RFI; chest vs upright freezer

[Grey]

Looking at getting a freezer and am leaning toward a chest. Main purposes is storing milk for baby and bulk meat purchases. Thoughts? A chest is half the price of an upright.

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[RevolverRob]

Do you need a freezer or a second fridge? An inexpensive 2nd "beer fridge" in the garage with milk and bulk meat in it takes up the same space as an upright freezer, but can probably be had on Craigslist for a couple of Benjamins.

The upsides to the upright freezers are, they're easier to get things in and out of and don't tend to require defrosting as often as chest freezers do.

[farscott]

I prefer chest freezers because none of them are frost-free, they are easier to defrost, and cold air sinks. Frost-free is a bad thing for meat because the frost is melted by periodically heating the freezer. This leads to freezer burn due to the repeated freeze/thaw cycles. While uprights can be manual defrost, the design is prone to getting more warm, humid air into the freezer when the door is opened.

I like to defrost the freezer once per year, usually during a cold snap. That way the food stays frozen.

[Grey]

Do you need a freezer or a second fridge? An inexpensive 2nd "beer fridge" in the garage with milk and bulk meat in it takes up the same space as an upright freezer, but can probably be had on Craigslist for a couple of Benjamins.

The upsides to the upright freezers are, they're easier to get things in and out of and don't tend to require defrosting as often as chest freezers do.

Definitely need a freezer not a fridge. I need to be very organized no matter what with either option due to natural expiration dates on the frozen goods. Space isnt an issue.

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[Grey]

I prefer chest freezers because none of them are frost-free, they are easier to defrost, and cold air sinks. Frost-free is a bad thing for meat because the frost is melted by periodically heating the freezer. This leads to freezer burn due to the repeated freeze/thaw cycles. While uprights can be manual defrost, the design is prone to getting more warm, humid air into the freezer when the door is opened.

I like to defrost the freezer once per year, usually during a cold snap. That way the food stays frozen.Thanks, this mirrors my research and thoughts.

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[BJXDS]

Looking at getting a freezer and am leaning toward a chest. Main purposes is storing milk for baby and bulk meat purchases. Thoughts? A chest is half the price of an upright.

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Go with the upright. In theory the chest is more efficient, but it is a pain in the ass to get things out, and the item you are looking for will be buried in the bottom. You will fill it up quicker than you think when meats go on sale and the things on the bottom will tend to get forgotten and freezer burnt. You will have a tendency to over buy because its a good deal and you have room to keep it.

Also a freezer is like a basement, garage, shed or your wife's closet, it is Never big enough.

We bought one for deer meat and fish I caught, but my wife slowly started adding things she bought on sale and cookies she baked as well as other things. When deer season started it was a mad rush to clean it out to make room.

[ranger]

We have had both upright and chest. Chest is cheaper but my wife hates leaning over and digging through it to get to what she wants. To me - the chest freezer becomes the food equivalent of an unfinished basement - it collects a lot of stuff that will never get used.

[Grey]

Thanks guys. I think you changed my mind to go with an upright. Wife has a big concern about keeping it organized so i want to make it easy for her.

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[peterb]

A chest works a whole lot better if you make some dividers — thin plywood, wire-rack shelving, or whatever works. Otherwise you do end up leaning over pawing though a pile of frozen lumps. The bins/baskets that hang from the rim are also useful for small stuff.

On the other hand, an upright that gets overfilled is an avalanche every time you open the door.

For long-term storage of relatively large pieces, the chest wins on efficiency and capacity. If you’re going to be in and out of it every day, the upright wins on convenience.

[GuanoLoco]

His and hers chest freezers - plus juice jugs full of frozen water. Useful, energy efficient, handy for power outages.

Yes you accumulate lots of ‘stuff’ but I’ve had several year old frozen venison that was still perfect.

[BN]

We just replaced our old chest freezer with an upright. We got tired of standing on our heads looking for stuff buried in the bottom. :( And stuff will get buried and forgotten.

Upright is much handier.

[jeep45238]

Chest, with a solid fifo system for the milk.


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[pangloss]

My parents have an upright in their detached garage. They left home for a few days and returned to find their freezer open. They suspect the dog. All food was a total loss (more than one entire deer).

I have a chest and found the door up approximately five days after my wife told my five year old daughter she could go to our garage and get a popsicle by herself. I threw out three or four items from the top of the freezer.


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[ranger]

I also freeze bottles of water in my freezer. We use the small water bottles - keep a bunch frozen for trips to the boat (or range). Great source of "ice" for the cooler.

We had a freezer in the garage when we lived in Plano TX. Made the summer pilgrimage to Georgia to see parents and when we got back a week later the freezer was "off" and we had a lot of bad food and a really big mess. Thunderstorm or such tripped the breaker.

[David S.]

Chest freezer is more energy efficient. Use plastic Target baskets to keep things organized. Either way, keep it topped off with 16 oz or sport sized water bottles. It acts as a thermal battery in the event of a power failure, and cold water is yummy.

[Cookie Monster]

We have a 20 cu ft upright and a 15 cu ft chest, both get disorganized and hard to find stuff. The baskets are key for the chest freezer.

Ideally, I would have 2 25 cu ft chest freezers but the space doesn’t work, chest freezers work fine in a laundry room or garage, uprights in the kitchen - more room for work space and you can get them in a style that doesn’t look 1960.

[txdpd]

It's a lot of work to put a dead body in an upright freezer. Just sayin.

I'd get the chest freezer. Gravity is free and will help keep the lid shut.

Also freeze a small cup of water, then put a penny on top. If your freezer thaws for any reason, the penny will sink to the bottom. Even if it refreezes you will know. I cut the power to the garage to replace a garage door opener, and left it off for about a week while waiting to get parts and waiting to get off my ass and get things done. Never even thought about the freezer. I got an unpleasant surprise of rotten food that had refrozen and appeared to be ok.

[Pistol Pete 10]

I've owned both types and prefer the uprights. If the upright is only twice the price of a chest, it is still worth it. You have to defrost the chest, to do this you have to empty the freezer. You also have to dig deep in the chest to find what you are looking for. The upright is frost free, has a light in it, you can find what you want. I'm on the second upright and will buy a third if I live that long.

[Bobcat]

I've owned both types and prefer the uprights. If the upright is only twice the price of a chest, it is still worth it. You have to defrost the chest, to do this you have to empty the freezer. You also have to dig deep in the chest to find what you are looking for. The upright is frost free, has a light in it, you can find what you want. I'm on the second upright and will buy a third if I live that long.

My upright isn't frost free. It has about six years worth of frost, not having been defrosted since Hurricane Sandy killed my power for eight days. The shelves have about half their capacity. Right now I've only got about 20 pounds of coffee in it, but some things are frozen into the ice.

[Grey]

Ended up with a upright, wife concerned with organization.

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