Tag Archives: freezer

This Hack Makes Composting at Home So Much Easier

Most people new to composting find that there are a number of nuisances that are difficult to avoid. Odor, fruit flies, countless trips to the bin in the backyard…in the beginning, all this can be enough to make even the most dedicated want to give up.

But what would you say if I told you there was a single solution that could take care of all three of these problems? All you need is a freezer!

Stashing your food scraps in the freezer might sound weird, but it’s actually a great way to keep all those organic discards from ending up stinky and bug-ridden. Simply locate a bin (this could be an old coffee can, a 3-quart trash can, reusable silicon bags ? anything, really) that you don’t mind relegating to the freezer, and place it on a shelf where it can be easily accessed.

When the bin gets full, all you have to do is empty it in your pile and give your empty freezer bin a rinse. The organics will already be well on their way to decomposing and you’ll have been able to avoid the trek to the pile for at least a week, if not more!

What makes this method so great?

1. Minimal to no odor

Frozen organic matter does not interact with its environment the way it would were it on the kitchen counter. Open the freezer and all you’ll smell is icy freshness! Bonus tip: Struggling to keep everything tidy? Lay a flexible cutting board underneath your freezer bin to catch any escaped scraps.

2. Zero?pests

Common pests like fruit flies and maggots will steer clear of your freezer. They don’t want to be in there any more than you do!?Freezing scraps will also kill any insect larva that may be in the food.

3. A convenient location

It takes next to no effort to drop a banana peel or pile of carrot shavings into a bin just steps from where you created them. Keep your bin in the freezer and you won’t have to tromp out to the backyard every five minutes just to drop your scraps off for decomposition.

4. Quicker decomposition

Speaking of decomposition…did you know that the act of freezing actually breaks down the cell walls of organic material? It’s true! When that newly dumped bin of scraps thaws in your pile (or in your city’s pile), it’ll already be much closer to becoming the black gold you know it can be.

How to apply frozen scraps by composting method.

If you have a traditional pile:

Keep doing what you’re doing. Freezing kitchen scraps will help stretch the time between trips out to the compost pile. Sometimes that’s all the motivation you need!

If you?use bokashi:

Frozen scraps can be added to your bokashi bucket, no problem. Just make sure you’re still layering with “browns”?? a.k.a. dry, high-carbon materials like newspaper, brown paper bag shreds, sawdust, etc.

If you?send scraps out for collection:

Again, keep doing what you’re doing. Compost collectors won’t have any issue with frozen scraps. The only consideration here is that you get the bin out a few minutes ahead of pick-up time so you don’t have to struggle to dump a frozen-together lump of scraps into your collection bin.

If you have a worm bin / vermicomposter:

If you are using a vermicomposter to manage your kitchen scraps, adding the scraps directly to the bin as you make them may still be your best bet ? don’t want to overwhelm those worms! Still want to save scraps in the freezer? Just make sure you thaw them before adding them to the worm tray.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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This Hack Makes Composting at Home So Much Easier

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The Demon in the Freezer – Richard Preston

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

The Demon in the Freezer
A True Story
Richard Preston

Genre: Life Sciences

Price: $1.99

Publish Date: October 8, 2002

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Seller: Penguin Random House LLC


“The bard of biological weapons captures the drama of the front lines.” -Richard Danzig, former secretary of the navy The first major bioterror event in the United States-the anthrax attacks in October 2001-was a clarion call for scientists who work with “hot” agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer , his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone , a #1 New York Times bestseller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of Usamriid, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, once the headquarters of the U.S. biological weapons program and now the epicenter of national biodefense. Peter Jahrling, the top scientist at Usamriid, a wry virologist who cut his teeth on Ebola, one of the world’s most lethal emerging viruses, has ORCON security clearance that gives him access to top secret information on bioweapons. His most urgent priority is to develop a drug that will take on smallpox-and win. Eradicated from the planet in 1979 in one of the great triumphs of modern science, the smallpox virus now resides, officially, in only two high-security freezers-at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and in Siberia, at a Russian virology institute called Vector. But the demon in the freezer has been set loose. It is almost certain that illegal stocks are in the possession of hostile states, including Iraq and North Korea. Jahrling is haunted by the thought that biologists in secret labs are using genetic engineering to create a new superpox virus, a smallpox resistant to all vaccines. Usamriid went into a state of Delta Alert on September 11 and activated its emergency response teams when the first anthrax letters were opened in New York and Washington, D.C. Preston reports, in unprecedented detail, on the government’s response to the attacks and takes us into the ongoing FBI investigation. His story is based on interviews with top-level FBI agents and with Dr. Steven Hatfill. Jahrling is leading a team of scientists doing controversial experiments with live smallpox virus at CDC. Preston takes us into the lab where Jahrling is reawakening smallpox and explains, with cool and devastating precision, what may be at stake if his last bold experiment fails.

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The Demon in the Freezer – Richard Preston

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15 Foods You Didn’t Know You Could Freeze

Food waste continues to be a serious problem, with an estimated 30 to 40 percent of food intended for human consumption going to landfill. While some of the spoilage occurs in the field and during processing and transportation to supermarkets, the vast majority happens in refrigerators, where too many items end up languishing till they rot, at which point they get tossed in the trash.

Before that happens, learn to use your freezer as effectively as possible. It acts like a giant pause button, preserving foods for later consumption. While it is recommended to eat frozen foods within three months, it doesnt mean they will go bad; they may just require some flavor boosters to taste good. (viaLove Food Hate Waste)

Did you know you can freeze almost anything?This was news to me. I used to think there were clear rules about what should go into the freezer and what should not. It turns out, thats not the case. I am a fan offreezing without plastic, which is why I do not recommend any freezer bags or plastic wrap in the following directions.

Here are some foods that you probably never knew were great for freezing:

Mushrooms:Brush off any dirt, trim the bottoms, and slice thinly. Lay on a baking sheet in single layer, freeze for 2 hours, then transfer to airtight container.

Avocadoes:Cut in half, remove stone, and freeze in airtight container. Or scoop out flesh, mash with a bit of lemon or lime juice, and freeze for nearly-ready guacamole.

Coffee:Dont dump it down the drain! Pour into an ice cube tray until frozen solid, then transfer to an airtight container or glass jar. Thaw out small quantities for baking or to boost iced coffee when the weather warms up.

Wine:Got some leftover dregs in a bottle thats been sitting on the counter too long? Freeze in an ice cube tray, then transfer to a container. Use for cooking.

Eggs:You can freeze eggs as long as you beat them or separate the whites and yolks into separate containers. Read Melissas more detailed directionshere.

Fresh herbs:Some weeks its hard to use up an entire bunch of cilantro or parsley before it starts turning black and slimy. Finely chop and freeze as-is, mixed with olive oil in an ice cube tray, or blended into pesto. The same goes for fresh ginger. If using fresh basil, you must blanch for 1 min before chopping and freezing. The plain, fresh herbs need to be thawed before using, but the olive oil cubes can get tossed in a pan or pot of soup/stew.

Garlic:Peel fresh garlic cloves and freeze whole in an airtight container. Its actually easier to chop (less sticky) when still partially frozen.

Potatoes:Mashed potatoes freeze best, but you can also freeze potatoes that have boiled for 5 minutes, then toss them in a baking pan to roast once removed from the freezer.

Milk:You can freeze cartons, jugs, and the plastic bags in which milk is sold in Canada. Alternatively, pour into an ice cube tray and transfer cubes to a container once solid. Same goes for cream, buttermilk, and yogurt.

Chips:Don’t let a bag of chips go stale. Pop it in the freezer and let defrost for a few minutes before eating.

Organic and/or natural nut butters:If you’ve stocked up because of a sale, store in the freezer if you won’t be eating it within a couple months. You can also freeze opened jars of nut butter.

Cooked pasta and rice:Freeze leftovers in an airtight container, defrost, and reheat with a few tablespoons of water. Alternatively, you can place the frozen pasta in a colander and pour boiling water over to thaw and heat simultaneously. Add sauce and you’re ready to go. It’s also possible to partially cook arborio rice, freeze, and then continue cooking later to make risotto.

Diced onion and celery:Freeze chopped fresh onions and celery in small portions to make easy additions to soups and curries. They will require some extra browning time to get rid of additional moisture.

Written by Katherine Martino. Reposted with permission from TreeHugger.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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15 Foods You Didn’t Know You Could Freeze

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