Is it a good idea to store Rotten Food in the Freezer?

[Ranger REG]

If having old food in the fridge or freezer was inherently unsafe, I'd have been dead years ago.

Perhaps not dead but ... undead?

 

[Tinker Gnome]

My mother likes to put any packages that had meat in them in the freezer until trash day. She also insists I put the little sushi trays that we sometimes get in the freezer when I am done with them. They do not smell at all is the thing. One got left out for a couple of days in the house(when everything in it was eaten of course) and it did not smell at all.

 

[LiKral]

Some people have more sensitive noses than others, so something that smells fine to one person might reek to another.

 

[Tinker Gnome]

Some people have more sensitive noses than others, so something that smells fine to one person might reek to another.

She has never smelt them though, she just tells me to put them in the freezer. The things are odorless I tell you.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Odor is in part dependant on humidity. The more humid it is, the more something tends to smell. This is in some part dependant on bacteria, which thrive on humidity. However, odors tend to react with our noses better when there's water vapor to react with, in my limited experience. That's why rain forests and showers smell much worse than deserts and freezers - freezers are extremely arid environments.

Of course, people have different capacities for smell as well.

 

[Umbran]

It takes practice, but cooking only as much as your family will eat eliminates the need to store left-overs.

Only if you don't consider waste to be leftovers. I have cats. If I leave things like chicken bones in the indoor trash can, they will get into them. Any food waste they might go after has to be stored elsewhere. And, in the summertime, such waste will still invite flies and make the can stink to high heaven, even if the cats were not an issue.

Also, the universe does not provide all food items in convenient packages designed for exaclty the number of people you are cooking for. You make a salad for two, and you'll still have most of the head of lettuce left. That must be stored, and if not used, it will go bad.

 

[Pbartender]

Only if you don't consider waste to be leftovers. I have cats. If I leave things like chicken bones in the indoor trash can, they will get into them. Any food waste they might go after has to be stored elsewhere. And, in the summertime, such waste will still invite flies and make the can stink to high heaven, even if the cats were not an issue.

I wasn't exactly talking about kitchen scraps. I was talking about left-overs. The food that doesn't get eaten after a meal. Many families have a habit of tossing the left-overs back into the fridge and forgetting about them. They never get eaten, and eventually go bad.

Kitchen scraps, the inedible bits that are a result of cokking and eating dinner are another problem. We too have a cat. He loved to use the tips of his claws to open the cabinet that the garbage can is kept in and eat bad bits of food out of the trash. So we got a little hook from the hardware store, and "locked" the cabinet so he couldn't get in... He doesn't even bother trying to get into it anymore.

We also don't have an air-conditioning unit in our house. That means it can get pretty warm in the house during the summer. The simple solution is to regularly take the garbage out to the big can outside, which we made sure have lids that close tightly and clamp down. In the summer, the big garbage cans get a bit smelly and sometimes have flies inside the cans, but outside the cans it's not a problem.

Also, the universe does not provide all food items in convenient packages designed for exaclty the number of people you are cooking for.

No, it doesn't. And that's where the practice comes in. Sometimes you can't avoid it, but you can plan around it. If the head of lettuce is too big for a two person salad, you either need to buy a smaller head of lettuce or plan on having side salads with your dinner for the next two or three nights.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

Is she putting it in a plastic bag or something like that, or is she just putting it in there by itself?

Personally, we have put things like prawn heads in the freezer until garbage day so that the bin isn't really stinky. No-one has died so far!

Olaf the Stout

Ye old Wal-Mart Sack.

We have VERY tight Trash Cans. No smell will escape it, no flies in summer.

We are trying to have fewer leftovers. But with Busy Schedules it gets hard.

The main issue isn't really that she's storing trash in the Freezer.

The issue is that she told me "But it will make the Trash Stink" in a sarcastic tone that woud require computer anaylsis to prove it wasn't her mother.

Despite being under orders to inform here if she ever became like her mother, I believe the Exact words were: "If I ever turn into my mother, shoot me"

I'm pretty sure the whole "Don't shoot the Messager" line would go right out the window.

We haven't stored Trash in the Freezer in the entire 6 years we've been married.

Then, last week, she tosses it in a Wal-Mart sack into the Freezer.

Which is what her mother does. I'm not sure why she did it.

I'm thinking she's just been under a lot of stress.

I do know if I sure a Web Article about how it's not the safest method of Food Disposal, she'll go "OK, let's just take it out. That's why we spent an extra 20 bucks on the Garbage can."

If I tell her "Remember when you told me to make sure you never turn into your mother? Well you are doing it right now." I'm not sure what would happen, but I know a good deal of the alternatives are not pleasent.

Thank for that tip about Bacteria Growth still occuring in the Freezer! That should do it.

 

[Harmon]

I think that it falls into the area of bacterial growth.

Most bacteria stops growing when froozen (I think)

If it was me- I would not place a special basket or anything in the freezer, Id't just open the freezer, find the bag and toss it in the trash outside. If my wife complained I would say "I didn't want to forget. Sorry, I know you planned to take care of it. I was just trying to help," oh, and look inocent while saying it.

Interesting that she would pick up such a habit.

Reminds me of the story about the ham and cutting the ends off to cook it. Might be interesting to ask dear old mom the origin of that trash in the freezer.

Best of luc with this one, V.

 

[was]

No, I never store rotten food with any food that is still good. Just thinking about it gives me the creeps.....