I have a few wonderful friends who live in the countryside. They used to live in the city but eventually grew sick of the noise and hustle. They bought a house in the village, moved there, and sold their city apartment. To be honest, I am genuinely envious of them. Sometimes I also long for a peaceful rural life.

One day, on a weekend, we visited these friends. As is customary, we brought some treats for the table. I chose to place the food in the freezer, opened it, and was pleasantly surprised. Alongside the frozen foods and meat, there was a chunk of copper. Other than that, nothing else caught my attention.

Of course, I didn’t take a picture—it would have been rude toward my friend—but during dinner, I asked him:

“Sashka, why do you have copper in the freezer? Are you trying to freeze your stash?”

He laughed and said, “Let me explain.”

Next, I’ll model the situation. You need to take a medium-sized bag. Next, put the copper inside. I had only a little, but Sashka had a decent chunk. He still hasn’t told me where he got it.

Place the copper in the bag, tape it shut, and freeze.

Why all the fuss? Well, in the countryside, the power goes out often. In the city, power outages also occur frequently, but city dwellers typically receive advance warning, whereas in the village, they occur unexpectedly.

Copper is a metal with high thermal conductivity. It helps keep the freezer cold for 9–10 hours. Everyone in the village knows this trick, so they always keep copper in the freezer to prevent food from spoiling during power outages.