Freezer space for Yom Tov

ra_mom

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 2:19 pm

Before we had an extra freezer, I managed cooking in advance for YT with the small freezer we had.
Basically use up freezer items as YT approaches. Cook one thing each day and freeze in small bags so takes up less space (wrapped in foil and then in flattened Ziploc bags - even chicken soup can freeze flat).
Challah was baked last (takes up too much space) and only once items cooked for YT were pulled out to thaw and space was made, were the extra Challahs put in (first 3 meals of Challah didn't have to be frozen if made fresh erev YT).

lkwdlady

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 2:51 pm

I bought an extra freezer about 10 years ago. I’ve been keeping it in the garage but honestly found it inconvenient to go back and forth with food so I basically only used it yomtov time. Recently I had it brought into the house. I made space for it and I use it all the time. Now I am wondering about refrigerator space... that’s always a problem yomtov time.

ra_mom

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 6:17 pm

lkwdlady wrote:

No drinks in my fridge over YT. We use ice with our drinks or if there's room we refrigerate a bottle here and there. And I try to keep things packed compactly in the fridge as well, like in the freezer. Foil and Ziploc bags vs pans, containers or pots that take up extra space.

mommy3b2c

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 6:22 pm

I have one tiny freezer. It is ridiculously small. There is no way I can make things in advance and freeze. There’s barely room to keep a few days worth of raw meat for suppers. We are moving soon and one of the main things I am excited for is having a huge extra freezer.

thunderstorm

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 6:37 pm

I bought a chest freezer years ago even when we lived in a tiny apartment and we kept it in one of the kids bedrooms. It was the best purchase ever. I currently have a chest freezer and my old refrigerator with the top freezer in my garage . We use the chest freezer always. I keep all baked items in there since it's not a frost free freezer and it keeps the baked goods very fresh.
Before Yom Tov I plug in my old fridge /freezer and we stock that freezer with all the cooked Yom Tov food and put cases of drinks in the fridge (we actually store it there all year long even when the fridge is off. It's a good "closet". My freezer in my kitchen is stocked with all the raw meats, fish, frozen veggies and other ingredients .
We were just discussing that it's time we upgrade and get a full standing freezer in addition to the chest freezer. My chest freezer is packed now and I only did a quarter of the baking . One batch of challah and six cakes took up the whole thing.

SingALong

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 8:19 pm

I have a full standing freezer. I purchased it when I made my first Pesach. I made 2 batches of challah and just that took up 2 shelves. Before I had this freezer I had a much smaller family so I froze so much less in a little too freezer...small 5x7 pans of everything. Lots of side dishes that involve fresh veggies roast in the oven for 20 minutes I do on yt...that saves space.

Coffee Addict

Tue, Aug 28 2018, 8:34 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

You will LOVE it!! One of the best investments I ever made! I bought it years ago.

Once you will have it, you won’t understand how you managed without it Very Happy

yo'ma

Wed, Aug 29 2018, 7:39 am

We bought an extra freezer after being married for over 10 years, so it wasn't a neccesity at the time except our regular freezer didn't work that great. Since then, we have a better fridge/freezer. We got a small one because we thought we didn't have the space for a larger one. It was going to go in a strange spot. In the end, it didn't even fit into that spot, so it was put in our kids room and we could have gotten a large one, but we weren't switching it by then.

The problem with the freezer was I wanted one for "me", but my dh wanted one to put meat and chicken in it. Of course he won because I don't need to freeze my food and I love always having meat and chicken.

A couple of years after we purchased it, I was thinking of getting a larger one anyway, but couldn't because of two reasons. One was because in that meantime my dh brought home a small fridge that we put under the small freezer and they weren't selling any in the crazy country. Now they are.

I would make a large batch of challah if we had a large one, but oh well. We survive Very Happy

Chayalle

Wed, Aug 29 2018, 9:36 am

I own two freezers, besides for the small one attached to my fridge in the kitchen. I host tons of company for Y"T, and I work full time, so cooking/baking/freezing in advance is how I manage. I bought the first freezer years ago, and the second one a few years later, when I practically had a melt-down right before Y"T because I was running out of freezer space.

In my old house, I kept them in a corner of the playroom in my basement. Since I moved, they are in my garage, which is right off my kitchen.

I don't keep both of them on all the time. One is on all year round, and the other is on for Tishrei and Nissan, give or take.

mommyhood

Wed, Aug 29 2018, 10:13 am

I have a full size second freezer on my main floor. I literally would not be able to run my home without it so for me it's a necessity. I could really use a second fridge as well but anywhere I've thought to put it would need an outlet added and that plus the cost of the fridge are out of my budget at the moment.

FranticFrummie

Wed, Aug 29 2018, 5:54 pm

I just spent a chunk of money I don't have to spare, because I found a second hand chest freezer that is in practically new condition, and they were letting it go for a fraction of the price they paid.

I think that if you want to save any money at all, a large freezer is your number one investment. You never know when your grocer will have a surplus of something, there are promotional sales, etc.

The bakery across the street from me was giving away CASES of day old challah, and I stocked up on quite a bit (I left enough for other people though.)

I'm cooking batches of dried beans and garbanzos, and then freezing them in small packets. Then I can add them to soups whenever I want, instead of paying more for canned beans.

Looooove my freezer!