CHAT Freezers are unavailable nationwide

[20Gauge]

The 40 yr. old freezer I have isn't for storing meat. I use it to store cheeses, butter, cornmeal, flour, and Bisquick. My newer freezer is to store only meat. I know I could can all the meat out of that freezer, and use it for those items, but my new range won't allow me to pressure can on it. As a safety measure on my range, the elements have a built in heat up cool down cycle. They won't hold a steady temp. I hate it for that one reason.

We got a gator tailgate griddle / grill that is perfect for our needs. It works as a regular 2 burner grill and has attachments to allow for griddle cooking / burgers or you can take them off and it works as a regular burner set for canning. We can rock two canners at a time (if I had two) and the best part is it folds up and can be carried / put in the back of a small car. The propane would need to be put in the back seat though. It cost about $180 when I got it for my birthday. One of the best things I got.

Best part I got it from my mother who thinks I am nuts about prepping, but got it so I could prep. Mothers!!

 

[20Gauge]

I haven't been able to find square freezer containers, they used to make them, pint, pint and half and quart, just fill them and freeze them, they stacked on one another and were handy, I tried finding them and no luck, they have some but these were a good sturdy plastic, and reasonably priced, now all I can find are like ziploc, now true I haven't bought any in probably 15 years or so, but I find it hard that they aren't made anymore.

We are using the totes from Home Depot. They are the ones with the split top. Sturdy and decently prices. They come in various sizes.. We use the 4 gallon for general storage and a 2 gallon? for simple freezer food storage. Something we can grab and carry if we need to bug out.

 

[20Gauge]

WOWWWWWWW

How do you come up with that number?

Gun about $500
Scope $500 need it for my aging eyes as I want to hit is correctly and not go chasing after it in the swamps around here.
Climber $250 due to the bogs / swamps you need a bit of elevation
Deer prep items , (grinder, etc) $250ish

 

[Dennis Olson]

WOWWWWWWW

How do you come up with that number?

I couldn’t fathom that either. Figure $500-600 for a decent used .30-06 with average scope. Then a hundred or so for a skinning/gutting knife, the meat hooks, the cloth bags the carcass goes in, etc. I figure $800 tops, and the absolute lion’s share of that is the gun. Everyone here has a hunting rifle already, right....?

 

[briches]

We’ve been looking for over a month as well. No luck. The moment a decent one comes on the marketplace, it’s gone.

 

[Millwright]

Especially now.

After hunting season AND people are scraping up dollars, any way they can.

 

[packyderms_wife]

I couldn’t fathom that either. Figure $500-600 for a decent used .30-06 with average scope. Then a hundred or so for a skinning/gutting knife, the meat hooks, the cloth bags the carcass goes in, etc. I figure $800 tops, and the absolute lion’s share of that is the gun. Everyone here has a hunting rifle already, right....?

Lost mine in that horrible tsunami while fishing one year... damned avalanches and all that, note never go fishing at the base of an active volcano.

 

[Dennis Olson]

Simply tragic..

 

[packyderms_wife]

Simply tragic..

Very tragic.

 

[packyderms_wife]

Links for canning groups on Facebook

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Canning has 158,435 members. READ THE PINNED POST!!! THIS IS NOT THE PINNED POST!!! We are a group of canners who like to share our experiences with canning. We are not experts, the posts you will...

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[smokin]

I went to my local lowe's today for some seeds and gardening supplies. I wandered down by the freezer section just to see for myself. Not a chest freezer to be seen. Hudson Valley NY

 

[rafter]

I bought another 5 cu' the middle of Feb when I saw this coming. I have one and didn't have room for anything any bigger. Right on the box 'made in China'. So I have 2 of them full and I have a big french door frig with bottom freezer and it is also full.

Talked to my son in Georgia yesterday and he had been to Lowe's and over heard a lady asking about freezers. They told her, the minute they come in they are sold...so no back stock. He has a big one, so no worries there.

As far as pressure canners. A month ago the Presto canners were $65 at both Walmart and Amazon. I waited 2 weeks and the ones at Walmart went to $99 and the one at Amazon $127. Now the one from Walmart is $116!! I will head to the amish store to stock up on canning jars this next week...before there aren't any.

 

[parsonswife]

The 40 yr. old freezer I have isn't for storing meat. I use it to store cheeses, butter, cornmeal, flour, and Bisquick. My newer freezer is to store only meat. I know I could can all the meat out of that freezer, and use it for those items, but my new range won't allow me to pressure can on it. As a safety measure on my range, the elements have a built in heat up cool down cycle. They won't hold a steady temp. I hate it for that one reason.

I have the same stove. That's why we have to can using a propane burner on our BBQ

 

[Wyominglarry]

Bought one today at Menards. The person who helped me said they got two in last night and I bought one. When the other one plus a much smaller model are sold then they will have zero chest freezers. He said Menards told staff that there will not be any more chest freezers available until sometime in June.

 

[Siskiyoumom]

Canning groups!? What are these?

Your local county extension office might have a Master Food Preserver group as well as Master Gardener group. They usually offer a once a year training to become a MFP.

Ours is very vibrant and strong and once you complete the training they ask yiu to volunteer in training others.

One of our local MFP has a Facebook page called Cooking in Indian Country and she is doing on line classes on pressure canning deer meat, eel, salmon and vegetables.

Our group does a huge group buy of equipment each spring and it is so nice to pay wholesale prices.

 

[20Gauge]

lowes in Adrian,mi has boat loads of them from 7 cu foot all the way to 24 cu foot ones ..
the shortages on them must be local to where you live..

They are out where we live also. SE Georgia

I agree it may be spot outages, but it does show us the problem with China is getting worse.

 

[Dennis Olson]

There aren’t “spot outages.” There’s “spot availability.”

 

[Jerry799]

I couldn’t fathom that either. Figure $500-600 for a decent used .30-06 with average scope. Then a hundred or so for a skinning/gutting knife, the meat hooks, the cloth bags the carcass goes in, etc. I figure $800 tops, and the absolute lion’s share of that is the gun. Everyone here has a hunting rifle already, right....?

My hunting rifle is a 7.62x51 metric FAL...new STG58 carbine kit on a new forged Imbel receiver... with a 512 Eotech red dot. Built by Jeff at Hillbilly Firearms in TN.

 

[Dennis Olson]

I bought an AR10 from PSA. Fully built (though I had to buy the upper and lower separately.) Cost was $575 (roughly.) I hung a cheap optic on top until I can afford something better. Ran several mags through it at the range. Not a single F2F or F2E.

I bet mine goes bang as well as your $3000 FAL. (Though I do envy your EOTech, but for that gun I need a magnified optic.)

 

[NoMoreLibs]

SMH....

 

[DennisD]

Looks like my freezer just died. Got 15-18 years out of it. Caught it before everything thawed and was able to cram most into the fridge freeze compartment.
Not the best timing to deal with it.

 

[hope4mil]

Hallelujah! I just got my freezer, 4 months after I ordered it. It was first cancelled back in early April, ordered another one that day. Order delayed 3 times. Frigidaire told me it might not even come today. But thank the Good Lord, I got it. 23.5 cubic feet. It is huge.

 

[bobby.knight]

We have been trying to empty out our freezers. We have been picking up canned meat, fish. Using food processor for storing cereals, sugar, rice etc. Reason all it would take is a hit against the grid that would last longer than a week and no more gas for the generator and u lose all. Don’t think that isn’t in the plan of these terrorists.

 

[summerthyme]

Excellent, Hope!

We had a 28 c.f. chest freezer (bought in 1984) in our basement. 3 years ago, it started cooling less...it would keep food frozen, but would take forever to freeze anythung.

We had installed an 8 x 8 walk in freezer in our old milkhouse the previous summer, so we just transferred everything to it and shut the chest down. We still have a 15.8 c.f. in the basement and a 7.5 c.f. in the milkhouse. Yes, they're all full, or will be after harvest!

Anyway, with a potential sale and move in the near future, we need to start clearing stuff out. Hubby had a friend who just happened to stop by and was bemoaning the impossibility of getting a freezer, which he desperately needed for 4 hogs that were already too big.

I suggested he offer him the big chest freezer... it still runs, and I suspect either needs a top off of refrigerant or maybe a thermostat.

Hubby was *very* reluctant to even offer it...dunno what it is about men, but he felt it would insult the guy, because we "couldn't guarantee" the thing would work. Grrrrr...

I finally convinced him (ok, nagged him into calling the guy...and I DON'T believe in nagging!) And he jumped at the chance. It took us one full afternoon to move and rearrange several.shelf units in order to get the thing out of the cellar, but the friend showed up literally 30 minutes after we told him it was ready to move.

He took it directly to the local guy who does all the dairy refrigeration, and $50 worth of coolant later, he's got a working freezer.

After he left, I found 8 quart jugs of pure maple syrup on a shelf... apparently, we traded!

Summerthyme

 

[briches]

We were able to score an upright freezer about six weeks ago off of a fb group. It looks brand new. We are thrilled! $200 Works great. We are working on filling it.

 

[Maxypittbull]

I couldn’t fathom that either. Figure $500-600 for a decent used .30-06 with average scope. Then a hundred or so for a skinning/gutting knife, the meat hooks, the cloth bags the carcass goes in, etc. I figure $800 tops, and the absolute lion’s share of that is the gun. Everyone here has a hunting rifle already, right....?

hunting rifle??who needs a stinking hunting rifle???
the city dweller said...


also... scored a 10.6 cu foot for 345 bucks (after rebate) menards..
I know you remember Menards..guy said... you have to be on the list of pre ordered..we got lucky.......

 

[Dennis Olson]

Hallelujah! I just got my freezer, 4 months after I ordered it. It was first cancelled back in early April, ordered another one that day. Order delayed 3 times. Frigidaire told me it might not even come today. But thank the Good Lord, I got it. 23.5 cubic feet. It is huge.

You could keep 2 adult bodies in it. How many in your family? I'm thinking 6-10.

 

[Dennis Olson]

How well I remember them. But my fav was Fleet Farm.

 

[Maxypittbull]

How well I remember them. But my fav was Fleet Farm.

yep.. between the two ....I SPENT... big money..(.on the house.)..as well as saved BIG money
I guess... farm and fleet and fleet farm were two brothers that got into it.....
a divorce ..so to say..or was that menards..or even aldis..cant remember.

 

[Jeff Allen]

We just had the blower motor crap out on the geothermal furnace (Water Furnace brand) in one of our houses.

My repair guy said he got the last motor the distributor had for this unit.

J

 

[ainitfunny]

GO TO ALL THE ESTATE SALES. Very common to find freezers, DEhydrators, pressure canners and cookers for sale when grandma passes! (Often more than one, AND CANNING JARS AND SUPPLIES too!)

 

[hope4mil]

We only have two, my husband and me. But we also have two kids with spouces, and 7 Grandkids. They are all close so we plan for them too.