With your uninsulated conditions I'd find space inside for an upright manual defrost freezer. It'll take up less floor space. Manual defrost allows longer storage without freezer burn. Avanti has been completely dependable for me. And very reasonably priced. Here. About 26" x 25" of floor space.

GE makes theirs to work in the garage. We bought this one last year and it is great. We got an upright, but they also have them in chest. It is a frost free model.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Garage-Ready-21-3-cu-ft-Frost-Free-Upright-Freezer-in-White-FUF21SMRWW/305904836

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Freezers-Ice-Makers-Chest-Freezers/GE/N-5yc1vZc3nrZlo?storeSelection=888,804,803,884,812

• Garage ready - GE freezers are tested to perform from 0°F to 110°F

Whatever you do, don't get frost free or self defrosting for long term storage. They're better than they used to be, but they either warm or dry.

I'm not sure a freezer rated to 110° F is going to cut it for Phoenix summers (which I've experienced but not frozen stuff in). GE basic freezers, however, are good. That rating is probably more for heat waves, rather than all day every day. I don't know how monsoon season will affect a freezer. I wonder if there's some kind of insulating cover you can use that'll give it a little extra help.

I just found a blog post about using styrofoam to insulate a fridge for power savings. I was trying to find if there were the kind of insulating shroud I was thinking of, but apparently a lot of people use polystyrene sheets either outside or inside, which sounds easier to live with. The linked blog has the most detailed info, but a lot of people were talking about it.

You can also talk to your friends and neighbors, as well as the people who sell the meat, and ask what they do.

My GE frost free has been great, The old ones may have not worked, but the new GE's have been engineered to work in extreme temperatures. You can read the reviews and see. Do not buy an old off Ebay or Craigslist, get a new one.

It already has the extra insulation needed for a garage. Most of the time when I go out, it is not even running. It only turns on when I open the door. It then turns on a fan to suck the air out to really double seal the freezer. It yells at me if I leave it open too long. I did not think it would work also, but I was wrong. This is one time when "new and improved" is really new and improved.

The food does not have freezer burn. LOL, I do not have stock in GE, but I was VERY, VERY, VERY, impressed at how the new (2018) freezers worked.

We do not buy beef by the side, but he is a deer hunter. I have to HAVE to venison last for one to two years, depending on his harvest. We cut, process, and shrink seal the meat. This freezer is going to do that.

I agree with Oly - the cost of the electricity plus the price of the freezer does not make economic sense. Remember the I Love Lucy Show

Of course you won't end up like this in a chest freezer

chest freezers are the most economical to operate, generally. cold sinks. keep them full (add gallon jugs of frozen water), open once or twice a week to retrieve what you need. manual defrost in dry arozona climate might be annual, or less frequent
my question for op. a quarter beef is a lot of red meat for four or five months. how many in your household?

I have a small chest(7 cf/GE, $125) in the garage, but being in Chicago, we do not have your temps. Because we do not open the freezer all the time or several times a day, we have ours on a timer to run when energy costs are lower, such as after 5 pm with the last cycle at 8 am. I would tell you to wrap a freezer in foam insulation board, but not any vents. We do this for refrigerators in garages in the winter to stop them from freezing and it works. If you are leaving in October, either have it empty or have a friend check on it while you are gone. Also, be sure to have the meat vacuum packed, either by the butcher or with a Foodsaver to help preserve it.

I have had a chest freezer, same chest freezer actually for 15 years in an uninsulated garage in Texas. The power usage is minimal unless you plan on opening it up all the time like your refrigerator. I don't much about the new freezers. If they are anything like the fridges, they will break in 2 to 5 years. I don't know if it will make financial sense for the OP, but if you like to buy perishable food in bulk, this is the only way to go IMO.

My family had a Norge chest freezer in our garage for years (mid 1960s) on the central TX coast. Not as consistently hot as Phoenix but hot enough. Never had any trouble with it. Parents have a smaller one now (I don't know the brand), different house, laundry room at side of the carport, same environmental conditions.

My brother in law and sister in law had an upright freezer in their garage in Phoenix...until he mistook the accellerator for the brake and ran into it....Ran fine while it lasted. may have been more expensive that going to the store for meat more often but the convenience out weighed the cost.

You can often find perfectly good chest freezers on sites like craigslist for practically nothing.

I know several people to do car camping or van dwelling in the desert and they use reflectix to insulate their fridges. Just keep the vent areas clear.

I regretted our upright chest freezer in TX once I got the electric bill. And the ice build up was horrific since we used it a lot. I was very happy to be rid of it. Do you have a Green Bean type company near you that delivers weekly? Fresh local produce and meats? I highly recommend that route.

This new freezer turns on the powered fan and seals it completely. It is not just about "saving" money. Although I do buy on sale, it is about having the meat I want available without running to the store every day.

I just went through that for 3 1/2 months while we were remodeling the kitchen and I HATE it! I like having what I want in the freezer and can pull it out each day when we decide what, if anything, we want for a meal that night.

You're misunderstanding the fan function. All frost-free freezers have a fan inside to circulate air over the cooling coils. Some of them turn the fan off when the door is opened, back on when it's closed. That little fan can't possibly generate enough vacuum to seal anything.

If you're finding the door difficult to open again immediately after it's opened and closed, that has nothing to do with the fan. It's caused by the inrush of warmer room air that gets in when the door is opened, which momentarily *increases* the pressure inside while the door is open, then the pressure *decreases* due to the sudden chill imparted to that warm air (by the already-cold contents and interior parts of the freezer) when the door is closed. That's what causes the slight vacuum that makes the door hard to open.

FUF21SMR
GE® 21.3 Cu. Ft. Capacity Frost-Free Upright Freezer
FUF21DLR
FEATURES AND BENEFITS
Garage ready – GE freezers are proven to perform at room temperatures
ranging between 0° - 110F°
Audible temperature alarm – Alerts you if the door is left open or if the
temperature rises
Exterior electronic temperature control – Easy adjust the temperature and
avoid releasing cold air by opening the door
Turbo Freeze – An extra boost of cold air restores interior to set temperature
for optimum food freshness
LED interior lighting – Automatically illuminates when door is open
Lock with key - Allows you to protect your valuable food items from
unintentional entry
Model FUF21SMRWW – White

Turbo Freeze ... likely just drops the temperature setting for a period of time for rapid recovery after loading in a bunch of food / having the door open for a longer-than-usual period of time. My GE Profile SxS refrigerator has a Quick Ice function that does the same thing ... drops the temperature point for the freezer section to a lower setting, I think -5°F, for 48 hours.

I have an upright freezer in the garage that is made to be in the garage. I have it full of jars and jars of stock, freezer jams and the like. In our summer heat, which is usually over 100, it runs all the time And I often wonder how much of Myrcille summer electric bill comes from the running of the freezer.

I also wondered about how much of that frozen quarter beef you would have to move in October.

Again, recommendation for adding extra insulation. Many do it. It works for cutting the electric bill as well as saving wear and tear.

My built-in freezer has a supercool setting. I managed to freeze up the whole thing so a fan was stuck and the evaporator didn't work. I had to empty and defrost it. I think it freezes well enough on the regular setting anyway. ;)

I should have mentioned before that for whatever it's worth I've been following the adventures of a guy in the Orlando area who is experimenting with eating nothing for a year except what he can grow or forage for himself.

I mention this because he lives in a self-built shack (uninsulated single-layer wood) with no A/C and he has a chest freezer. He says his total electric usage for everything is about $10 a month and they just went through a period of record-breaking 100º+ weather there. (And Duke Energy power is not particularly cheap compared to other FL utility companies.)

A garage in Phoenix is an oven. It can bake the contents beyond the daily high temp. You'll want powered ventilation to combat that. Or put the freezer outside.

I would not hesitate for a second. A half size 7 cubic foot will pay for itself and probably the operating costs with the savings buying bulk. IF you enjoy cooking and exploring different cuts. That alone is priceless. And the quality and convenience.

ONLY if it is packaged freezer ready in portions that suit your family.

We have an abundance of local farms. One we like is also a Bed and Breakfast so open all hours. I prefer just getting the cuts we like since I make and grind my own burger mix and sausage. Still cost saving over WholeFoods prices. They have pork, ducks and chickens as well so we just fill a cooler maybe 25-30 lbs. Very generous with soup bones, a buck a bag if you purchase at least 20lbs.

I have a small spare freezer I only use a few months while going through Fall harvest and using it now as a blast chiller for some stocks. Full of ice gallons for a 4th party, then unplugged for most of the summer. Once you thin out your bulk, the rest might fit in your other freezer...if you entertain a bit by October.

Rather than just freezer ready, I'd get the meat cryovac'd for best quality

I'm very energy and food conscious. I like to buy meet from local farms, use my car as little as possible, and I have considered buying a 1/4 cow as well. In the end I decided against it.

Instead, I found a butcher shop and a food co-op that both carried cuts from the same farm that would have sold me the 1/4 cow. I consolidated my regular freezer as much as possible. About once every 6 weeks I would plan a meat shopping trip. I would add on other errands that were in the same part of town so I wasn't driving just for the meat. I'd store the meat in my freezer - you can get a lot of cuts in a pretty small space if you are well organized. And, I was able to find from the same farm not just beef but eggs and poultry that were great too.

In the long run, I think it is much better for the environment than buying a big freezer that uses a lot of energy and has a big carbon foot print from likely having been made half way around the world with parts from all corners of the globe.

There are a lot of websites that can help you find local farms with grass-fed beef. You can then call the farms and ask where they sell retail in your area.

Freezer ready is cryovac'd. (What I meant). That is the term they use here. If a 1/4 cow is butcher wrapped but larger amounts individual I don't mind doing the final prep so I can prep to my liking. Obviously a bit cheaper. Only did that once years ago with 5 other couple at a summer vacation rental.

Usually a 1/4 cow here is sold one way and no special order substitutions. But I've noticed the more accommodating farms do realize they need to loosen up their past practices.

On the other hand, if you buy a used freezer, you're not increasing the carbon footprint that way. And I've lived in Phoenix and unless you're way out of town, I suspect the energy used to get to the fancy butcher/farm store is going to about equal out to the minimal amount used to run the freezer, or possibly be less.

Sorry, Sleevendog. I mentioned it because sometimes the meat is vacuum sealed but not frozen. In my childhood, my mother ordered beef and lamb by the side (also cryovac'd) and could order exactly how she wanted it. Like how many fillet mignon vs. how big a chateaubriand. New Yorks or Delmonicos, pot roast or stew meat, etc. I can order anything I want from the butcher now, if I call a day or two ahead, and they will cut it to order, but if they have chuck, it's a "steak" (slice), not a pot roast. Sigh.

Here in Michigan I'm not allowed to sell meat by the cut, only by the eighth/quarter/ half or whole animal. To be sold by the cut requires a special USDA permit and special holding facilities, which I do not have. So, you have to buy at least 1/8 of an animal here, or else buy your meat at a separately licensed commercial facility.

I'm in Michigan, of course, but I have my freezers in my garage and in my unheated and uncooled pole barn. Our weather varies from highs in the 80s and 90s in the summer and down to 20 below zero in the winter occasionally. One large chest freezer was my Dad's, and he died about 10 years ago, so it's been operating outside in the heat/cold for at least two decades without problems. The old one does use a lot more power than our newest one. The new one is a 14 cubic foot chest freezer, manual defrost. The bright yellow tag says it uses an estimated yearly energy use of 297 kWh for a total cost of $36.00. That's an estimate, of course, but I have not seen a significant change in our electric bill.

Annie

Really old coolers were a lot sturdier. The whole "will it work in a garage" thing didn't used to be in question.

Well, we also have two freezers that were new when we moved here in 2014 and they've been in the pole barn since we moved in, and one we bought last year and in the pole barn too. So far it's been fine. I hope it continues to be fine, because I sure don't have anywhere else to put them.

Annie

One of the important thing to do with freezers and refrigerators is clean the condensing coil regularly..

This will keep the machine working efficiently.

dcarch