Finally disconnected the chest freezer after 20 yrs.

[FooD]

We needed to do this a long time ago. We finally disconnected our chest freezer we had sitting in one corner of our kitchen, throwing away more than half of whatever were buried in the bottom half of the freezer for who knows how long. We (my wife actually) just did not know how to manage frozen foods too well. My wife's thinking was the more freezer space you have the more frozen food you buy even if we didn't need them.
Besides, we still have an extra full size fridge in the garage, fully stocked. That's going next. It's just my wife and I living in the house since the kids moved out several years ago. Who needs more than one fridge?
We must have thrown out so much food over the years because of this dumb freezer....and not to mention all that wasted electricity.
I'm just glad it's gone. With this big ugly box out of the way I transformed that corner of the kitchen into a dedicated pizza making station with a large 4 foot slab of granite on a work table. I'm very happy now.

 

[buzzard767]

Kudos on the pizza station.

My wife Fran and I have gone through the same downsizing process that you are experiencing. When we sold our house in Wisconsin 10 years ago we gave our stand alone freezer away, and last Spring when we moved into our much smaller Florida place we canned the garage fridge. Despite that, our refrigerator's freezer compartment still has too much stuff in it. LOL

 

[Shermie]

We needed to do this a long time ago. We finally disconnected our chest freezer we had sitting in one corner of our kitchen, throwing away more than half of whatever were buried in the bottom half of the freezer for who knows how long. We (my wife actually) just did not know how to manage frozen foods too well. My wife's thinking was the more freezer space you have the more frozen food you buy even if we didn't need them.
Besides, we still have an extra full size fridge in the garage, fully stocked. That's going next. It's just my wife and I living in the house since the kids moved out several years ago. Who needs more than one fridge?
We must have thrown out so much food over the years because of this dumb freezer....and not to mention all that wasted electricity.
I'm just glad it's gone. With this big ugly box out of the way I transformed that corner of the kitchen into a dedicated pizza making station with a large 4 foot slab of granite on a work table. I'm very happy now.

Sounds like the food might have gotten freezer-burnt and dried out to the point where you couldn't identify what was what.

You might want to invest in a vacuum foodsealer to keep this problem at bay.

 

[FooD]

I so wanted to get rid of that freezer long ago that I used to joke with my family that it was the exact same model freezer that Jeffrey Dahmer used....

 

[MexicoKaren]

Congrats, George! I had a similar experience when we moved down here...chest freezers are tough because you just lose stuff in them, down in the depths...

 

[buckytom]

i helped my friend ozzy do that a few years ago. but being ever frugal, he didn't want to just chuck everything. so we got out a couple of gigantic lobster pots and made "freezer stews".

one was made with lots of frozen veggies and any fish or seafood we found, added some milk and made a kind of chowder.

the other was any meat and whatever veggies were left, along with wine and stock. the meats were either browned or quickly grilled before being tossed into the pot.

they turned out pretty good! it was fun to try to identify stuff in each bite.

 

[lifesaver91958]

Yea we have one that really needs to go. lol

 

[Shermie]

I so wanted to get rid of that freezer long ago that I used to joke with my family that it was the exact same model freezer that Jeffrey Dahmer used....

Jeffrey Dalmer had several of them for......, well, I won't say why, but I think that we all know.

 

[FooD]

We moved the freezer into the garage temporarily. I might just keep it there to store some power tools. It is a nice sized box and the lid is convenient to use as a bench top for projects. I should cut the power cord.

 

[sadie]

We gave ours to my brother and his wife several years ago.
We always referred to it as "The Mausoleum".

 

[FooD]

I ordered a 24" x 60" stainless steel work table from an on-line restaurant supply store to put in that spot where the freezer used to be. That'll be my dedicated pizza area and home to my new KA mixer. I will post pics after all set up is complete.

 

[buzzard767]

I ordered a 24" x 60" stainless steel work table from an on-line restaurant supply store to put in that spot where the freezer used to be. That'll be my dedicated pizza area and home to my new KA mixer. I will post pics after all set up is complete.

That setup is going to be A LOT more fun than a freezer full of unused meat. Are you thinking of getting some kind of pizza oven to fit on the table along side the KA?

 

[FooD]

Are you thinking of getting some kind of pizza oven to fit on the table along side the KA?

Actually, I've been doing pizzas in my newly constructed wood burning oven. I built this just outside the side kitchen entry, very close to my prep station.

 

[Shermie]

That looks cool!!!

 

[FooD]

Thanks Sherman, it's a nice little oven.

I finally got my SS work table set up where the chest freezer used to be. That space was exactly 5' across and I knew it was going to be a very tight fit but it worked out perfectly. This is now where I do pizza, among other things, and the pizza oven is just 10 feet away.

 

[MexicoKaren]

Nice work station, George. Congrats on your hard work.

 

[Keltin]

Wow, that is a stunning set-up! I love it!!! I imagine you're going to have a blast with that new station!! Awesome job!

 

[FooD]

Thanks Karen and Keltin. It's a nice solid surface for working the dough. And the table matches the rest of the kitchen appliances.

 

[Phiddlechik]

Have you thought about donating the freezer to a soup kitchen/food pantry?

 

[Mama]

That's a wonderful work area Food! I like the way you set it up too. Everything looks to be really handy.