[Marsha]

I’m so upset. We had a bad storm come through last night. We are in spring Texas. Looks like we won’t have power 1-3 days. My freezer is full of meat!!! So far power has been out for 16 hrs.

[Stephanie]

I’m in the woodlands. pm me and I can keep your food in my extra freezer and fridge for you.

[Kim]

We are in The Heights. We were told it might take a week to get power back.

[Chelle]

I have a 1500-watt inverter that I bought at Walmart for around $150. I attached clamps to the wires like they have on jumper cables. When the power goes out, I use our car like a generator.

I connect the clamps to the car battery and let it idle. Then I run an extension cord into the house and connect it to the refrigerator, freezer, and a few lights.

Another topic: I need ideas for a chuck roast I have in the freezer

[Katrina]

If it’s packed tight it will keep colder longer as long as you keep it closed. Put a ice cube in a small cup and place on top in freezer. The temperature drop will start melting the ice cube long before your meat. Keep check throughout your power outage.

[Tammy]

Have a huge cookout! We did that one year. All us neighbors started grilling everything from bacon & eggs to ribs. Some boiled water for things like pasta mash potatoes, etc. Families and strangers came together those days.

[Lana]

My neighbors grilled for hours and invited all the neighbors and friends. Nothing more to do but cook and share or let it spoil. I am so sorry. Glad you made it through the bad weather. I am hearing lots of awful stories.

[Emily]

I can our food. Gives me peace of mind to have shelf stable food. We have a generator for the freezer, but we travel quite a few times each year and I worry about the freezer going out.

[Mary-Ann]

What folks in that area are dealing with (this photo was taken in Cypress, TX – NW Houston) following yesterday’s storm:

[Mary]

A freezer will keep food frozen 48 hours without power, if it’s full and if you do not open it.

[Pauline]

That happened to me after hurricane Irma in Florida, no power for 7 days. You don’t need to start with a whole house system just a solar battery backup big enough to power your fridge/freezer. Look on Amazon on prime day for good deals. I hope your power is restored soon.

[Charlotte]

Please consider taking the food to a shelter and feed as many people as possible-Or take care of your neighbors and get a grill and feed the workers who will be working to restore power

[Michelle]

One of the reasons we moved from Texas to Georgia- too much bad weather! I remember the lost power in Texas during that snow storm where kids were dying in their beds!

[Carol]

One thing I learned living in Florida. Each year add to you SHTF products. Grill, propane or coals to cook, power banks,, solar power, batteries for extra items ( fans, radios ), when a storm is coming always have 1 garbage can for water and fill it up.

Make shift potty. Solar charging lights. These items can be picked up cheap & used to have what you need.

If your living in a problematic state be prepared.

Recommended: I’m trying to make freezer jam – Any advice is greatly appreciated

[Nicole]

We have a generator for this reason..it wasn’t cheap to buy up front but we figure if we lose power we lose that much if not more in meat. We have an upright freezer and a chest freezer normally full of meat. I hope you can get it figured out or maybe drive to find a generator somewhere.

[Rachael]

I’m in north east Texas and we had that big outage last summer. We went without power for 5 days. I have a chest freezer out in my shed, we never opened it, not once. Once power was back on I opened it and everything was still rock solid.

[Alexis]

Can you get a generator somewhere just to use for the freezer/fridge? We have one we use on occassion for just that. One year we were without power for a week in July. Thank goodness for the generator.

[Jean]

Of course you know not to open the freezer. Things will last several days. If, when you have power, the food still has ice crystals, it is safe to refreeze it.

Food with no ice crystals, but still cold, can be cooked and refrozen. Veggies probably fare the worst with freeze-thaw-refreeze, since the ice forms in the cells of the plant and the cells are pushed outwards. A thaw and refreeze can break down the cell walls and the veggies can get mushy.

They are still safe, but not just not as pleasant to eat. Just for the record, I am a retired County Extension Agent with a degree in Home Economics.

I’m only telling you that so that you know what I’ve said is based in science.

[Author]

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