At What Temperature Should I Keep My Freezer?

Frozen Foodie

Heather says:

Ideally the best temperature for your freezer 0°F. If you are going to be freezing a few things (like you're making  a big batch of lasagna) bump the freezer down to -10°F several hours or the day before, if possible.  The faster foods freeze, the smaller the ice crystals, the less damage to texture occurs.

I'm wondering if you didn't happen to check the temperature in the middle of the defrost cycle? After the compressor has been cycling for a set amount of time it shuts down and the temperature of the freezer can rise during this period. That is normal. What wouldn't be normal is if it's not cycling back on in time. What I would do is buy a cheap thermometer and use that to check the calibration of the one in the freezer. Place the thermometer as low in the freezer as possible and only check after the door has been shut for several hours -first thing in the morning is a good time.

In lieu of that take an ice cube and set it in an obvious place -in the freezer. If the ice cube changes shape, you've got problems and that french door model will be fancifying your kitchen sooner than later.

According to This Old House, refrigerators still have a life expectancy of 14 – 17 years. We have a second hand refrigerator in our garage that must be over 20 years old.

While there was a big real estate boom -and subsequent crash- in the interim many people have opted to remodel their existing homes rather than buying a new home since 2001 and with a kitchen remodel usually comes new appliances. This may be why your appliance guy hasn't seen too many older refrigerators. The conspiracy theorists like to say that appliances are now built with planned obsolescence so they'll have to be replaced more often. I think society's  pursuit of the cheap has made sacrifices in regards to quality.

Personally, I'm starting to squirrel away a remodel fund as our appliances are starting to edge close to that life expectancy.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

At What Temperature Should I Keep My Freezer? is a post from: Home Ec 101 ©Home Ec 101.com 2007 - 2011