I don't care for a chest freezer,things tend to get on the bottom and forgotten.At least they did in mine.You can make ice cubes in it,just have to make sure the tray sits flat like in an upright. I didn't like the defrosting at all..course I don't like to defrost the upright either! LOL!

Monica, I used to do ice cubes in my manual defrost chest freezer.

It had a shelf, that I used for the ice cube trays. No problems.

Defrosting was usually done in the winter, when it was REALLY cold out. I would put all I could in to coolers that where hauled out, and the rest in boxes.

Then I would aim a fan in to the open freezer, and within an hour all the ice would be floating in the bottom, unless I kept an eye on it, and would remove it as it started sliding. That was easier than sponging all the water out of the bottom.

Now I have a side by side, with ice and water dispensers. :)

Moni

I have a chest type freezer in the basement. Actually I've defrosted it very few times. I don't even recall how many years ago that I last did it! The frost doesn't built up in huge amounts. You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

Chest freezers hold more contents than do uprights (but yes they can get "lost"). I think they are better at keeping products frozen, i.e. you lose more coldness when you open the door of an upright, hence chest types are probably more energy efficient.

You can make ice cubes in the chest freezer with ice cube trays. But I don't know if any come with an "ice maker".

I would never give up a chest freezer. There's so much more room in it. Once you get at it, defrosting isn't a chore at all.
It's worse, thinking about it, than actually doing it.

Unplug it, take all the food out, put in boxes/recycling bins, etc. It doesn't take long, so you don't even need to keep it cold. i.e. putting outside in the winter.

I boil a kettle of water, have a few pots of very hot water, set them inside and close the lid. In no time the ice on the sides have softened. A dustpan is fantastic for just scraping/loosening the ice from the sides, and picking up from the floor of the freezer to throw out. A hair dryer works as well.

I have never really defrosted mine (10+ years). I don't open mine every day though.

It does get some frost accumulation around the top. I just take a table knife (dull knife) and pop off the frost areas.

My chest freezer has two large basket type trays that hang from the top of the freezer ledge. I put things in there that I will use a lot. They came with my freezer. You migh look for something like that when you are shopping. That would be a good spot to keep your ice trays - nice and flat and always on top.

My freezer also has an alarm - maybe most new ones do. If it goes off or warms up inside it will start beeping.

I also have a special plug on mine. It was something we had put on after we bought it. Then we had the electrician put in the special plug in for it. The plug twists in, so it cannot be accidentally unplugged. The plug in cannot be used for any other type of plug in.

We had some friends that lost the entire content of their freezer because a worker unplugged the freezer to use the plug in for his tools, then never plugged it in.

I, too, much prefer a chest freezer. Much more efficient than an upright,

Defrosting is no problem. We do ours 2-3 times a year. I just take everything, put it in boxes on the steps, a plastic ice scraper gets all the frost off in 10-15 minutes or so, you give it a wipe, and put everything back in. No big deal at all. Yes, it is easier to chip the ice off and toss it into the sink, than to let it melt then have to sop up all the water in the bottom.

As to ice--a freezer's a freezer. You just have to keep the trays level,

Yes, you can freeze cubes in your chest type freezer, but I am wondering putting open trays of water if that will add more quickly to the frost build up? I don't know. I had a chest type freezer in the beginning and I had it over 30 years. It worked good, but what a pain to clean out. Me being short and it so big I sure didn't like that part of it. My self I like the up rights and have two of them, I would never go back to the other kind. As you get older things change.

Sue

"Can I make ice cubes in a chest freezer? "

Of course.

"How long and messy is defrosting a manual defrost one?"

Wait until there is a point in time when the freezer is "low" on goods which would be NOT right after deer hunting season when it is stuffed or right after a shopping spree. Choose a cold winter day and put any items outside. As a previous poster mentioned keep and eye on it an pry the loose pieces of ice off. You don't have to let it sit until everything becomes water. If you have a wet vac, use that to suck up water at the bottom - much easier than trying to scoop and sponge it all out.

Newer freezers don't tend to get so much frost build up for some reason. I don't know why. Maybe the seals on the older ones have deteriorated and let minute amounts of air in constantly? Maybe the newer ones are built with better insulation in the freezer walls? Keeping the freezer "full" will cut down on the number of times you have to defrost. Every time you open the door to a freezer warm air enters and if the freezer is "packed" less air can enter. It is recommended to put empty milk jugs in the freezer to cut down on air transference when the door is opened. This is more important with an upright but still a help with a floor model.

Defrosting has never been a problem with mine, either. If it gets some bulit up around the top it is easy to take off as iowawagirl mentioned. I've only had to defrost the whole thing a couple times in all the years we've had it ahd I chipped off the ice and threw it in the sink - not hard.

Wait until there is a point in time when the freezer is "low" on goods which would be NOT right after deer hunting season when it is stuffed or right after a shopping spree.

LOL...no problem there.
Although we have deer here. Hunting is illegal.

Really? There is not a deer season in PA? How do they control the population?

No deer in my freezer though. I donate mine to the State. They use it for prisons and food banks.

There is a deer season up north in rural counties. They like to do those things.

No deer hunting or firing guns in suburban areas.

If anyone walked up this street with a gun...there would be multiple 911 calls.

Oh! Of course :) No hunting in town here either - and it is just a small burg.

Sometimes it is more that just liking to "do those things". Many people use the venison as a major part of their food supply. I suspect many more may need to do so in the future. Hunting isn't evil.

Hi Monica,

As long as you're honest ... and level with your ice cube trays, you can freeze in a chesty with no problem.

You may find that when you put the water in, a quiver may move over the surface, as the water starts thinking that they want out - it's too cold in here for any good use!

The freezer on a frig carries the freezer portion at a few degrees below freezing, but freezers operate at down near 0 degrees F.: you may have noticed the difference in texture of ice cream depending on in which location it had been held.

Cubes from there will pull your drink down to lower temp: and ones from a stand-up one will do the same, of course.

I defrosted the old chest freezer here at uncle's when I came to stay after hs wife's death, seven years ago ... and it's getting near ready for another go. I don't open it frequently.

Even in summer, no need to worry about coolers, etc. (except maybe for ice cream, if you choose). Stick the stuff into some carboard boxes from the store. If you get large ones, stow the ice cream in the middle, surrounded by the other stuff. But don't fret ... maybe your family will enjoy (slightly softened) ice cream.

Turn the exhaust of the vacuum cleaner down into the chest and you'll be surprised at how soon the ice drops off. I have no idea how it would work if you tried it with a Room-ba). As others suggest, pick the ice up and put it into the sink (or a water jug if you'll be doing warm work for a while).

After a quick wash, followed by a rinse with baking soda? vinegar? in the water (but not the two together) let it dry and you'll be surprised at how soon you'll be able to return the contents to the freezer - probably various items in a different location.

Should be fun ... or at least not a major chore.

As you place the items, make a chart with A at the left, moving to H, M or whatever you choose from left to right and 1 to 6 or 8 from back to front, then a to e, g or whatever to indicate depth and write the list of the various items of contents in the list.

I like the chesties better than the stand-up ones, as they don't spill all of the cold air out onto the floor and your ankles the instant you open the door. Which saves energy.

And the automatic defrost ones run the freezing equipment for while, ... then occasionally the heater, which heats the contents a tiny bit ... then back to the freezing again. That seems a rather unnecessary increase in the use of precious energy, all because quite a lot of people want to avoid one more simple - and occasional - chore.

ole joyful