TEFR: Out in the Cold

This is our new freezer.

COVID-19 and the ensuing shutdowns and shortages didn't catch us out like it did many people.

We have always tried to maintain back-up supplies of groceries and sundries (when folks were trading their firstborns for toilet paper, we had our usual 40 rolls on hand). We have shelves of home canned goods but were hoping to stock up on local produce and milk, We also planned on layer chickens this year but with the talk of possible meat shortages (and I won't even get into the duplicitousness of the meat packing industry in this regard), I picked up 6 Cornish Cross birds and planned on maybe more later.

We needed a freezer.

We found a place in the kitchen that would accommodate a small freezer and blithely set about pulling out the existing, cruddy cabinets.

That's when we discovered we were not alone in hoping to preserve summer's bounty. Nary a freezer, new or used, was to be found.

With a little rearranging, I did manage to squeeze the processed meat chickens into our fridge-top freezer and even a small amount of u-pick strawberries but soon cherries and blueberries will be ripe, to say nothing of tomatoes and herbs and beans and peas and etc. etc.

So, before we locked down the checking account completely, I bought this freezer-substitute.

As a certified tightwad, I have in the past dried food in the sun and in a closed car. Neither method worked particularly well. This inexpensive little dehydrator does a better job.

Here's some of what I've dried so far:

These will be repackaged in the right size jars with oxygen absorbers added.

Herbs, greens, celery, radishes, lavender, strawberries, apples.

Like many folks stuck at home, I too tried my hand at sourdough. My starter grew fine but the bread wasn't as good as our regular homemade loaf. I scored a pound of yeast that will last me about a year but didn't want to discard the starter.

Therefore, in the spirit of waste not, want not, and in case yeast once again becomes scarcer than hen's teeth, I dehydrated the sourdough starter. It should keep until the next pandemic (or phase 2 of this one!).

Dehydrated food can be used as is or rehydrated. It is a real space saver for those of us without cavernous pantries and the process is uncomplicated. 

I'm still hoping for a freezer but for now I'm glad our prep options didn't just dry up.