To ask if you ever put stuff in the garden overnight in winter when your fridge is full?

[Owlsintowels]

I do this occasionally, it feels elicit and wrong but logically I think it's fine?

Eg last night. Made a big pot of curry for friends visiting this weekend. Finished cooking at 9.30pm.

I could either put this steaming cauldron in the fridge, put it in numerous sinkfuls of cold water until the core reached something cool, or pop it on the patio in the back garden where the temp was about the same as a fridge, and the supply of extra cold is near infinite.

If I hadn't been going to bed early then I might have brought it in at 11 to move to the fridge, but as it is I left it out overnight

At 7am the temp was ~4.5, that's within the normal range for a fridge, so scientifically I don't see how this could be bad.

Does anyone else do this?

We don't get foxes and it was a big heavy lidded pot, so no wildlife concerns.

AIBU?

I couldn’t leave food on the garden, particulate in a pot which isn’t sealed. Insects, slugs, cats, rates 🤢🤢

I would leave booze in the garden if I had to, but the car boot is a much safer option,

yes, mostly in winter, we call it "the outdoor fridge"
Usually unopened milk, other drinks, anything else really secured from foxes.
Did have a guest once though, who went looking for the "outdoor" fridge

I have a mention picture of rats crawling over it, maybe not getting in but peeing all over it! And this seeping through the lid 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

We put things in the garage. Not outside otherwise as we have quite a number of cheeky foxes that we know run through our garden at night. Don’t seem the harm in using outside to store items overnight that won’t fit in the fridge given the temperature is not far from what the fridge is.

We use the old coal shed which has a door off my back porch,we put stuff in freezer bags and stick it in their at Christmas.All the drinks get shoved in their too.

We have light fingered neighbours so use the windowsills.

I wouldn't leave food in the garden, but usually have some in the garage at Christmas, and often leave things in the car boot too.

I have in the past as long as I know it's to be less than 5 degrees.

We found after delivery our new fridge/freezer was faulty and they had already taken away the old one. The company were a pain in the arse so for 3 weeks until it got sorted I used the back garden. Luckily it had recently snowed so the freezer stuff was kept in a mini igloo I built!

I use the conservatory at this time of year. Handy for things like the slow cooker pot that don't fit in the fridge.

I sometimes leave stuff in the boot of my car, but I wouldn't put it in the garden. Too much very interested wildlife that I don't trust.

I've never thought of using the car boot! Perfects for veg and drinks. Thank you!

I have an unheated porch I use instead. Suppose we’d use the garage is we didn’t have that.

I use the (enclosed but not insulated) porch as a fridge in the winter, day and night (it's cold enough here that we have to keep a little radiator in the porch which keeps it at a constant temperature - just under 10 degrees when it's only drinks in there and I turn it colder when we keep food there. My neighbours have an actual root cellar though, I am jealous!

In a block of flats I lived in some years ago there was cold storage in the basement - each flat had it's own locked cupboard that was kept around 6 or 7 degrees. I would always forget I put stuff there though, probably left stuff there when I moved out.

When I was still at the family home, the small snowdrifts that formed outside the patio door were ideal for chilling drinks, particularly bottles of Guinness and Diamond White .

I do. Last night I put the contents of my freezer in the garden to give my freezer a long overdue defrost.
The food was still frozen solid this morning ready to be returned to the freezer.
I keep bottles of softies and beer outside in the winter.

My car boot becomes a second fridge at christmas, I leave all drinks & veg like sprouts, carrots, onions & potatoes in there until I have enough room in the fridge after the turkey comes to be prepared. I have never had a year where it hasn't been cold enough in the car boot.

I probably would but just as likely to use car boot or garage
I do have a fridge freezer in garage anyway and a drinks fridge in hallway but am not precious about food and will often eat things long past sell by date or that have been left out
My grandparents didn’t even own a fridge or freezer and survived

Yep. I make sure it’s well sealed with cling film. Never had insect or fix trouble!

Won't people steal it? Genuine question as they probably would here. You leave anything out in the knowledge that it may get taken.

I bung much of my festive overspill in the garage. I put it all into those big rubber buckets and put them on an old table to deter little furry beasties.

Someone stole our gate latch last week, came along in the night with a screwdriver and everything 😂

Won't people steal it? Genuine question as they probably would here. You leave anything out in the knowledge that it may get taken.

They’d have quite a long drive to do so. Then they’d have to run the risk of the dog being at home. I think it’s safe.
The main garden is fox proof because of the dog. As long as it’s in heavy metal pans and weighted, its fine.

We get fox poo in our garden and it absolutely stinks, if the fox had managed to eat a lovely curry first - it doesn't bear thinking about.

No food outside. DH hid a box of chocolates in the garage once and they were eaten by mice - all kinds of creatures around here and no shed or outbuilding is safe! It would require Fort Knox levels of security to keep the bitey little blighters out of the food.

We use outside for drinks. Hadn't thought of the car so will do that this year with veg.
Using a pressure cooker as a regular pan then locking the lid on before putting outside would be a good way of keeping wildlife out.