My freezer is new enough that it doesn't use as much energy as the old ones
did. My Dad used to buy a calf every year and would put it on a friends
land, until it was about a year old, then he would have it barned and fed
corn for like a month or two, have it butchered and freezer wrapped. We
didn't have a freezer, but we had an old fridge ,that he turned into a
freezer, our meat was great. I think it depends on the butcher. The one we
had followed my Mothers directions to the tee....Heaven help him if he
didn't...LOL. She used to make pasties around Christmas time and freeze
them....then on days she baked and didn't have time to cook a big dinner she
would pop some pasties in the oven and serve with a salad...or home made
soup that she also had frozen. Those were the good ole days...LOL.

"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
>
> "jacquie" > wrote in message
> m...
>>I love my big freezer. I also have a food vacuum that keeps food from
>>being frostbit. I buy large quantities of meat and separate them into the
>>bags vacuum and seal. That's one way to get meat at a cheaper price
>>usually. Sometimes when there is a sale on meat I will buy a bunch and
>>vacuum and seal. I would love to buy a quarter or side of grass fed beef
>>..but still looking for grass fed beef in my area When I make stew I
>>always make to much...from the days when the kids were still home...so I
>>freeze it ...same with chili . I don't know what I would do without my
>>freezer
>
> I remember the horrible year we had the big freezer in the basement. My
> parent's friends loaned it to them while they were out of town.
>
> They bought a side of beef and it was really bad meat. Tough and fatty.
> All sorts of strange cuts we wouldn't normally eat.
>
> Then there were the strawberries and raspberries that we picked. I
> remember all the cursing as we hulled them all. They also bought one huge
> container of them already cleaned that had been sugared. *cringe*
> Strawberries are not a favorite, but I can't stand them with sugar on
> them.
>
> Then the apples. We went to Eastern Washington and came back with a case
> of apples that were cooked into sauce.
>
> All the freezer cartons! We didn't have good plastic bags in those days.
> I remember counting the containers and there were over 300 of them.
>
> In the end, my parents said they didn't save any money. The freezer cost
> too much money to run. And we were stuck eating food we didn't like,
> because we couldn't afford to throw it out and buy more.
>