The Great Freezer Cleanout: 2010

[Kerry Beal]

My big upright freezer is in serious need of a defrost. The last time it got defrosted was after hubby unplugged it in error. I recall phoning all the relatives and getting them to come over and pick up their choice of meats for cooking that same day - and I recall I made a whole lot of lemon bread pudding and trifle because the freezer had a bunch of challah and jelly rolls in it come the great thaw.

This time I've decided I need a little more control over the emptying - so I'm going to go one shelf at a time - over however long it takes, until I empty it sufficiently that I can give it a defrost and serious clean.

The top shelf (and a few spare inches here and there) has been the home of my fruit purees - so they have all moved into the small upright that I bought for the chocolate room (which shall be unveiled before long I hope).

So this morning I went after the bottom shelf - it's only really half a shelf - and I thought I'd share with you what I found and what I plan to do with it.

It contained a bag with about 20 lbs of veal bones, a plastic carton of the little jelly rolls that I'd picked up on sale (I prefer them stale for making trifle), a bag of hot dog buns from Costco, 4 boneless chicken breast halves and a half a bag of perogies.

The hot dog buns and perogies went straight into the bin - as they contained more ice crystals than substance. The veal bones are roasting in the oven right now - later today they'll go in the stock pot and spend the next couple of days there. The chicken breasts are marinating for dinner tonight and the jelly rolls are sitting on the counter waiting either for hubby to find them (and eat as is) or for me to get the motivation to make a little batch of trifle from them.

The top shelf that I previously emptied of all it's purees is now home to a few bags of soup and some pork shoulder and pork fat packages that are portioned out to make 5 lb batches of sausages - pork shoulder being on sale very reasonably at the moment. I'm going to try not to fill what I empty as I go along - but the price was hard to resist.

I figured this thread would serve as a log of my emptying efforts and that I would pass on what got binned, what got made out of what was in there and perhaps an occasional request for ideas for what to do with what I find.

I know at least one other person who's cleaning their freezer out a shelf at time right now and might be willing to play along. Feel free to share what you find and what you do with it from your freezer.

[MelissaH]

We definitely need to go through ours. It strikes me that this might not be a bad time of year to go through the freezer, as if we discover that we need a little extra short-term storage space, we might be able to find it in the walk-out.

Wish I could find veal bones here. They don't seem to exist anywhere.

MelissaH

[SheenaGreena]

I have some skin on duck legs/thighs and wings in the freezer. I was going to confit them but I have used almost all of the duck fat for non related cooking purposes. I think I might go with Molly Steven's braised duck legs recipe with cherries and port. Anyone try this out yet? Thoughts?

[blue_dolphin]

I don't have a dedicated freezer, only the top part of the fridge. I am going to clean it out though because I'm moving. We'll see if there's anything interesting in there.

I have some skin on duck legs/thighs and wings in the freezer. I was going to confit them but I have used almost all of the duck fat for non related cooking purposes. I think I might go with Molly Steven's braised duck legs recipe with cherries and port. Anyone try this out yet? Thoughts?

You might try the recipe from last week's NYT article titled Duck Confit, and Hold the Fat that describes a method for confit without adding additional fat. I'd like to try it myself but I'm unlikely to find any duck legs in my freezer since I've never bought any! Though I must say braised duck legs with cherries and port sounds awfully good....

Edited January 22, 2010 by blue_dolphin (log)

[therippa]

Sharing a freezer with two other roommates is exactly why I often resort to using store bought broths/stocks...homemade stocks shouldn't have to fight frozen Trader Joe's burritos for freezer space!

[Stephanie Brim]

Yep, we're doing it. If anyone has any good ideas for 20 pounds of hindquarters, frozen in 2 10-pound packages, I'd be happy to hear them.

Otherwise, I have 4 pounds of hamburger, 4 pounds of chicken breast, 2 whole chickens, 2 pork tenderloins, 4 Iowa Chops (the nice, thick pork chops), assorted frozen veggies from a stock-up sale, and 3 pounds of turkey sausage plus 12 ounce package of links. Oh, and I can't forget the very large, very tasty-looking bone-in pork shoulder roast that will hopefully be destined for the Crock-Pot in a week or so.

I get to buy staples such as cream, flour, sugar, and fresh veggies, but everything else is off my shelves. The chicken isn't really that hard to find recipes for...I have beans and lentils that will pair well, as well as fresh potatoes and some tomato sauce. It's the hamburger that's going to be a sticking point. I'm not good with hamburger recipes. I'm good at hamburgers (as in, between a halved bun with cheese, tomato, and lettuce), but when it comes to ground meat my brain tends to come to a screetching halt.

A couple of ideas I had, though: beef wontons, sloppy joes, the dreaded Tater Tot Casserole (as mentioned on the Shameful Eats thread). There's also the staple of my childhood that consisted of a blue-boxed foodstuff we all know and sometimes pretend to hate, condensed cream of mushroom soup, and aforementioned ground cow. I think I'd rather stay away from that one. Meatballs would be good, but I have no recipes. Meatloaf is also appreciated here, but I'm never sure what to put in it.

I'm pretty much calling the rest of this month and most of next "Pantry & Freezer Raid Month". I'll be exhausting my spice cupboard until the thaw.

[Kerry Beal]

It's the hamburger that's going to be a sticking point. I'm not good with hamburger recipes. I'm good at hamburgers (as in, between a halved bun with cheese, tomato, and lettuce), but when it comes to ground meat my brain tends to come to a screetching halt.

My hubbies favorite use for hamburger is something I first threw together when we were in Barbados and has become a regular thing - coarsely chop a couple of large onions and saute them until transparent in some olive oil, add in the burger and cook until no longer pink, season with some onion powder, lots of salt and pepper, add leftover rice and a can of peas.

[Stephanie Brim]

That sounds like a suitably yummy replacement for the filling of tater tot casserole. Thanks!

[SheenaGreena]

wow, blue dolphin...that recipes sounds really easy and very doable. Although I am still torn between that and the cherries and port rendition.

[Anna N]

. . .

I know at least one other person who's cleaning their freezer out a shelf at time right now and might be willing to play along. Feel free to share what you find and what you do with it from your freezer.

I suspect that Kerry is referring to me. I've been whining to her that I can't take advantage of the wonderful pork specials because I have no room in my freezer and have devised a plan to resolve the situation.

I knew that just listing the contents would be a total waste of time. I have done it so many times and it really accomplishes very little in terms of using up the stuff in the freezer. So I devised my 3-step method:

Inventory each shelf as time permits.

Find interesting and preferably untried recipes for each hunk of protein and write the source on the inventory list.

And the most important step of all:

ASSIGN EACH RECIPE TO A DAY IN MY DAYTIMER!

So far, this system is working to empty my freezer, keep me interested in these frozen hunks of protein and solve the problem of "what's for dinner" each day.

Sausage links were paired with a package of puff pastry and turned into sausage rolls. These were then served for lunch on one day and the remainder frozen for quick snacks and lunches - Ok so this didn't exactly remove them from the freezer but they will now disappear very quickly as fast food!

Various packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and tenders (don't even know why I bought them!) became a chicken and mushroom gratin which fed us admirably for two days.

Half a pound of ground beef stuffed some peppers that were losing ground in the crisper. We haven't had stuffed peppers in years and we really enjoyed these.

A bag of already cooked mince (ground beef, vegetables and sauce) became an almost instant cottage pie when topped with some mashed potatoes.

Large quantities of duck and goose stock were reduced to miniscule amounts of highly concentrated flavour bombs and moved to the upstairs freezer where they will be much more likely to get used up.

I am currently working on next week's menus and am optimistic that I am making headway and finding space in the freezer. It will have to be defrosted before I restock it though.

This whole exercise has forced me to question why I have a freezer since it seems to serve no other purpose than to warehouse food that ultimately degrades before it gets consumed. I now remember why we bought it in the first place - to take advantage of meat specials! But that's not enough, I realize. Meat bought on sale needs to be assigned to a recipe and to a date for consumption (not the same as a date frozen or a best before date!).

I read about a woman (on CNN.com) who has planned out her meals for a full year! Can't do that as I would soon die of boredome but a month is doable as long as I cut myself some slack for a couple of days each week.

[mrsadm]

Oh man, do I need to do this for my garage freezer. I like your idea of doing only 1 shelf at a time; it will seem so much more manageable that way.

[Stephanie Brim]

Two meals for this weekend, both freezerable:

Saturday: Chicken and black bean tacos

Sunday: Chicken and dumplings (I have to make stock anyway)

On Monday I'm thinking of getting a pound of hamburger out and doing the casserole that Kerry suggested...or perhaps making a little veggie stir fry and making wontons to go with it. Tuesday I'm pondering soup with carrots, peas, green beans, potatoes, and lentils. Not sure how to season it yet. Wednesday will be pork tenderloin day, this time lemon pepper marinade. Roasted potatoes and carrots will also be on the menu. Thursday is my normal pasta night and we will be having thin spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce and a salad with vinaigrette and croutons made from homemade light rye. Friday...Dunno. Probably homemade pizza with ham, peppers, onions, and cheap mozzerella.

That will get rid of about 1/3 of what's in the freezer and part of what's in the pantry. Next weekend will probably end up being "Leftover Extravaganza", in which we finish all the leftovers from the previous week's cooking.

One of the other things I have to remember is that I'm counting calories a bit right now, trying to lose the rest of the baby weight, so I have to keep the meals lean. It's amazing how well you can eat with a daily allotment of 1700 calories...as long as you aren't drinking regular soda all the time. That whole 'don't drink your calories' thing really does work.

[psiweaver]

I love this idea. I have a whole bunch of venison sausage and ground venison that I have no idea what to do with anyone hve any suggestions? The rest of the freezer is pretty clean with only some frozen fruit and ice cream in it. Some of which might have to go.

[eldereno]

Glad I found this thread. I do not cook every night (been on strike about this for a long time!!!!! Living with 3 other adults, my working the most and making the most......but I am still the one to cook the most!) but cook on weekends. I have been spending tons of money at the grocery store, especially since Thanksgiving, since I do all of the Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Year's Eve cooking for my current household and extended family. So, for the last 2 weekends, I have made only food out of my freezer and pantry (maybe with a few items from the store). 2 weekends ago, I roasted 2 chickens (don't want to hear on the length of time that it is safe to eat frozen chicken....it was a really long time!!!!) on a bed of assorted vegies (the normal onions, celery and carrots...then potatoes all around). This past weekend I made pasta puttanesco and roasted some shrimp with just OO, salt and pepper, frozen french dinner rolls. I have some marrow bones vacuum packed, chicken breasts and thighs vacuum packed, tons of different kind of store bought ravioli, pierogi's, some vacuum packed very thick pork chops, assorted frozen vegies (lots of corn!!!!!), some bread dough, some fish bones....and I will need to go do more inventory to state the rest. My goal is to empty the darn thing and then start from scratch. Wish me luck!

BTW, the chicken was moist and tasty and I do not think I will do anything but roast shrimp from now on!

edited for spelling and to add some stuff!!!!

Edited January 26, 2010 by eldereno (log)

[Shamanjoe]

I really need to clean out my garage freezer too. There's a package of steaks that were bought at CostCo and thrown in as-is that I unearthed the other day looking for some ice. If I thaw them, can I cut them up and use them in a ragu or something? They don't look good enough to salt/pepper and throw on the grill anymore, but it's only been a few months at most, and there's not too much ice, so it should work in a dish where lesser-quality meat would do fine, right? I hope? Please?

There's also a couple bags of boneless skinless chicken breasts and tenders that have been there for who knows how long. Those may end up as compost if there's too much ice. Other than that, the freezer mainly consists of lots of gallon milk containers filled with water and frozen (smack them with a hammer, then cut them open and fill up the ice chest. Melts slower then cubes and dirt-cheap to make) and my mom's frozen dinners (I cook, she won't).

After that, I think the freezer should be good. Can anyone tell me how you wrap your proteins so that they last in the freezer? I have a feeling I would buy and freeze more meat if I knew how to store it properly.

edited to correct my sometimes horrible use of English

Edited January 27, 2010 by Shamanjoe (log)

[Kerry Beal]

After that, I think the freezer should be good. Can anyone tell me how you wrap your proteins so that they last in the freezer? I have a feeling I would buy and freeze more meat if I knew how to store it properly.

edited to correct my sometimes horrible use of English

Foodsaver! Things stay ice free forever.

Edited January 27, 2010 by Kerry Beal (log)

[dividend]

I love this idea. I have a whole bunch of venison sausage and ground venison that I have no idea what to do with anyone hve any suggestions?

If it's loose sausage, I would be tempted to try it in pasta with sausage and chard. I make it all the time with breakfast sausage, and it's delicious, fast, and easy.

I've been making good use of my freezers, too. I've got the top of the fridge one contained to mostly fruit, bread odds and ends, fish/shrimp, and the random stuff in the door like a jar of pine nuts or chili paste. The basement chest freezer is now mostly vacuum sealed bags of chicken/turkey stock and chopped meat, carrot/banana breads, brats from the CSA, and single servings of homemade stuff. I tossed some questionable stuff. Learned that if I roast a chicken, I need to make stock then and there, because tossing the carcass in the freezer means I'll never get around too it.

[scubadoo97]

This topic is always great and revealing. If it makes you go searching the depths of your freezer, that's a good thing. I just pulled out a whole 4# chicken tossed in the freezer 2/09. It was in the original tight plastic packaging. Just had the liver for luch while I cut out the backbone to spatchcock the chicken. It is in a brine at the moment and will be grilled or smoked later today. I have short ribs from around the same time that need to be cooked as well. I could live out of my freezer without having to buy proteins for quite a while.

[Lan4Dawg]

when you are finished w/ yours would you mind coming and taking care of my freezer?

I was told the other day--after Fuss & I arranged and re-arranged the chest freezer about a dozen times before we could get it to close--that I was not allowed to purchase any thing else to go in to the freezer. Unfortunately that was before Kroger had its "meat madness" sale and the market up the street had pork butts and ribs at ridiculously low prices as well as trying to get rid of the turkeys they had over-bought for Christmas.

I went through and pulled out all of the saved bones, &c and made several gallons of stock and that freed up some space (except for the fact that the stock had to go back in to the freezer albeit in a more organized and useful fashion) and removed some ice containers to make room for the new stuff.

As long as I do not find SparrowGrass' old squirrel.........

[Darienne]

We have three freezers: two upstairs fridge freezers (son lived with us for a couple of years and had his own fridge in the garage) and one cellar chest. The chaos is never ending. DH is the biggest help but cannot attend to any...what to call them?...prearranged decisions about how to keep stuff, put it away, etc.

I have been somewhat incapacitated over the past year which is making the usual routines quite difficult. How on earth to manage the freezer contents?

We did a massage clean-out of the cellar freezer two months ago and I made a list of everything in it and quantity. I label stuff...DH does not. Typed up and dated the list and printed it out and put it on the kitchen fridge. Tried to attend to it. Did not really

Just did a clean-out of one section of the cellar using a newly printed list with additions typed on it. There's a pile of milk crates (& gloves)down beside the freezer waiting for 'the day we do the freezer again'. We are on our way and it is working.

(I also have a much edited printed shopping list and needs get circled in red, put on DH's clipboard which has a pen attached with these wonderful little Lee Valley pen magnet thingies. DH does the shopping now. Have I mentioned...only about a dozen times...that he brings me coffee in bed every morning before I get up? :wub: )

[Kerry Beal]

I went through and pulled out all of the saved bones, &c and made several gallons of stock and that freed up some space (except for the fact that the stock had to go back in to the freezer albeit in a more organized and useful fashion) and removed some ice containers to make room for the new stuff.

As long as I do not find SparrowGrass' old squirrel.........

I made stock with the veal bones, then cooked it down to glace viande over a couple of days. Twenty pounds of bones made 3-6 ounce containers of jelly - and it can go in the fridge.

[Stephanie Brim]

The kids are napping and I'm about to go down and make a formal list of everything in the freezer downstairs and then come back up and do the same up here. Some things that are upstairs are apt to go downstairs to the colder freezer. I also have to melt back down the stock I made from the 10 pounds of hindquarters I had, and then get the other 10 from the garage and figure out what to do with them. Probably roasting tomorrow for dinner on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I'm doing the chicken & dumplings cookoff.

I'm debating whether or not I can justify picking up some more pork butt roast...it's $.99 per pound this weekend. Chickens are $.77, but I can do without those since I have 2 large chickens, the 10 pounds of hindquarters, and a turkey, plus chicken breast.

So...yeah. I have no idea what to cook with all this stuff. But I'm getting there. At least I know that Coq au Vin is going on the menu at some point.

[andiesenji]

Regarding ideas for using the various foods discovered in the freezer:

Whenever I come across a recipe online (often in this forum) for a recipe that includes an item that I know I have in the freezer, I immediately print it out and place it in a Ziplock bag with that item and leave in the freezer.

The bag with the big bag of chicken thighs currently contains six pages of recipes - one recipe to a page.

Two pork tenderloins and one pork loin are each bagged with at least one recipe - the tenderloins have to compete for 3 recipes.

When I am stumped about what to fix for a future meal (next day or so) I check the freezers and the bags with recipes and ??? and pull out one that sounds appropriate or at least, interesting and perhaps, if I am feeling lazy, the one that will require the least effort.

Sometimes I am efficient enough to do this when I bring something home from the market, particularly if I package it with the vac-sealer.

The greatest number of printed recipes reside in the jumbo Ziplock bag that contains several bags of cranberries, purchased in a moment of madness at Trader Joe's as they were so pretty - much darker and nicer-looking than those at the regular market.

[Anna N]

Regarding ideas for using the various foods discovered in the freezer:

Whenever I come across a recipe online (often in this forum) for a recipe that includes an item that I know I have in the freezer, I immediately print it out and place it in a Ziplock bag with that item and leave in the freezer.

. . .

Andie: We must be channeling! Tonight I was trying to come up with a way to make sure ingredients get used up. I wasn't particularly thinking of the freezer (but your idea is BRILLIANT!) but rather of unusual pantry items. I have reached the age where quite often by the time I manage to source an unusual ingredient I have forgotten why I wanted it in the first place! That is usually because the recipe calls for more than one thing that doesn't normally reside in my pantry. So tonight I came up with the idea of putting a label on these ingredients saying - bought for "Paula Wolfert's ...... Also need...." in hopes of using these ingredients rather than stockpiling them. Kerry Beal and I went on an exotic ingredient safari today but I have many commitments coming up so I know I won't get around to using them immediately. At least today I know why I bought them so they will be labelled before I go to bed. And, of course, I will be adopting your idea for the freezer.

[andiesenji]

Anna, I also buy lots of "exotic" ingredients especially for a particular recipe - I usually take the recipe with me to the store - particularly the middle eastern store and the "Oriental Market" that recently opened in Lancaster.

When I get home, I place those ingredients, with the recipe, in yet another Ziplock bag and place them in the pantry. I have a couple of large bus tubs on one of the shelves that holds these grouped items. My "To-Do" recipe bin.

I had to do this because I often found myself with two or three jars (or more) of some ingredient because I had forgotten I had it on hand and bought more.

It's a little embarrassing to discover, on cleaning the spice cupboard, that one has six (6) jars of Chinese 5-spice, plus a large container purchased at Smart & Final.

One can only use so much of the stuff so I give it away before it loses its strength.

Incidentally, I buy my Ziplock bags - actually generic - also at Smart & Final in the industrial-sized packages. The jumbo size is made by Hefty - I think the only one that comes in the 2 1/2 gallon size and I buy a lot of those.