40L engel fridge freezer

It would be cheaper to buy a vacuum sealing machine!

I regularly use a 40 litre Engel as a freezer.
My wife has kept frozen meat in it for months – no different to a normal household freezer.
I usually run it between -10 and -20 degrees.

We don't have an Engel, but the principle is the same with our no-brand 55 litre with a Danfoss compressor.

We run it as a freezer at minus 20 when on 240 or when driving, and when camped we set it at minus 10 to conserve power. We have no problems storing frozen stuff for as long as we want.

Cheers

I agree with the others. Crank the Engel up to near maximum and it will freeze stuff nicely.

The only other thing I would add is that is a good idea to ensure the freezer is virtually full all the time. They tend to run harder (ie: use more power) if they don't have much stuff in them. So if you start to run low on frozen food, start adding bottled water or similar to take up the air space inside.

Roachie

I would have thought that meat if bought soon after it is packed at the supermarket will last for more than 4 days in a fridge with a normal temp of below 5 degrees. When you are next in the supermarket check the use by date on the meat - is usually well more than 4 days.

When we are camping....I used a 40 liter Engle as a freezer for 3 weeks at a time at around -13 to -15 degrees on 12 volt. No problems. If you do not have access to 240 volt...then you will need to think about power usage and keeping batteries charged.

We travel for weeks on end with a 39 litre Engel on freeze. Coldest temp we get is -18. However at night we reduce temp to around -12 to save on power. We freeze bread and ice cream as well. Haven't had any troubles to date. I also cryovac my meat before freezing just in case as we are often travelling in remote areas. If something happens and I lose the ability to freeze at least the cryovac meat will last a while just in the fridge. It might be overkill but I don't want to lose >$100 of meat..

My 40 Litre Engel sits at Minus 20 Degrees C at its maximum cold setting.

At its normal fridge setting, Cryovac meat will last a good 6 weeks without any issues.

Iza

Hi James

Is the soul purpose of freezing just to keep meat longer before it goes off????

I have used Engel fridges for over 20 years and usually run the fridge so the inside cabinet temperature sits around 0°. We have the butcher cryovac the meat and keep it at the bottom of the fridge, and it will last fresh well into the third week. Even milk that usually only has a 10 day life will last into the third week, with not sign of it going off.

The biggest thing that will make any food products go off is oxygen and warm temperatures. Yes the blood inside the cryovac bag will go a green colour with age, but the smell of the meat when taken from the bag is as fresh as the day the butcher put it in the bag.

The only thing that you must watch out for, is if the bag develops an air leak and slips, the plastic will not be firm over the meat and will be quite lose, and if that is the case, the meat will only last for a few days once that happens.

Give it a go of having your meat cryovaced and see the difference on just how long the meat will last.


Happy Camping.



Cheers



Stephen

0 deg celcius is the freezing point of water, I run my 40 Engel at -5, about 3.5 on the dial, never had a problem.

I have a 40L engel (cheaper plastic version). It nearly freezes everything even on the lowest setting (on 12 volt supply).

I have a 80L of another brand... Can't speak highly enough of the Engel.