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Should I get a chest freezer?

Lars
10 years ago

I checked the appliance forum for recommendations and got some ideas on models but not much on practicality or satisfaction.

Maartje came over on Sunday and told me that Jimmy has been deep sea fishing off Catalina (and did not invite Kevin, me, or even her!), but he has caught a lot of fish, including a yellow fin, which Maartje now has in her freezer. She has said she would give me part of it but that I need a freezer. I've been wanting one but am unsure of the practicality. Even though they require defrosting, I am thinking that a small chest freezer might be the best choice. I'm afraid of what I might store in it, and I've read that they work best if they are close to full, and I have no intention of filling one. I would probably store a lot of frozen juice, chicken and fish stock, and frozen vegetables. Then I might start storing leftovers, such as lasagna, Minestrone, hummus, bean dip, etc. I was very happy with how the salmon that Kevin brought back from Seattle tasted after having been frozen, and so I'm open to freezing fish.

Any caveats? What should I look for and what should I avoid? What do you or would you store in one? They are not that expensive, and so I think being able to store yellow fin might make it worthwhile. We will not be butchering a cow or a pig like our parents used to do. I could keep a turkey or chicken in there, however. I can make room in the garage for a small freezer, I think. I would not mind getting rid of some of the stuff that is just taking up space.

Lars

Comments (67)

  • annie1992
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lars, if you have a Costco membership, you might look there too. I saw a small chest type freezer a couple of weeks ago for less than $200.00.

    I will admit that if I had it to do over, and I will when I get to the new house, I'd put the freezer in the basement. Not because of energy bills or problems with the temperatures, but because I just hate walking out into my unheated garage in the middle of winter when it's about 10F, and opening the freezer and rummaging for frozen whatever. I need a coat and gloves to pull out something for dinner so I usually end up just grabbing what's on top and then planning meals around that!


    Annie

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Freezer manufacturers try to make insulation as thin as they can get away with to give you more storage room and to lower cost.

    On a hot summer day and if your local power goes out and you are not sure when the power will be back, run to HD and get a sheet of thick rigid foam insulation board. Cut the board using your kitchen knife to cover all sides of your freezer. Your food will last almost twice as long without power.

    If you have the room, leave the boards there to save lots of money in energy cost.

    dcarch

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  • azzalea
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm very sorry to say, that freezer we had problems with? Was purchased at Lowe's. One of the reasons it took us almost a month to get the replacement was that Lowe's was less than helpful when the thing died. They kept giving us the run around--first they were going to fix it, then the repairman they sent said it was beyond repair, then the store insisted it would have to be repaired not replaced (????)--finally, I had to make several calls to the manufacturer and argue and argue before we FINALLY got the new one (at no charge). But I can tell you, when we went in to make the arrangements for the delivery of the replacement one, we were definitely cold-shouldered. Lowe's didn't care at all whether or not we were satisfied, nor if our freezer worked. Wait we got it in August. It died in Dec. It was only 4 months old, not 6 as I originally said. Sorry.

  • sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It does seem you have use for a freezer. It is just choosing the best one for your needs.
    Finding yourself lacking the extra room for storage is a start. Having too much space that would not be used 'efficiently' should be considered. We cook, make extra and freeze. We garden and harvest and freeze. We fish. That is well worth a freezer right there. It is quality of life 'efficiency'. Some have freezers for stocking up on sale items, or distant shopping trips and the cost of fuel can be a personal efficient need. If the cost of running one is not worth the contents, i don't usually see a need. (kinda like those storage lockers that over time cost way more to store than the value inside, lol)
    Chest freezer are such a pain. Always digging down. I have a small one in the mud room of my vacation home. It is perfect for that situation. I fill it with water jugs, bottom layer, top those with an old grate from a stove. It fills up quickly with fishing goodies and neighbor gifts of moose, etc. Labeled and organized. If you know what is in there and can find everything easily, they are a good buy.
    I have a half size upright in this home. I love it. Easy to organize and find things...always full.
    Placed up high on a basement back room counter. Eye level.
    The half full issue is just about air exchange. Every time you open, you exchange cold air for warm. Same with your kitchen fridge. Same with leaving a door open in your home if the outside air is cold. Open your grill or oven too long and the temp drops dramatically.

    My parents just got rid of their big chest freezer and have a new upright. It was a good switch for them at an elder age. Less room but before they were storing way old and outdated produce and bending down and lifting was getting difficult.

    All that said, my perfect freezer, and i do want to up-date, would be an up-right freezer with split doors. The bottom half for 'i know what is in there but i don't need to look'. The top half, at eye level, with door shelves like my kitchen fridge, for 'smalls'. The herbs and small frozen packages of fruits and salsas and herb pestos and quick to table soups on shelves easily located...the things that might be needed daily. Like Annie, i often know i have something somewhere, and go off on the hunt. The rummaging gets old. I-need-it-now-where-is-it.

    I use a sharpie and label the date, not the day, just the month/year. And often 'spicy!' or 'not spicy!', or a simple quick hint to what something might need. 'add qrt of stock'. 'chick curry,needs coco milk', etc.

    -i have had a small fridge/freezer in my barn for 10 years and it functions fine in all weather

    Do a bit of research and get the smallest freezer that suits your needs. I think you might want an up-right being so organized. Just don't hang out with the door open organizing like my mother does... ; )
    My MIL is a hoarder freezer person. Who knows what all those frozen tiny tid-bits are....

  • Islay_Corbel
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I had a chest freezer and now we use it to store fuel cannisters. I found it impossible to keep organised. Life's too short to be forever keeping lists up to date and there's always stuff lurking in the bottom that got forgotten. Perhaps we just don't eat enough frozen food so I've never got to grips with it. Now, I have a 3 drawer freezer under the fridge that suits me fine. I never need more space and I can see what I have. You really need to think carefully about how much frozen food you want.

  • malna
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Check out Sears, too. I've been very happy with the refrigerator we bought from them, and we just bought another small upright freezer this past spring (that's freezer #4). We live in a rural area, but we've never had a problem getting fast, reliable service.

    We just had a repairman out to fix the refrigerator/freezer. He noticed the pantry drawer was cracked, and replaced it at no charge.

    Chest freezers do have their "cons" - hard to keep organized, trying to get stuff out of the bottom can be a yoga exercise - but the food maintains its quality much longer.

    For the best quality, don't get a frost-free or auto-defrost model (chest freezers are almost always manual defrost). Your food actually thaws and refreezes with each defrost cycle, and you'll start to notice the build-up of ice crystals on it. Vacuum sealing does help, but it still shortens the food's freezer life.

    I only defrost each freezer once a year. Which reminds me, this weekend I still have to defrost the fruit and vegetable upright in the basement.

  • moosemac
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a small chest freezer and I love it. I tried to keep it organized using baskets and that was a disaster. Then someone on this forum suggested tote bags. Voila! I bought stiff canvas tote bags at the dollar store. I designated a bag each for beef, pork, poultry, veggies, sauces, bones for stock, etc. I marked each bag with permanent marker. Now when I need an item I just grab the appropriate tote bag. If I need to move a bag it's easy. I also keep an inventory list and a pencil on a string taped to the top of the freezer.

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    jasdip,

    I put each portion (typically an individual leg, thigh, breast, or cut into 3 ounce portions if it was a hunk of meat) into its own small bag, but then all of them, e.g. chicken thighs, into a big bag, or all of one meal's wings into a small bag then the big bag, etc... I only have to label one thing-the big bag. And I write on it with a sharpie. Doesn't fall off! It's easier to count and see how many I have too. Not that dcarch's idea isn't good, it is, but it's an alternate idea.

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    moose, I like the tote bag idea! I was going to say that I hate my little chest freezer but maybe the tote bag idea will help. I too tried the basket organize idea which does not help a whole lot, mostly the packages just don't fit into them right. I have a million of those reusable totes!

    I wish that I had spent a bit more money and gotten an upright freezer. I believe it would be a lot better than a chest style. We have a little Frigidaire that does work great and it was only $149 at Best Buy. We have had it almost 4 years and it keeps the food great but it is just too small.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "-----Not that dcarch's idea isn't good, it is, but it's an alternate idea.----"

    We all have different ways of getting things done. As long as it works for you, all methods are good.

    For me, I hate looking for that Sharpie, which drys out quickly. I hate even more writing 20 labels, which takes a long time.

    I found color coded labels for each meat helps a lot when you have to look for something. Frozen pork can look the same as beef.

    On each label, I can quickly write 1 to 12, 1 for January, 2 for February, etc.

    I can put two labels on each package, one on top, and one on bottom. That helps too when you are not that organized.

    When I label one package, I just peel off another label and stick it on a note book. When I look at the note book, I know exactly what I have in the freezer. Each time I use one item, I just cross out that item in the note book.

    The labels are so cheap, and printing is so quick.

    dcarch

  • momj47
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I got a small chest freezer when I was living alone and filled it up pretty quickly. Now with 5 of us it's too small. We got another fridge but found that it is the freezer space we need more of. I got the smallest one they had at Sam's Club. We may have to get another freezer.

  • foodonastump
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Anybody remember the scene from Kingpin when Woody Harrelson's character gets all annoyed when the girl offers to get him another beer and Randy Quaid gets it instead? Every time I see this "chest freezer" thread I think of that!

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Also when you are labeling using the masking tape, you need to tape it when the container is right out of the cabinet and by that I mean it's not cold from the fridge or freezer and does not have anything cold inside of it yet. When I do that, the masking take is very well bonded to the container and never falls off. If I try and put my stuff in first then label it, the tape falls right off.

  • sandy808
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have both an upright (manual defrost) and chest freezers. I prefer the chest freezer. The upright loses a great deal of cold air when the door is opened. I kept a thermometer in there and it lost cold air fast!

    In some ways an upright is easier to organize, but I found it could be aggravating when I had to move something in front of the shelf to get to the back. Also meat has a tendency to slide off the shelf and onto your foot. It doesn't feel so good. I now use it to freeze grains and keep it at the warmest freezer setting.

    A chest freezer hasn't been an issue for me, and I am short. The large chest freezer is a little deeper than the medium, but I can still get things in the bottom. I figure it forces me to stretch. I have no problem filling it up, but I do everything from scratch, including our own meat. The crates are wonderful for organizing things if your freezer does not come with the moveable dividers, and I bought an extra basket for the top layer. The moveable baskets are nice for frequently used or delicate items.

    I refuse to use a freezer that automatically defrosts itself since food gets funky after a while. Defrosting the chest freezer isn't all that difficult, and I only have to do it about once per year. It virtually takes minutes once I put the frozen food into coolers. I wait until the food gets low to do that, or else I put it in the other freezer. It starts thawing immediately and I just toss some bath towels in there to absorb the water. Wipe it out, dry it off, and refill it. It doesn't even have an opportunity to warm up much. I've been able to keep frozen meats and fruits for two years without loss of quality, properly packaged.

    I use freezer tape and a permanent marker for labeling, and it doesn't fall off. It needs to be put on before freezing the item or it won't stick. I mostly use glass freeze/can glass jars. When I bake extra bread it gets foil wrapped tightly around it and then a freezer bag. It's thawed without unwrapping, which keeps it from getting soggy.

    My advice would be to buy a larger freezer than you initially feel you need. I guarantee you will find ways to fill it. Extra fruits and veggies from the garden, a sale on butter, home made chicken stock.....

    A larger freezer doesn't cost much more to buy or run than a smaller one. For extended power outages at night I've covered the freezer with quilts. Never had a problem. The power usage is so low on a chest freezer our generator can handle it anyway during big outages. It's also great for folding laundry on.

    I bought Frigidaire freezers and have never had any problems with them.

  • Lars
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I do have the 2" thick insulating foam from HD at work, and I use it for carving models. It is identical to modeling styrofoam for about 1/4th the cost, but it is pink instead of white. However it is paintable.

    I guess I will skip going to Lowe's because of the review, and I can go to Sears almost as easily. The Sears that I go to is in Santa Monica close to the beach, and so the parking lot is monitored to make sure that people use it for shopping at Sears and not for going to the beach. There is beach traffic all year, but it is certainly less when it is not summer.

    I checked the garage for space and noticed that there are three filing cabinets taking up space that would be perfect for the freezer.

    I never saw Kingpin, but now I want to!

  • sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Haha, have not watched that.

    dcarch- i've had the same few sharpies for years. They do not dry out with the lids on. I would need a thousand items on a spread sheet. And the date is most important, so you still need to write it somehow. I know what my meats are by looking. If i have an unusual 'steak', i just put the butcher printed label in my package. Or on the freezer package with a rubber band.
    I have way too many creations in rotation for a label that says 'thigh'. Three soups i made last night are different than the soups i made in august. 6 different stocks frozen are different than the 4qrts from july. Herbs, salsa, roasted toms, fresh toms, etc.
    And i would never freeze meat in thin grocery bags. At least double it up. Thin bags can easily tear. And not designed to withstand cold temps. Food saver bags can be washed and used again. My fish, filets fresh from the dock, are in, what we call bread bags, with a bit of sea water, knotted and frozen in portions, (no air), packed in thick 'freezer' bags, 4 to a bag.
    If your thin bags are air free like you say, why not, once 'air extracted', then food saver and re-use the food saver bags. You just loose an inch by re-using, and they are freezer safe and stored properly...

    Your system works for you but i would not encourage others, just learning about preserving freezer foods, to use less than optimal preservation. If frozen properly, pork looks like pork and beef looks like beef. It is obvious and not at all buried in discolored frosted packaging.
    I'm a bit daft in memory at an elder age, but i do know that dates by month/year are so important.
    My freezer thins out by Jan-Feb. I like seasonal cooking and use things up over the winter for the anticipation of early spring crops and meals. Longer storage needs careful packaging.

  • triciae
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sleevendog, you are so right about proper freezer storage. I couldn't agree more.

    I'm too ill anymore to type much these days but would just like to tell Lars...

    I've got a 20 c.f. frostless upright. I store items properly and have never had a problem. I find chest freezers so difficult to use that the freezer became a substitute for the trash can. Our freezer is in an unheated garage and we live in coastal CT.

    We lost the freezer to Sandy but replaced it with the exact model as we had prior.

    I agree also with getting a freezer larger than you think you need.

    /tricia

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sleevendog, I have no intention of convincing or encourage anyone here to do things my way. I am aware of the fact that many of my methods are totally insane. So think of my methods sharing are for entertainment only. :-)

    My Sharpies not only dries out quickly, they are never sharp. Writing labels with dull dried Sharpies annoys me. I am good with calligraphy, but I will not try to show off with writing freezer labels. BTW, printed food labels look professional; people think I actually know how to cook when they look into my freezer full of neatly labeled packages. 

    I don’t put store printed labels inside meat packages because their ink bleeds and the blood from the meat soaks the labels.

    Other than chicken drumsticks and spareribs, most frozen meat look the same to me after they are frozen. So I need color coding to make it easy for me.

    I also have, like you and like most people, hundreds of different items in the freezer which need labeling, but that’s why I put them on computer, they are repetitive and exhausting. So I just keep the same template and print the same labels year after year.

    As many have said before, Foodsaver bags are expensive. You can cut them short only a few times and you have to throw them away. I certainly don’t have the patience to wash and reuse them. I am also concerned about cross contamination of different meats.

    Interesting the thin bag system I have been using for many many many years, I have not had one torn on me.

    Here is a picture of my freezer. All packages use thin bags with pre-printed labels. Total cost for bagging = $0.00.

    OK, feel free to laugh at my messy disorganization. :-)

    dcarch

  • annie1992
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I also would discourage a purchase from Lowe's. Our experience was a hot water heater purchased for Elery's father's house. It was installed by Lowe's and was not working 4 days later. They sent a repairman who promptly said it was defective, couldn't be repaired, needed to be replaced. Lowe's said it was the manufacturer's problem, they were of no help. The manufacturer sent us back to Lowe's. Repeat a couple of times before Elery's sister got testy, spoke to a manager at Lowe's and finally got a replacement, which took several days to get and have installed. And they weren't very nice either. I don't like Lowe's in spite of their Saturday morning "Build and Grow" children's programs which I take Bud and Makayla to.

    I also like Sears, my freezer came from there and we've had no problems, service was good and the price was reasonable. Elery's came from a small local business because we'd prefer to deal locally. Both are Frigidaire, and we've had no problems or repairs with either.

    Everyone has a different system which works for them. I like the big chest freezer because I grow much of my own food and put a steer, a pig, various poultry and fruits and vegetables into one and I want them to last a year, until next year's harvest. A chest freezer keeps things longer and at a better quality which matters if you're keeping grass fed beef for a year. No problem with most labeling, the meat comes from the processor shrink/vacuum wrapped in heavy duty clear plastic and clearly labeled. Fruits and vegetables get the Sharpie treatment. Like Sleevendog, I've never had one dry out, and I have a bunch on hand because I also use them to write on the lids of canning jars.

    I've also never confused beef with pork, but I have confused steelhead with salmon, so I try to label concisely.

    You'll be surprised at how much you use a freezer, I think. I keep apple cider in one because I don't want to can it, and I bought a second container for the ice cream machine, so I can make two flavors in the same evening.

    Annie

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nothing much to add except that I have friends who swear Sears appliances are the real deal and the ones at Lowes are made for them (with the same brand name and won't last). Their sincerity was memorable.
    DC, put the cap on the Sharpie and they will last for years and years!
    Love sharpies and have never had an issue with them drying out in a short time. Really, they last for years.

    I use Ziploc freezer bags with great success and reuse the bags if I feel like washing them, often the downfall.

    Kingpin was so funny, i need to watch that again. The Ron Burgundy of its day.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Bumblebeez, how do you avoid freezer burns if you use zip lock bags without vacuum?

    With dried out Sharpies and markers, as I said I have insane ideas:

    Drill a small hole on top and inject lighter fluid into the body, then seal the hole with hot glue. They will be useful again.

    dcarch

  • sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    dcarch, that is disgusting, haha, but i appreciate your good humor and honesty. Makes me feel like a tidy germaphobe, ; )
    I want to bleach bath your fridge and run you through a car wash.
    But i've seen worse...

    Back to the freezer. We tend to over-research by nature having been burned often when we buy-on-the-fly. Search in person locally, write down the make and model #, then check on-line for some reviews. Still a toss-up, but even Amazon covers freezers and not a big ticket loss if it is a lemon. ( love Costco for that)
    Ours is an Indesit. A co-worker was giving it away, having just up-graded to a full up-right. I jumped on the opportunity since we were looking and shopping for the need. It has been perfect though husband wants more space. I think we are fine. This time of year we are always at full capacity and thins out by the new year. I've never heard of Indesit but it is very much like this one...(see link)
    Easy to organize and easy to take drawers out to sift through.
    When our plans changed last minute, a couple weeks ago, and went out of town, i put two big organic chickens, 4 pork tips and a double sirloin in the bottom shelf area after removing the drawer. It holds quite a bit, though i do not normally freeze that type of thing, it was handy to have the room. We had planned to do the last fall grill smoking...but did that last weekend.

    My parents new up-right, that my husband was drooling over, is in their out-door shed. No review until i see it go through a winter season. They by everything at Sears being in a small town.

    Here is a link that might be useful: small freezer

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    dcarch, I think that maybe you have not used Sharpies in a while because they used to dry out almost immediately but the new ones don't dry out like they used to. So you may want to buy a new one and experiment with it. And yeah, put the cap on good and tight....HAHA!

  • october17
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have an upright - a big one. It came with the house 24 years ago. Was probably close to 10 years old then. It's huge and is most likely a real power hog, but it's great. Went through a flood of over 2' of water in the basement and still runs fine. I only have to defrost it once per year (in the fall). Seems as soon as I unplug it the ice is melting. I can have it all done in less than one hour.

    It's got five aluminum shelves. Easy to keep organized.

    I love it just for freezing whole tomatoes in ziplocs. The only way to go. Canning tomatoes is so much work! I've had up to 30 bags some years. (Not this year.) The peels pop right off when you run them under water while still frozen.

    We do have a food saver as DBF won't eat anything with ice crystals on it. We use a sharpie and write date and cut of meat. At one point we wrote which store we bought it at because DBF insisted a certain store had inferior quality. (But they had the best prices. Must admit, I would write the wrong store on the bags and he never knew.)

    My parents had a chest freezer. They finally just unplugged it as it was too difficult to keep organized and stuff got very old in it. Neighbors did the same thing.

  • agmss15
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My parents raised pigs and cows as well as having a big vegetable garden - so we had a large chest freezer when I was little. The freezer was put in the barn and my mom would send my sister or me out to get something from the freezer. This involved hoisting my self up onto the lip of the freezer and tipping over to reach. With legs and butts dangling gracelessly over the side. At which point one if the geese would uh goose us. Funny now less so then.....

    As far as freezers I bought a small chest freezer this summer. I love it. I kept one of anything I froze in the fridge freezer and the rest goes out in the chest freezer. It gave me a lot more room for pestos and hot sauces.

    FWIW the appliance store was very insistant that fridges need to be in heated spaces and freezers do not. May be wrong but.... It is pretty typical here for freezers to be in out of the way unheated spots.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    For freezers and refrigerators, older ones may not be repaired if the refrigerant inside the machine is low, which does not happen too often.

    Older refrigerant has been outlawed because of ozone layer depletion.

    "----FWIW the appliance store was very insistent that fridges need to be in heated spaces and freezers do not.----"

    That is very important. Actually, refrigerator needs to be in an area with constant temperature, not necessarily heated. If you read the instructions, the manufacturer tells you that each time you adjust the temperature, it may take a few days for the temperature to stabilize. That is because there is only one compressor to cool both the freezer and the refrigerator, and it needs time to balance out the two compartments, based on the outside room temperature.

    dcarch

  • kitchendetective
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We have both a chest and an upright. I get a lot more in the chest. There is freezer tape, which I think came from Amazon, but it is expensive and probably not worth it. Our work around is a chart kept near the chest that indicates what has been placed where and on what date. This helps if the Sharpie date gets smeared. DH has a great geographic memory, which helps, too. Lars, you are tall, if I recall. That should facilitate using the chest freezer. I'm short and have great difficulty reaching the bottom. Even when I use the crates that came with the freezer, there is always that brief moment of precarious balance when I feel I will fall in, which, thankfully, has never happened (yet).

    Here is a link that might be useful: Amazon has many kinds of freezer tape

  • bellsmom
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I skimmed the entries here and didn't see this caution anywhere.
    FWIW: When I was shopping for a freezer to put in the outside unheated shed, the salesman told me one with automatic defrost could not be used as the temperature fluctuations below freezing would screw up its brain (my wording, not his), but a manual defrost one would be fine. Other than the PIA of defrosting, our big upright has done a great job for 12 years, with temperatures that range from 100 to -20.

    Looks a lot like dcarch's, but with frost buildup.

    Since you live where temperatures probably never go below freezing, this concern is probably moot. An outside automatic defrost will probably be fine if that is what you choose. But you might want to ask to be sure.

    This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 10:51

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "------the salesman told me one with automatic defrost could not be used as the temperature fluctuations below freezing would screw up its brain, ---"

    Yes and no.

    Typically automatic defrosting is done by a timer, which is brainless. But many systems also turn on an electric heater, and that can be controlled by a thermostat, which is semi-brainless.

    dcarch

  • kitchendetective
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Our freezers do not have automatic defrost. One is about 25 years old, the other two years old.

  • annie1992
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I bought manual defrost freezers on purpose, instead of self defrost. The way the self defrost machines work can allow the food thaw a bit, then refreeze. This compromises the quality of food you intend to keep a long time, like last year's beef. So, I chose manual defrost because it's better for long storage.

    AS for refrigerators, Dave has had one in his unheated garage for as long as he's been with Amanda, which is over 10 years. Elery had one outside in his pool house for at least the same amount of time. Here many people have refrigerators in their garages, barns and tool sheds and use them like root cellars to keep garden overflow through the winter and extra cold drinks all summer. (shrug) They all seem to work, although if it's too cold things inside could freeze, I suppose, since refrigerators can't heat, they can only cool. That's only a theory, I've never seen it happen, LOL.

    Annie

  • foodonastump
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Entirely coincidentally I stumbled across a discussion on the wiring forum about issues with fridges/freezers outdoors in cold climates. Doesn't apply to Lars but it might be of interest to some.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Wiring

  • Lars
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I wanted to thank Tricia for her advice and send her wishes to feel better. I've been under the weather the past couple of days but am beginning to feel better now. I missed half a day of work yesterday and a full day today but think I will be able to return tomorrow.

    I put a thermometer in my garage to test the temperature, and I can already tell that it will never be too cold. When we leave the house for a week or so in January with no heat, the house gets down to 62 degrees, and I think the garage would be the same temp on the coldest days. On warm days in the summer, it is cooler in the garage than outside, and we even noticed that it was once finished as an extra bedroom (with closet) at one point and has paneling and sheet-rock on the walls, plus a finished ceiling, to which we added recessed lighting. The garage maintains a comfortable temperature better than the house, for some reason, possibly because it does not have windows. Anyway, the least of my worry will be the temperature of the garage. I'm sure when people cautioned about it, they did not have me in mind, as FOAS said.

    Kevin is anxious to clear out stuff from the garage that has been taking up space, and so he will be able to help me make room for the freezer. The way the space looks, I think a chest freezer will work better, and that is what I am used to. I do think that an upright would be more convenient, but I am more concerned about energy use. Plus a chest model will be better in case of earthquake.

    Lars

    This post was edited by publickman on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 20:33

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    One has to be very careful in getting advice on the internet.

    FOAS, in the discussion you linked, I am not sure I agree with everything. Without going into too much details, for instance:

    "BTW, halogen lights produce less heat per Watt than standard incandescents so they are not the best choice either."

    Totally wrong! one watt is 3.412 BTUs, It does not matter it's halogen or standard. That is very basic physics.

    "A 5 W resistor on a variable supply would be a more usable solution."

    General unit for rating of a resistor is ohms, not watts. How many watts of electric power a resistor uses is voltage dependent. A 120v AC variable supply to burn a resistor is not telling others what to do.

    dcarch

  • foodonastump
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You're a far greater scientist than I am, but I think you may be wrong on your first point. My understanding is that watt for watt a higher effieciency bulb will convert more electical energy into light than heat. A halogen light is more efficient than an incandescent (albeit minimally so) so I think the statement is correct.

    I agree about the ohms, but regardless, I linked the thread to point out reasons why some fridges/freezers may not work properly outdoors as the OP's obviously didn't, not to not-pick the minutiae of the discussion.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    FOAS, I don't think so.

    One watt will always produce 3.412 BTUs, however, a halogen bulb is more capable of converting watts to foot candles in the whiter colors than a regular incandescent bulbs, which is more efficient in producing light that is more red .

    The only time watts cannot produce the same BTUs is when watts are used to generate electromagnetic waves (of which light is a form) in the radio frequency spectrum.

    That is because radio waves cannot be confined in a container. It propagates thru walls.

    Unless this radio wave is trapped, then the watts in generating the waves can be converted into BTUs (heat) as in a microwave oven.

    A 5 watt motor, 5 watt light bulb, a 5 watt heater, a 5 watt loudspeaker, etc all will generate the same amount of 5 watts worth of BTUs (heat).

    Known as "conservation of energy".

    dcarch

    This post was edited by dcarch on Thu, Nov 14, 13 at 22:53

  • westsider40
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    No, not a chest model. Crawl on your belly to find little lost packages? Will you be happy doing that, Lars?

    And an upright consumes less floor space in a limited garage.

    Energy Efficiency is greatly dependent on the particular model. You can get a frost free upright for a teeny amount. Think of the kid in you who is not getting any younger and in those um, advanced years do you want to defrost and schlep pots of water from the stove? I didn't think so. Do you really know how tight it can be and how frustrating it will be to not be finding that particular buried cup of beef stock?

    Whatever planned chest freezer savings exist will be greatly eaten up by the enormous food losses of inaccessible packets. Instead of breezily scanning your easily visualized treasures, you will be cussing the pyramids blocking your every effort to get a fast meal on the table. How much precious time will you lose? How many tears will you shed? How many chairs will you kick, out of frustration? And when all the kids are outside playing, how bad will you feel when you have to stay in and defrost? WIll therapy bills increase? Who knows?
    Old bones contorting, stretching, ----searching hands freezing terribly.
    Tongue in cheek,somewhat but good points are said here.
    Maybe in yourfinancially lean twenties, but now? (I am on an Elmer Gantry type roll or role, each fits! Gotta check the numbers.

  • westsider40
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My relatively new, 3-5years old, plain bare bones, but nicely. Made Frigidaire or it's ilk keeps the food incredibly fresh for long, long periods of time. Longer than I,d ever have imagined.
    And it's accessible. Good luck

  • foodonastump
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    dc - Yes, conservation of energy. Not constant heat energy plus light, or kinetic, etc. energy. Let's not derail the thread further, but here's a link for you.

    editing to add - ok, I know where you're going to go with this... the light energy converts to heat energy. Guess I have to eat my words!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Franklin Institute

    This post was edited by foodonastump on Fri, Nov 15, 13 at 13:04

  • cooking2day
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ha, ha! I have to agree with Westsider. We have two self-defrost uprights, one chest, and two refrigerators with freezers (and to make us seem even more crazy, we are a two-person household) and I love my uprights the best. Ours are stored in a basement and don't raise our energy cost that much, plus the convenience is so worth it. We are pretty rural, though. Our chest freezer is quite old, but when it quits, I don't see us replacing it.

    We are in different situations, though, and a small chest freezer may work perfectly for you.

    This post was edited by cooking2day on Fri, Nov 15, 13 at 8:18

  • sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Haha, yeah.
    "Life is too short for a chest freezer"

    No one that has one likes them. Once the dumb purchase is made, we just put up with it and need all sorts of tricks to justify it. If you hunt or fish and have 6 geese, 20 ducks and a deer or moose. 50 pound of cod, flounder, lobster, king crab...it needs cold storage.
    I have mesh fabric grocery bags normally used for produce. Any fabric bag helps. Because EVERYThING has to come out, (all over the floor), to get at one thing, even if you are organized and know where it is, it is most likely near the bottom. If you need to dig just once a week, it is not that bad.
    Never will i ever buy one again, but i have one and will suffer the consequences. (lol)
    Unfortunately, in my vacation home, it is my only freezer. I thought i was so clever getting an 'all fridge' for the small kitchen. Chest freezer in the mudroom. Both are lemons. The fridge freezes produce in the produce drawer down low, and up high fridge contents are warm. So i switched contents...still a problem.(obviously)
    Warm produce, frozen everything else.

    As extra freezer storage it "may work perfectly for you".

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I agree with sleevendog! I have to say that I really do regret buying a small chest freezer because it's just too hard to organize. I mean what do you put in the bottom that gets totally smashed. Well I use some baskets to help with that and they stack on top of each other but they do not hold all that much and they take up valuable real estate. If I had it to do over, I would buy a manual defrost upright. At the time, I bought what was cheaper but I have paid the price ever since. I swear my fridge's freezer holds more than this chest freezer!

    OH and I have the same problem with my fridge freezing my produce and if I turn it up then the rest of the fridge is not cold enough. It's a whirlpool top freezer model. So I end up with frozen lettuce and celery.

  • dees_1
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've had chest freezers for most of my life and never had any issues with finding food (nor do I hate a chest freezer). I use boxes to organize my frozen veggies (one box per type). I have sections for meat and other frozen stuff. I use baskets for butter and stock. Anything else is labeled with a marker. I rotate the contents with each shopping trip (quarterly or so) or when I make stock/soup/chili etc. I've never lost anything nor have I had mystery product. I also put bottled water in there for storage and to fill up space. I defrost once a year, usually in the fall or early winter.

    Everyone is entitled to their personal opinion and should use what works best. If you are planning on long term storage, a manual defrost is the best option. The frost free (or self defrosting) units cycle heat to keep frost from building up inside. That seriously diminishes the life of any product you store in the freezer.

    In terms of size, go with larger. In terms of brands, well, that's personal opinion. You can buy the same products pretty much any where. That's personal preference too.

    The freezer we had when I was a kid conked out at 40 years old. In the past 22 years, I've had two. The current one is about 10 years old and has spent it's life mostly in an unheated garage (in TN). Having said that, note that manufacturing of appliances has gone the way of everything lately; seems like they are disposable and it's cheaper to replace than fix. Stick with a brand name you're comfortable with and purchase from a store you feel good about.

    Just keep dead bodies out of there.

  • annie1992
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    As has been said, whatever suits you and fits your space is what you should get.

    I'm short (5') and 58 years old, and don't really have a problem digging into the freezer, and I wear gloves whether it's the upright or the chest style. I don't like the fact that things migrate to the bottom of the chest freezer and I don't like the upright because things fall out of it onto the floor or onto me when I open the door. If I had my choice, I'd keep the chest freezer as I just can't fit things into the upright like I can the chest type. If they don't stack or are odd shapes and sizes, it's impossible. I have ground venison which came to me in one pound tubes, try to stack that without a crate. (sigh) So, I toss it into the chest freezer and dig, not a perfect solution but at least it stays in there and doesn't fall out onto the garage floor and roll under the Jeep, where I have to open the garage door, move the vehicle, retrieve the package and hope nothing else falls out when I open the door to put it back in. Grrr.

    Each style fits where it is. I have the chest freezer in the garage and there is a light switch and the garage door opener on that wall, which would be covered by an upright. The upright is on the other side, and takes up less floor space.

    I've never been sorry that I bought one too big, only that I bought one too small. Brands, of course, depend on price and preferences but both Frigidaires have been reliable and the old Kenmore has been a workhorse, with no repairs other than having a gasket replaced after having a house fire.

    Annie

  • Lars
    Original Author
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Westsider has convinced me that I am too old and decrepit for a chest freezer, and so I have decided to get an upright. I found a
    Whirlpool model that I like (see link below), and the one thing that I do not like about it is that it only has three shelves. Everything else that I have read about it has been good. It weighs more than other freezers its size, and that makes me think that it might have a stronger or better motor.

    After I look at chest freezers, I might decide that I prefer one of those, however.

    I also wonder about buying an extended warranty, and I wish the stores would advertise the price of that with the appliance, as it could easily help me decide where to buy it. For now, Best Buy has the best price, and Sears is way above everyone else.

    Lars

    Here is a link that might be useful: Whirlpool freezer

  • annie1992
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Lars, my dear, trust me. You are neither old nor decrepit.

    Be sure to check the depth of the door shelves and whether you'll like the wire guard on the bottom compartment. Amanda has that on hers and it is a big PIA, if you unhook it stuff tumbles out. The door shelves on Elery's are so narrow that nothing will fit in the door shelves other than a quart jar or a box of frozen vegetables.

    So, look in person and make sure it works for your purposes. I thought the newer ones would have deeper shelves, but the one Elery bought does not.

    Annie

    This post was edited by annie1992 on Fri, Nov 15, 13 at 22:31

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Posted by arkansas_girl "-------------OH and I have the same problem with my fridge freezing my produce and if I turn it up then the rest of the fridge is not cold enough. It's a whirlpool top freezer model. So I end up with frozen lettuce and celery."

    That can happen if you store too much food in the freezer and the cold air blower path is blocked.

    dcarch

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I didn't know that but I guess that's not my problem because I make sure I don't crowd my freezer and don't push foods to the back either so as to allow airflow. Anything else that could cause it? I'll go check to make sure there's not something that got pushed back there though, just in case.

  • dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Several more possibilities, depending on the design :

    1. In the freezer, the cold air blows out from the back port, re-enters a slot on the bottom near the front. Either one blocked will cause a problem.

    2. the paths for the cold air to circulate in the freezer, then the cold air blows into the fridge, can be restricted by mold growth/dust/dirt accumulation. During defrost, an electric heater melts the ice/frost and the paths can be wet and attract dust. Wet warn dust can promote mold growth. But this can happen only to refrigerators which has been operating many years.

    dcarch

  • arkansas girl
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well our house is, for some unknown reason, extremely dusty. I mean I can dust and a day later, my desk is dusty again. May be our duct work or something.

    But anyway, we have had issues with this fridge that it wants to freeze up in the back of the freezer and not allow the defrosted water to drip out. Also, I did go and check the freezer and low and behold a bag of frozen Tyson Chicken strips was lying paralleled to the back of the freezer blocking an entire side of little vents. So I pulled that out and we will see. Thanks for your expertise! :)

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