Chest freezer advice plz.

[PB234]

I posted here since this is where the cooks hang out. Sorry if I posted in wrong place.

Considering a chest freezer and asking for advice. They come in different sizes and prices and wondering what is appropriate. What size do you recommend for a back up supply of protein for two people neither of which are hunters bringing home a deer or wild hog. Plan is to hold a cut up quarter of half a side of beef, some pork and chicken for a secure source of animal protein.

Is self defrosting possible with a chest freezer?

As freezers get larger so does the cost, but I appreciate quality tools. Your suggestions as to size, brand, model etc are most welcome.

Aiming for at least 10 years of trouble free use out of it.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[rancher1913]

I like a chest freezer, doesnt lose as much cold when you open the door but its drawback is its hard to find things under everything.

that being said, you may have to take what you can find, freezers have been sold out since the pandemic started.

[Froogal]

We looked into getting a second deep freezer about 2 months ago. All sold out. NONE available. Put our name on the list and they will call when they get one in.

In spite of that, I recommend a chest type. Ours is 14.5 cubic feet capacity. I would not want anything smaller for a primary unit.

[Minerat]

My chest freezer was purchased in 1976 and is still going. I think I still have food from then in the bottom..

We defrost it about once a year to keep the build up off the sides and rotate the food every 6 months. The only thing I have done to it in that time is replace the light a couple of times.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, we also have a 14.5 cu ft chest freezer as our secondary storage. Pros hold much more and don’t lose as much cold when opened but cons things get buried.

[SeabeeMan]

I have 2 roughly 14 cu ft chest freezers for a family of 4, but I'm a hunter/gardener and mine are usually packed. Any smaller than that and organization becomes a real beast, anything bigger gets very large. My parents have a 26-28 cu ft model and honestly, I would rather have my 2 than 1 larger one. They are pretty simple machines and you are going to want to keep it full for maximum efficiency. If power goes out and you have a bunch of ice buckets or jugs in the bottom, your supply will last MUCH longer than a bunch of air space.

While you're at it, invest in a vacuum sealer and start buying larger cuts of meat when they're on sale and packaging things down. We had 10lb boxes of bacon ends for about $1/lb. We packaged it into 1/2lb batches and it is perfect for a when we need crumbled bacon for something. Throw the sealed bag in water and it's thawed in 20 minutes.

It's amazing how long things can last in the properly sealed vac bags.

[ascast]

Freezer must have a back up generator, not huge, but just enough to refreeze- maybe 1 hour per day; possible an inverter that runs off your car.

[ascast]

I meant to say- keep a log book of what's in as it does get disorganized in there

[BrutalAB]

Organization skills are pretty important for any chest freezer. I use a combination of milk crates and wire shelving to keep mine organized.

The shelves go in on the bottom, one type of food goes in the space under the shelves. Then milk crates go in with a type of food in each. I can grab stuff thats under the shelving without taking out the milk crates, just cant see it. But even if i had to remove the milk crates, it would be a whole lot easier than digging through a mess of everything.

Edit to add:
My household has 2 chest freezers and an upright freezer. The upright is easier to use if you have poor organization skills, but you can still loose track of stuff.

[Hossfly]

I have 2 suggestions on maintaining freezers. Make sure you maintain good seal on gaskets, i put a silicone grease on all mine. Even vasoline works very well to keep tight seal working and moisture from freezing on side walls keeps from having to defrost as often. 2nd is get a seperate alarm system the one that comes now with the appliance can fail and even a chest type can thaw pretty quick if it in a hot area. They even have one with an app that hooks to your WiFi and will text you if temp gets out of set range. Cost about $7.00 per year i think.

Also plug it into a surge suppressor not a GFCI.

[DougGuy]

The answer to not having the freezer packed so tightly you can't access stuff is to use two freezers, and the idea also allows backup space if one quits, you can put things in the other one.

My newer one is a Whirlpool 15cu ft from Lowe's it has two baskets that ride along the top, and can slide to wherever you want them, it works well to suspend a baking sheet between them for freezing blueberries and blackberries, then dump them into tupperware the berries stay separated, I freeze 12-14 quart bags of strawberries this way, bags of fish put in meal size portions, and yes I have a generator sitting just outside the kitchen door in case I need it. Hopefully our hurricane seasons won't ever cause me to lose any food, Lord knows there is a LOT of $$ in these freezers.

[MT Gianni]

We bought a 25 cu ft in 1977 as a pre wedding gift to us. It has been full more often than not. Bought a 7 cu ft last year from Costco. Living away from cities most of our lives we keep everything from bread to vegetables in it. We shop at least twice a month now and it is handy for sales.

[MaryB]

I have a 13cu foot for meat in the pantry, and a 7cu foot in the utility closet in the kitchen. I use sheets of cardboard to separate things when I pack in the 1/4 of beef each fall. lets me know where the ground beef is, what area the steaks are in... since that fills the 13 to half full I use the top half for chicken, fish, bread... that freezer maintains -15 to -20 real well.

The 7cu foot is my veggies and leftovers freezer. Easier access when cooking. Also holds my hops I harvest every year...

[gwpercle]

If you can't reach the bottom easily ...don't buy it .
Things get stacked up and if your arms can't reach everything lying on the bottom it will become lost in never - never land .
My mom was short , couldn't reach the bottom of the chest freezer dad had bought and hated it ...big chest freezer is good only if you can reach everything on the bottom . She also hated it wasn't frost free ...defrosting was a big pain and a big mess . First and last Chest Freezer that had to be defrosted .
After that every freezer was an upright frost free and every one of my freezers have been upright - frost free .
Gary

[PB234]

Thank you. I think I have this figured out grateful for the insights shared.

Jeff

[Petrol & Powder]

In terms of efficiency, the chest freezer wins every time and by a huge margin. However, as pointed out, upright freezers are more convenient. As the contents of freezers are typically accessed very infrequently, the inconvenience of a chest freezer is a relatively small price to pay. Chest freezers are vastly more efficient than upright freezers.

A chest freezer should be placed on bricks or blocks so that it doesn't sit directly on the floor. This will protect it from minor flooding and it makes it slightly easier to reach the bottom of the freezer.

The advice about having a generator available for power failures is spot on. Food will stay frozen in a chest freezer without power for a considerable amount of time if it remains closed but even the best chest freezer will need some power over an extended interruption of electrical service.

A lot of people will advise to go bigger than you think you will need. I take the opposite stance and recommend buying the smallest chest freezer you can get by with. Unless you have a lot of people to feed, a small freezer has a lot of advantages. It takes up less room, you reduce the amount of food you risk losing if it fails and frankly; a lot of food will just sit in the bottom of a huge freezer for years.

[Lloyd Smale]

yup every time you open your upright the cold comes pouring out. Every time it self defrosts your electrical meter is spinning. I have three. Two chests and one upright. When the upright goes south it will be replaced my another chest and you couldn't give me a frost free freezer. Not only do they waste power but they freezer burn anything that's in it for more then a couple months. . My life isn't so hectic I cant spend a minute looking for a lb of burger in the chest. I also agree on size. My buddy has a big 25 cf chest. Its a black hole. Its either to full to find stuff or 3/4s empty wasting power. I have two 15cf chests. As they empty I can transfer stuff from one to the other and like right now shut one down till I start killing deer and need it again.

[JerryCan]

I asked a friend that repairs cooling equipment. He said he had worked on way more upright freezers then chests over the years. He pointed out, upright freezers not just freezer fridge combo. His point? More chests in homes than upright freezers. But less problems, and food rarely defrosted. I bought a chest freezer.

[MaryB]

yup every time you open your upright the cold comes pouring out. Every time it self defrosts your electrical meter is spinning. I have three. Two chests and one upright. When the upright goes south it will be replaced my another chest and you couldn't give me a frost free freezer. Not only do they waste power but they freezer burn anything that's in it for more then a couple months. . My life isn't so hectic I cant spend a minute looking for a lb of burger in the chest. I also agree on size. My buddy has a big 25 cf chest. Its a black hole. Its either to full to find stuff or 3/4s empty wasting power. I have two 15cf chests. As they empty I can transfer stuff from one to the other and like right now shut one down till I start killing deer and need it again.

BINGO and where is the dang like button! Why I use multiple freezers and ORGANIZE what is in them! I know where the hamburger patties are, the steaks are, the ground beef is... I just have to shift the stuff on top to get to it and that is never more than a couple loaves of bread, some chicken leg quarters, extra butter, bacon... a layer about a foot deep at most.

[shaner]

Good luck with finding a freezer. Sons blew up and everywhere he went to buy one .he was told 4-6 months wait

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