopefully you have some hard bread, hot tuna, cheese and wine as well.
Question for Jonathan - what brand freezer chest do you use at 90w?
Our is a Frigidaire 15 cubic foot...seems to be a very efficient model. Thanks for being part of the solution!
I use 2 lit coke bottles (my grand daughter used to devour the stuff ugh) and saved the bottles for me .. winter is approaching here (Australia) but as I live in the tropics, we have to be watchful all year round as our winters rarely go lower than maybe 10*. We try to keep my car full of fuel as that would run the generator for a few weeks or more if we only run it a few hours a day. The trick is to only open it when necessary and as you said, take what you need for a few days. Out ‘Genny’’ will run our 2 big fridges and chest freezer plus lights etc while we have fuel. Hopefully by then the fridges at least will be empty and the freezer well on it’s way. Then we will look at our stash of dry goods. Thank you for your helpful video, much appreciated.
The Sunshine State, Queensland. 🌻
We are doing well where we are, but others down south in Gympie, Maryborough, Toowoomba and Brisbane not so good. The rain system dumps a huge amount of rain, goes out to sea, sits there and gathers momentum, then comes back to where it was before and drops another downpour. It eventually moved down Accross the border into New South Wales and now they are having floods down there like has never been experienced before. The Aussie spirit is resilient but this, after covid, will be hard to recover from. If you pray, pray for those in these flood ravaged areas .. whole towns have gone under water up to the eaves of the houses. The water breached the levey and it happened so quickly, people were sitting on their roof tops for over 24 hours before they could be rescued. 🌻
Great tips and explanation. I use frozen water jugs all the time in the summer months for my coolers, so easy to maintain. We just bought an upright freezer only for ease of finding the food when we open the door. So much easier than digging through our chest freezer although we kept it for back up...
Great advice! Thank you for the video! 🙏
Thanks for your comments Jade! Keep making progress!
Chest freezer is the way to go! 👍🏻
Hey CB...you are right on that. During "normal" times the extra power is not a huge deal. It becomes a huge deal when you are having to generate it one way or the other. Thanks for your comment...and thanks for being part of the solution!
I’ve had this thought about storing foods in the freezer. Freezer burn is caused by the loss of water to air and by repeated freezing and thawing. Say one was to freeze items inside blocks of ice. The water in the food wouldn’t escape to the air. Also, the surfaces of the ice would melt before the food if there was an outage. One could remove the top of milk jug, place food in jug, fill with water, freeze, stack jugs in freezer. Haven’t tried it, just thinking.
Doris...I like your thinkings...great points. I think that should be tried. Thanks for being part of the solution!
I forgot but back in the 50's my dad would take the half gallon square paper milk cartons and put the cleaned trout in them, fill with water and put in the freezer, worked great.
Thanks for that. It’s good to get an account from someone who actually tried it.
Great tips! Loved the tip about filling an empty freezer with water jugs. Just bought a small chest freezer.
H'mm. With three freezers one may wish to prioritize the movement of extra frozen jugs from #3 freezer to another one to boost its support. Note: It also could be a nutritious drink, if not just water.
Great comments...thanks! Keep being part of the solution!
Love your channel and because of it we have bought a 7cf chest freezer, a duel temp monitor in the last 2 weeks. Question, we have a 500 watt solar generator, will it run the new freezer for a while?? Thanks in advance.
Hey Butch...it is likely that your power station will run the freezer. A couple of issues to consider. First, I am guessing the 500 watts is the output of the station...pretty sure it is? Second, how much storage does the power station have? I am guessing that it has somewhere around 500 watt-hours of storage, but it could be different? Third, how much solar can you input, and do you have the solar panels to feed the station? I am guessing you can input up to 100 watts...just a guess. If you can output 500 watts, that is usually sufficient to cover startup draw (usually 3 to 5 times the standard draw) for a small freezer...you would need to try running it to verify that. Most small freezers draw about 100 watts (plus or minus some). If you do have 500 watt-hours of storage, actual usable energy is probably about 400 watt-hours, or perhaps slightly more, in which case, you could run your freezer for about 4 hours of run time...not too much, but it might get you through a day or 2 if you leave the freezer closed, and depending on how much solar you can input, and if you can charge while you are powering the freezer (some units allow that and some don''t. If using the freezer monitors, you can control how often you run the freezer, and maximize the capability of the power station. While a larger power station would be nicer, you can likely get some functionality with the one you have. You may want to purchase an energy consumption meter which would help in understanding your load(s). A great next step would be to charge the power station and run the freezer for a while to get a feel for your specific situation. Using the freezer monitor, you can practice what you would do in a crisis. Figure out how you will charge with solar and how you can maximize your possibilities. Connect back if you have other questions...might be easiest on our contact page at our website. If you do that, tell me the make and model of the power station and we can explore more details. Thanks for being part of the solution!
I'm not planning on storing much food in my freezer or fridge when SHTF. But I'd like a generator, solar panels, and small chest freezer.
Thank you for the tip and that is a problem when you live in an apartment iso i was thinking if there is small portable freezers that runs on batteries
Hey my friend...they do make DC appliances that you can run off a battery bank...generally 12 volt. Definitely a challenge. Thanks for being part of the solution...keep blessing lives!
@@JonathanBJones Thank you.
Some good ideas and info here that I can use. I do have the remote sensors with alarms already. For power, I have a small 4000 watt (continuous) inverter generator and 7-9KW of solar power for the day. The solar is grid tied, but I can disconnect from the grid at the main breaker and then the generator will provide the required 240 Volts to activate the solar. Other than having to keep the generator gassed up every 12 hours, I am good for many days as long ads I change the generator oil every 4 days.
I did not know that about upright compared to chest.
Great video.
I'll have to try and change my house around so I can have a chest freezer.
I like the solar gen stuff, but do I have the budget to warrent such a device that I may not use 😒.....
Hey Tony...thanks for your comment...just something to consider. Keep being part of the solution!
@@JonathanBJones It is something I must consider, but my day to day living budget is extreamly tight.
After watching some other videos you've done, I've come to the conclusion that my next prep effort, energy and finance should be directed to water. Then, maybe it'll be back up power.
Living in Northern Canada, you only have to worry about summer time, winter you have the great outdoors, lol
I have freezers, but, that is not my long term storage. That is done in glass jars (home canning).
You have 2 days to cook & can any meats in your freezers.
Previously frozen veggies & fruits do not can well.
Very informative video indeed. I had already known everything you two covered but the way you guy's presented it made me remember things I had not thought about for some time. So all in all I like this a lot. I have 3 , about 5-7 cu ft, chest freezers, one pretty full , the other two not so. The full in the house and the other two in the garage. I am going to combine the two in the garage to one (the newest one) because watching your video woke that forgotten point up in my brain (: Good Job Fella's !
I also have a new Duel Fuel 6500 watt generator in case &%it hits the fan and I need it. Or the power goes out.
Which brand do you recommend/use for larger items, such as the large solar power bank featured in one of your other videos?
Hey Nancy...there are several good power station brands out there...and there are a lot that might be good...seems lots of players in this game...many of the names new and some I can't even pronounce. Thus far, I like EcoFlow, Geneverse, Jackery, and Inergy. For running a fridge or freezer, I would go with a unit that has 1500 watt-hours or more of storage. You can get by with something smaller if you have the ability to input lots of solar (400-800 watts) and you have lots of consistent sun. Each station has pros and cons...some have longer lifetimes (number of charge cycles...some as low as 500 up to 3000 or more charge/discharge 80% cycles), some have better solar input, etc. EcoFlow makes the Delta Pro that has 3600 watt-hours of storage...lots of capacity and solar input. Prices are obviously higher on the larger units. Make a little list of your critical loads, then take a look at some websites and see if there are a couple units that appeal to you. I will be happy to give my opinion...just connect on our contact page. Thanks for being part of the solution!
Appreciate this coverage of maintaining power , for Freezers and Fridges..
😍👍💓💗💖
Can you do a comparison video on Offgrid power source, with Freezer Vs Frid
4:40 ...Do you ever use Ice packs in the freezer during power outages..prolong the cold in the freezer.
Loving your Science Perspectives with Prepping...There is no Prepping Channel that covers the Science lessons with Prepping.....Well done Junior
10:26 ....We have ice boxes outside..that go in the potato cellar outside....
Hey Kanzee...yes, Ice packs, jugs, or whatever really help. Thanks for your comments! Give me a bit more information on the comparison video you are interested in...we might be able to do something interesting. Perhaps connect with us on our contact page. Thanks!!
Excellent video! I love how you simplify the science of it.
Your son is an excellent teacher, does he have more science videos available?
My fridge and freeze jave propane back up that utilizes a 12v system that is connected to a generator and solar
Well done...you've done good things...Thanks for being part of the solution!
Great information and ideas
Thanks...keep making progress!
I nice way to find out if your power goes out when you're gone is to freeze a clear container vertical with a penny in it if it drops to the bottom the food probably won't be safe.
Could you share what are you using for organizing the contents of your freezer and where can you purchase these?
Excellent suggestions
You need to consider duty cycle when comparing the large and small freezers. The bigger freezer probably runs longer and/or more often.
Good tips. I’ll keep with mostly canned foods.
I purchased the wireless monitors some time ago but had difficulty with battery longevity for the transmitters inside the freezers. I used ones recommended for a freezer, but still poor results. Hopefully the technology has caught up with this, so do you have a recommendation for battery brand and how much ‘life’ do you get out of your batteries. Thanks, and a very good informational video.
excellent video. Thanks for sharing
Good informational video , thanks for sharing , God bless !
Thanks so much! Keep doing great things!
Thanks for this info
Great vid. Tks for the wifi temp indicator. Luv that. Something I learned: place 1 large ice cube in a zip lock baggie and tape it to the underside of the lid so it doesn't get lost in the bottom of the freezer. ...A few years back, I returned home after a week vacation to find all my clocks blinking. I had no way of knowing how long the power had been off. The freezer contents had since re-frozen. I worried if it was safe. Now, if I return home to find the ice in the baggie still in "cube" form I know that it didn't melt meaning the food didn't thaw and it's safe. But if I find the contents of the baggie no longer in cube form then I know to be concerned.
Hey Tooshie...great tip...very smart! Thanks for your comment and for being part of the solution!
Can you have more than one per house without interference?
What brand are the boxes of oats, spaghetti, etc on your shelves?
Great video and information 👍 💯
Hey Bullet...thanks...keep being part of the solution!
What if you are without power for weeks, do you have a video on how to hook up a solar panel system that will run a couple of freezers and a large frig? I don't know how it works or how to put it together, I need a guide for solar, Thanks 😊
I have a few ideas on trying to save the food in the freezer but my main plan once it starts to thaw I will can like crazy until I have no more jars and lids. We do have a generator but you can only store so much gas before it goes bad. If anyone has a way of extending the life of gas I would sure like to know. I like the idea of putting water bottles in the freezer. Thanks for another great video.
Gas.... One is to keep your gasoline rotated. Buy the grade of gas that your vehicle(s) use. Periodically, empty your gas containers into your vehicle and refill them. Rotating your fuel storage is just as important as rotating your short term food storage. Next, is to buy ethanol free gas for storage. Gasoline ethanol mixture has a very short shelf life when compared to gasoline that doesn't contain it.
You can add Stabil gasoline stabilizer to newly purchased stored gasoline. This additive extends storage life to about 2 years. There may be other stabilizers on the market. If so, I haven't used them so I can't comment.
Hope this helps.
"can like crazy". At one time I considered this approach until I thought it through. With the grid down and no fuel for the generator, how long will it take you to clean out the freezer, before the food spoils? Do you have a non-electric energy source for canning? Do you have enough fuel for it? Years ago I switched from an electric kitchen stove to propane because hurricanes and ice storms have taken out the power in this area for 2+ weeks on several occasions. Our generator can run on gasoline or propane from our bulk propane tank.
Will you have enough water that's need for the canning processes? Washing jars, filling applicable canners, adding liquids to the jars, and cleanup afterwards? If you have a well, will your generator power your well pump and your other needs? If you're on city water, do you have sufficient alternative plans, if the disaster takes out city services?
Finally, do you have enough time between the time the food in your freezer thaws and the time it spoils? That is the factor that led us to reduce, considerably, reliance on our freezers. (Side by side & an upright) Thought about it yesterday, as I was raw packing Boston butts for canning. Just how much time it took to wash the jars, cut up the meat, load the canner and wait till it exhausted plus 75 minutes under pressure, then the cool down. That was just 20 lbs of meat. ONE canner load. (Wish I'd actually tracked the 2 loads I did yesterday.)
Today, I try to limit what's in our freezers. Can or dehydrate most of our fresh foods, where practical. We do keep some foods for the grill, roasting and steaming. That quantity is relatively low, so it can be cooked, canned (if applicable) not a major loss, if it has to be discarded. A few Cornish hens, chicken leg quarters, hamburger and broccoli, for example. And a few things like ice cream, frozen slices of sweet potato pie and such.
Our freezer is also storage space for lard, tallow and ghee, which are shelf stable, if the power fails. Freezer storage prolongs their shelf life. Our freezer is a holding tank for foods purchased on sale that will be either canned or dehydrated. One example are the turkeys I canned last November when they were on sale for $.29/lb. It's also storage for 2 liter soda bottles filled with water for "block" ice. There's room in it, when I remove a few soda bottles to freeze a 20 lb bag of rice for a few days. Easy to return them to the freezer afterwards to freeze again.
In closing, you mentioned jars. Have you calculated how many jars and lids you would need to can the contents of your freezer, if the need arises? A general calculation: A pint is a pound, world around. Naturally this varies with the density of foods. Yet, it can give a ballpark figure. Twenty pounds of Boston butt will yield about 17-18 pints after bone & excess fat is removed. Do you have enough jars to make the option of canning practical for what's in your freezer?
Just some food for thought, that I hope might help. I went through that exercise about 3 years ago. FWIW, I'm glad I did.
If live somewhere like the Texas gulf coast, you don’t have basements. The garage will have to do.
the solar battery power station is as good as the recharge time and if you have 2 of them the watts using to run till the other is ready to change off.
more than 1/4 inch of ice buildup will raise the internal temperature by insulating the cooling coils so defrosting will need to happen.
Great points Joey...thanks for your input. Keep being part of the solution!
What brand of a freezer do you recommend that lasts longer?
That Jackery 1000 will not run a freezer for days. A few hours is more likely. Then you need to worry about how long it will take to charge the unit.
I have a shed with a French door fridge and an upright freezer. It’s connected to six 100ah batteries. They are connected with an automatic transfer switch if the power fails. The batteries are being charged with two 360watt panels. I’ve ran test to see how everything can keep up. Everything ran fine. You need to definitely run your test now and not during an emergency. You don’t want to find out the things you got won’t work.
Thank you very much! 🙏🏼
Great info 👍!!
Fantastic video
great video!
How to save frozen foods and meats from spoiling in a grid down situation.
Table salt: rub copious amounts of salt on as much meat as you can, then store it in a cold dry dark place. I would recommend storing inside sealed five gallon buckets.
Smoking; Dehydration; Freeze Drying; Canning;
Sealed Mylar bags; sealed five gallon buckets; vacuum sealed jars
I have ice in mine for the same reason, but i don't plan on powering my freezer and my fridge I plan to rotate then into a couple coolers I saw the thing about using salt water in the jugs that takes them out of the drinking water plan but they keep the cooler colder longer ?? .. I haven't experimented with that one yet
Jonathon, I recently bought two of those fridge/freezer monitors with the alarm. I followed the instructions exactly, but the numbers showing on the outside of the fridge are not the numbers I set as minimum and maximum. I have only set up one alarm sensor so far (fridge). Will the numbers show correctly after I set up the second alarm for the drawer freezer below? Thank you in advance for your reply! I watch all your videos and you, Kylene and all the family have been so helpful! God bless you all 🙌
Yes...they should all work well when you finish setting them up. Your minimum and maximum will generally be different from the inside temperature since you are just telling the monitor to let you know if the temperature gets too high or low. If your temperature gets too low, you are using more energy than you need to, and you may be freezing things in your fridge. If the temperature gets too high, you know that you have a problem, or possibly that someone put something really warm inside that is heating the interior, at least temporarily. Generally, the interior temperature is somewhere close to the middle of your minimum and maximum. Hope that helps...sounds like you are making great strides...Keep it up!
@@JonathanBJones Thank you so much for getting back to me! I haven't set the second alarm for the bottom freezer (Maytag) yet and don't even know if this device works with fridge on top and freezer drawer on the bottom. I am telling myself to just follow the instructions and try not to pay too much attention to numbers showing on the device. You and Kylene are such sweet people and I have enjoyed watching your youtube videos so much!
Great tip with the remote thermometers. I never considered it despite knowing they existed for indoor outdoor. I've been considering a power station but it would be woefully insufficient for outages lasting a week or longer such as we have following a hurricane. A thermometer is a great starting point as I will be able to drop the temps enough to increase the time before going over 32 degree. I'm curious if some form of thermal blanket that would repel heat energy would be of any benefit. The only "covers" I have seen are simply for keeping dust and moisture from the freezer but not to add an additional thermal barrier. Any thoughts?
No mention of amps draw on start up?