separate freezer for storing prepared meals?

[cat lover]

An older man that lives near us has had some surgery and lives alone and is going to be unable to cook for awhile, but will be able to heat up things. He has 3 separate freezers; he does one for fruits, one for meats, and one for vegetables. Some people want to prepare some meals ahead for him so. I talked to him and we are going to take part of his "meat" freezer and place his prepared meals in that one. They will be easy to find. We also are asking others to save some of those harder plastic microwave dishes that come in several freezer meals at the grocery so we can reuse those for those meals. We can cover them with plastic wrap and then foil to freeze.
Just wondering if anyone else has separate freezers for this easy to find things way. It is making me rethink the one bigger freezer for smaller ones. It would be a great way of doing this cooking ahead! What do you think?

[ajrsmom]

Does it cost more to have 3 separate freezers instead of one efficient bigger one?

If you already have a large freezer, couldn't you just separate the levels?

It's really nice of you to help him out!!

[happymomof4]

My parents years ago had 2 large freezers. One had the meat and one had the vegetables. But it wasn't to keep them seperate. It was more because all of us lived at home and we used that much food. We had a farm. We grew our own vegetables. My mom freezed alot of them. Now I think my mom only uses one of the large freezers any more.

I have 2 freezers. I keep my beef and pig in 1 because of the quanity of beef and pork we have at 1 time this freezer is a large box freezer. Then I use the other freezer for everything else this one is a stand up one.

The idea of making food ahead of time is fantastic.

[cat lover]

Originally Posted by ajrsmom

Does it cost more to have 3 separate freezers instead of one efficient bigger one?

If you already have a large freezer, couldn't you just separate the levels?

It's really nice of you to help him out!!

I'm sure the cost is a little more using three rather than one. We have a "tendency"(for a lack of a better word) to have very low electric bills here so I guess we "splurge" a little in some ways. Mine runs about $80 per month for 3000 SF home,and the man I was talking about, well his runs even less.

Plus since we are in a very rural area and only have one grocery (small neighborhood one at that) we grow lots of our food. Even this man that lives by himself has a 1/2 acre garden, fruit trees, nut trees, gooseberry bushes and more. So he freezes everything rather than can. He also raises rabbits for meat and hunts for other meat. Plus once or twice a year the packing company has a truckload chicken sale; usually a 35 pound box of whole marinated chicken for $20 and other chicken specials. So freezers are important here; LOL So in the long run like I said I guess we "splurge" on the electric costs vs. all the other savings we gather from freezers here.

I have tried the layering levels, but usually having to empty the top layers to get to the others turns into a mess for me. I evenbought "containers" tp layer the foods in, but that took up too much space.

What do the rest of you do as far as your month ahead cooking? Do you fully prepare dishes, partially prepare or what?

[Bilby]

Nope never heard of separate freezers for different foods before.

I have one very large upright freezer that is the same size as my fridge with shelves the same as the fridge, makes it much easier to find things. I personally hate the big box or as we say chest freezers.

I'm sure your friend will appreciate your help in filling his freezer and keeping him fed.

[WendyMichelle]

Mother does have a freezer 4 meats only and then the other 1 is 4 everything except meats...makes it so much easier 2 find "dinner" that way...