Off Grid How to Keep Your Food Cool Without Refrigeration

[@AbeeBaby]

I do not live off grid in any way but love watching these videos. Reminds me so much of being back at my dads and grandmas. ❤️ Thank you for that.

[@ArtisanAcre]

Chelsey, thank you for lovely comment! And for watching!

[@thisisnotmyname4700]

Great stuff! We also live off grid, and love it! *Praise Yah!*

[@chaitrapollard8869]

I wished I would have known this when my son was an infant. I was told his milk had to be refrigerated. Thanks Lydia. God bless you and your family.❤🙏

[@tristancassidylloyd223]

My husband and I are only 20 years old and we are saving up money right now to buy a cheap piece of land in Wyoming. We want to live off-grid and drop everything that isn't important.

[@lesliekendall5668]

And MY point is why spend all that money? If you want to be off grid just turn off your breaker box. People may call themselves "off grid" but they get out to the country and spend BIG BUCKS trying to figure out how to have all the conveniences they had before but just by using anything other than MUNICIPAL electricity. It's still stuff that'll be cut off when SHTF. Instead of saying off grid, they should just say without MUNICIPAL electricity. Cuz most of them even have a generator so they're not even technically living without electricity. And anyone can do that where they are.

[@samuelwaymon]

Two years later, how's it going?

[@tammygagnon996]

Enjoyed the video. Thank you 🇨🇦

[@ArtisanAcre]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@hellenjones5129]

Your videos are so helpful I hadn’t realized there were so many things to consider with being an off grid homesteader .. thank you god bless

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you Hellen Jones :)

[@1acrehomesteader43]

I started living off grid last July. Started out with a 77 quart lifetime cooler. Turns out it was way too big for my needs. Now I'm living out of a typical cooler. Looking at getting one of those dual fridge/freezer units from Amazon. I'm so over hauling ice! lol Love your channel and subbed!

[@victoriajohnson3034]

Same situation! Hauling ice sucks!

[@galerogers2915]

I envy your lifestyle. I hate the rat race pace of modern life. You stay in such a hurry that you wake up one day and you wonder where your life went. It's so sad that we can't enjoy the wonderful things that God made for us. Everyone is too busy making a living. All of the inventions that are supposed to make our lives easier wind up stealing our lives from us in the long run. God Bless You Leah and your whole family. Thanks for sharing. Love, Gale

[@ArtisanAcre]

Hi Gale, this is very true! You know though, because living this lifestyle is finding a new audience, thanks to the invent of youtube and other platforms, it too can become "hectic" or "fast pass" trying to "stay on top" of the platform. We have seen many running like cray just to stay on top, it kind of loses the purpose of living this way. We want to share to inspire so that people will turn off our channel and go "live" life, whether it is in this modern rat race and learning to put things in their place or embracing simplicity without mod cons. My point in this is, the things we have or the things we do, can get out of hand regardless of what ones lifestyle is, so we pray that people will just put things where they belong and "enjoy the wonders Christ has made for us:" mainly each other. Christ peace be with you my friend!

[@vivianking8143]

Dear Gale Rogers, Have you read the book 'Henry and the Great Society' by H.L. Roush? A wonderful book that depicts your very thoughts. If you have not read it, it is much worth your time, I am re reading it now for about the 6th time. Much encouragement in it, I gain something more each time. Blessings to you.

[@shilohfarm7248]

Really enjoyed this. My grandparents had an icebox and the ice man would come around every week but can’t remember to much about using it . Thanks for teaching on it. God Bless

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you Rdgate Farm In The Foothills :)

[@saddlesNsage]

I look forward to seeing/hearing, how/what you do in developing out your refrigeration. The ice box is our last piece of 'furniture' to find. Thank you for sharing! XX

[@pattifoote1714]

I love the large ice box, what a find! Love your videos also!

[@robertinebuckley4245]

Great video! I was really intrigued. Thanks for sharing!

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you!

[@betod3113]

Wow u guys are really prepared incase power goes out or if something big happenes..

[@dianerobillard1044]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge. God Bless

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you for watching Diane!

[@brentjodrey5114]

my cooler is doing great under the snow

[@beachsandinmyhair5429]

Thank you for sharing! It's very interesting!!

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you Denise!

[@roderickwhitehead]

I live in NW Pennsylvania and there are many Amish families around me, so ice boxes are "a thing" and often sell at auctions. Still, because there is a market for ice boxes in my area, they seem to command a premium price, as the Amish come to the auctions LOADED with cash. I have been looking for an icebox for my farmstead... but I am on grid, and have been getting by with a small dormitory refrigerator and a chest freezer... the cost of running these units is low. My "Kill-a-Watt" meter shows me the chest freezer is running me about $30 per year to operate... and a recent local Craigslist ad I just saw for a smaller Frigid brand icebox (very similar to your small one) has an asking price of $430. That is a LOT of money... I am thinking more in the range of $50.

[@ArtisanAcre]

I know they can be spendy! We were gifted with our little one years (about 20) ago by a dear relative and our large one was a steel of a deal! Our boys are building their own places and are planning on building their own. The Boss on Boss of the swamp has a nice design that of course can be modified to fit ones needs and material resources. I've pasted a link below if you haven't seen it and are interested in what he did. Can be done for about $50 I bet if being creative. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWebq2CPf9uYn5Y

[@roderickwhitehead]

Family Heritage Living: This Pioneer Life - Thanks for the link, Lea. In time... I am not in a rush, as what I have works well for me right now. The only issue I have is that a friend of mine may be moving in soon... and even if I have been able to do without things like television, and having to refrigerate 6 different bottles of store bought salad dressings (read as: soybean oil), and a bunch of wilted celery... and leftover containers of food (like her current lunatic asylum of a household's refrigerator has in it)... I may have to do something to increase my cool storage capacity to provide for her and her 3 young children. I already explained to her that I will try and accomodate her family... but she will have to "get with the program" as I refuse to have a television set in my house, my home will continue to be heated with wood, and even if it hits 110º this summer, I do not run air conditioning in my house.

[@susannahjoy4220]

I had wondered how you were doing with the icebox with it getting warmer :) I hope the spring box will work! Random question: Have you ever tried canning your milk? :)

[@ArtisanAcre]

Years ago I canned milk. It was in my early years of canning and I was very paranoid about things so I pressure canned it, basically it became caramelized milk/evaporated. Yuck lol We go through it so fast here with all these guys and with cooking, I'm lucky if I have enough to make sour cream or farm cheeses with it!

[@whohadalamb6372]

Thank you for this video! I found your channel looking up how to cook on a wood cook stove since I just recently purchased one. My family and I are in the transition of moving off grid soon. (3 years in the works) Still looking for land though it seems the hardest!! Where did you get your ice box? Is it costly? And could you do some more videos on cooking, so when I start I don't burn everything...Thank you!!!!

[@vivianking8143]

Hello Lea and family, blessings.

[@ArtisanAcre]

Hello Vivian :)

[@angelashurtleff]

Excellent video

[@ArtisanAcre]

Thank you Angela!

[@debbiem2146]

If you have a pond nearby, would you ever consider ice harvesting and an ice house?

[@ArtisanAcre]

Hi Debbie, we actually have lakes all around us we can harvest on and yes, would love an ice house just not something we can do at this time........maybe someday the good Lord willing :)

[@samanthabrown9671]

Great video

[@jesskan9828]

We visited an Amish home and they had an ice box that was looked like Fort Knox from the garage side. Their fridge was in their pantry and you opened it to that ice box that was in their garage. I have never seen anything so cool - no pun intended! Lol! They cut ice from the farmers pond across the street. It even had a copper tubing that was for cold water.

[@ArtisanAcre]

Harvesting ice! That would be so wonderful to have an ice house!

[@AnaLopez-hq5ne]

Thanks Lea, I love the look of the wood, god bless my sister x

[@ArtisanAcre]

Hi Ana :)

[@Pinkstrawbxrry]

POV you’re in 2020 learning just in case the rumors are true

[@italianboyz12345]

You're kinda cute, wanna start a homestead with me? If you say no then you are racist

[@Pinkstrawbxrry]

@@italianboyz12345 kinda? Is that supposed to be a compliment?

[@italianboyz12345]

@@Pinkstrawbxrry if you're not a racist then yes

[@Pinkstrawbxrry]

@@italianboyz12345 I’m def not racist but that could be backhanded compliment

[@italianboyz12345]

@@Pinkstrawbxrry you're cute ngl

[@themooresarmyoffour3923]

How much do you think is reasonable if we are lucky enough to find an icebox?

[@ArtisanAcre]

Oh my goodness, it has been so long I couldn't begin to guess what current prices are. I can only tell you that a decade ago, for a small icebox (like ours and ours is porcelain lined not galvanized) if memory serves correctly they were common to find in the antique stores for $300-$500. Our large one, we got a killer deal on, I mean a deal, but you would probably look at around $1500-$3000 in an antique store for one like that. You could get online, and type in "oak icebox" and see what the average price is online. I know that you can usually find them on ebay, though most won't ship as it is too much, but it can give you a general guide line for what the prices might be and what kind of ice box to expect in that price range.

[@lesliekendall5668]

Just use an old refrigerator. Or turn off the one you have. That's all I use. Turn off your breaker box and buy ice. 🤷‍♀️

[@codyandkrismoorefield1385]

What's the name of your theme song? Thank you...love your videos!

[@sherryl817]

How do you keep your 2 liter bottles frozen off grid in the warm & hot weather?

[@ArtisanAcre]

This video was done in our home before we moved. We were simi off grid in that house and had a deep freeze in the garage that we froze our bottles in. In our current location we use the ice box in the winter and cooler months, having cut a vent from the box that goes directly outside and cold air feeds the box; this allows us to use it about 6-8 months out of the year. Rest of the time we use the creek and in really hot weather we will use a cooler.

[@victoriajohnson3034]

Buying ice for icebox has cost a fortune!

[@ritarichardson3881]

My suggestion is like a water mill.

[@John-Adams-Can]

Propane freezer?

[@ArtisanAcre]

Those do work well but they are very expensive for one that is bigger than a cooler. That is the primary draw back on those. Once you have one though (around $1700) then it is just a matter of propane which isn't too spending but if you live too far out you have worry about hauling it. Thanks for watching!

[@John-Adams-Can]

@@ArtisanAcre We will be in the same boat very soon. It is a conundrum! Maybe it is better to put that same money into a few more solar panels and a used fridge. Still looking into it. Yes I see propane is $4000 here for anything big enough to be worth it.

[@ArtisanAcre]

@@John-Adams-Can We did look into that but it is insane the amount of wattage needed to run a freezer. The solar panel system becomes very expensive at that point. You going off grid?

[@John-Adams-Can]

@@ArtisanAcre Absolutely going off grid! We have 32 acres in Northern Ontario near Algonquin Park. We have power at the road but the hookup cost would be around $30K or more. We figured we would run a small solar setup for now. We are building a small 800 sqft house ourselves once the snow is a bit less. We are in an apratment about 40 minutes from the property and cannot wait to get onto it and build! Thanks for your help tho! Refrigeration was one big thing on our mind still.

[@bullymaguire9677]

How did they make this video

[@ArtisanAcre]

Interesting when some hear "off grid" they think dark ages. "Off grid" simply means not being part of the "power grid" and then that means one has as much or as little electricity as they desire derived from other sources than the power grid. These sources can be, but not limited to, solar, wind, water or even a invertor generator which is what we use mostly for our computers. We use wood for heat and water heating and kerosene or solar charged batteries for lighting. We use a satellite for internet so we can post these videos after making them on our solar panel or generator charged devices. Thank you viewing.

[@vivianking8143]

Hi again Lea and family, I would like to ask if you use your wood stove all year inside or do you have another outside? And if you have already addressed this somewhere please instruct me where to view it. ") Thanks for sharing of your lives, great encouragement. In Joy

[@ArtisanAcre]

Hi Vivian, Yes we do use our stove year round though I have wanted an outdoor kitchen for years :) In the hot months I try to plan cooking for first thing in the morning so I can light the stove up, do my cooking and do any dishes early and then let the stove die out in the early part of the day. Sometimes we have used a campfire or even a camp stove in the hottest weeks of the summer. Vivian, I am really glad you left a comment as you have been on my mind almost daily since we received a lovely hand written letter from you a month or so ago. I have intended day after day to write you but sadly to say, I fail miserably at taking time to write, especially pen to paper, it truly is a lost art and one I envy. But we were touched by your letter and if you are willing to correspond via email it would be lovely to get to know your family. If you would like to do so please contact us at [e-mail]. The peace of Christ be with you, Lea

[@lizwalker1546]

maybe we should come together and find a nice piece of property and make a comunity to live off grid , because this year is just the beginning of the chaos thats about to be set free .....

[@lesliekendall5668]

Well, yeah if you have an ELECTRIC freezer. How is that non-electric??? I'm sorry but that seems .....well, just HAVE A FRIDGE. 🙄 🤷‍♀️

[@ArtisanAcre]

I'm sorry Leslie it has been a while since I've watched that video so not sure if you comment is in regards to something on it but we have no electric freezer or fridge. We moved off grid in 2016 but before that we were "semi" offgrid. We did have a deep freezer up until that point and we have some videos on our channel from that time era but that was prior to 2016. Honestly, I'm not opposed to a propane freezer, though we don't have one of those either but someday by God's grace we plan on getting one. It would be a wonderful tool.

[@hothmandon]

Its Amish time.