Chest Freezers

[tug]

Forgive me if this topic is in the wrong forum, or if it has been already discussed to death. I did do a search for chest freezers and started getting blurry-eyed at about page 34 of 41.

My darling [expletive deleted] sister boasted that she got a chest freezer for Christmas. As I am not the perfect suburbanite she is, I saw no immediate value, and proceeded to mock her in my mother's presence. Yesterday, I stood over my humble bottom drawer freezer while jingling my Christmas-present-bracelet-from-my-DH, trying to extricate dinner, and suddenly realized - Wow, I could use a chest freezer!

We can safely smuggle one in to the private garage that we rent from the apartment complex. The garage is permanently powered, and we can easily camoflage it with a creative assortment of things that live in there already. (NB: our lease says nothing that precludes us from installing an appliance in said garage. I just don't want to draw any unnecessary attention to this new project )

So, my question is: does anyone have any opinions/advice/tips for selecting size/brand? We are a small family of 3 - moi, DH and 11 yr old fashionista. We tend to buy bulk (Costco) and vacuum seal a lot of things. Theres a modest model on sale at Costco for $179. Is that a good deal?

Help please

[choux]

I have one that is much the same size and it is just fine. Depending on your location, you may want to be careful about storing it outside, or accessable to animals. The second day after I had my new freezer, we were awoken at 5 am by a bear absconding with a package of frozen blackberries! Didn't even close the lid behind him! So it got dragged inside and shoved in a corner.

[Toliver]

The biggest drawback at chest freezers is that items at the bottom tend to get forgotten since everything else is piled on top. In a previous similar discussion, someone posted that they keep a list next to the freezer and everytime something goes in or out, it gets put on the list of gets crossed off.

And defrosting the appliance isn't a lot of fun.

And what about a lock for the freezer door so no one else can get in, in case someone discovers your hidden freezer?

[tug]

Thanks for the replies

The garage is private, we have exclusive access to it. Its also pretty much at room temperature, as it is below a few storeys.

A contents list is a great idea!

I think this freezer has a defrost "spout" so I'm hoping the process is an easy one

[I_call_the_duck]

...The second day after I had my new freezer, we were awoken at 5 am by a bear absconding with a package of frozen blackberries! Didn't even close the lid behind him! So it got dragged inside and shoved in a corner. 

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What nerve! I don't suppose he left a note or even a few bucks to replace the berries.

[John DePaula]

You can also pick up a bunch of extra freezer-style white wire bins to help segregate contents. The list is a good idea too, along with dates, but you've got to be diligent keeping it up to date.

[tug]

I sent an IM to my DH, updating him on the progress of my shopping, and this thread .. this was the hilarious exchange ..

DH: I had a radical thought, but it won't work ..

DH: we have the old-old computer and my old 19" monitor in the garage .. wouldn't it be great if we could wi-fi it into the network, and keep an updated list of groceries and frozen goods on there

DH: just log in from the house too see what's for dinner

me:

[fifi]

Aaaah! To have a freezer again. The one you selected is probably about the right size. I live alone but occasionally get offered game, and I freeze a lot of "ingredients" like pesto, roasted red peppers, all dried chiles and powders, so I might opt for a size bigger. When I bought my house, my only practical option was an upright. Never again!!!! It was a bitch to defrost. Things were always falling on my feet. When you open the door, all of the cold air falls out. Things were just as prone to getting lost as in any other freezer I have had. I will have a chest freezer again! And it will be in addition to the bottom freezer of the fridge in the kitchen.

The defrosting thing . . . In my experience, chest types are much easier and they don't frost up as badly. They aren't refreezing as much air since the cold air doesn't dump out every time you open them. Then you can just set your baskets of well labeled and sorted goodies ( ) in some laundry baskets draped with blankets or in coolers. Then you just attach the hose to the drain and get after it with lots of warm (not hot) water. Within an hour you are back in business and you don't have water all over the floor. I only had to do this every couple of years with my chest freezers. That darn upright got clogged with frost about every 9 months.

Another plus for a separate chest freezer is that you can set it much lower and achieve longer storage times without losing quality. When we were cleaning out my parents' house, including a chest freezer large enough to hold 2 or 3 bodies, we found some shrimp frozen in water that were about 3 years old. They were still good. The biggest find was a gallon of wild grape juice that my dad had put up about 20 years ago. We intend to make "Dad's Memorial Jelly" out of it one of these days.

[tug]

Thank you everyone for taking the time to weigh in.

It looks as though we will be stopping at Costco tonight. No word yet on whether or not the DH has managed to wire the garage to our home network!

[Rachel Perlow]

The defrosting thing . . . In my experience, chest types are much easier and they don't frost up as badly. They aren't refreezing as much air since the cold air doesn't dump out every time you open them. Then you can just set your baskets of well labeled and sorted goodies ( ) in some laundry baskets draped with blankets or in coolers. Then you just attach the hose to the drain and get after it with lots of warm (not hot) water. Within an hour you are back in business and you don't have water all over the floor. I only had to do this every couple of years with my chest freezers. That darn upright got clogged with frost about every 9 months.

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I haven't even needed the drain hole when defrosting. Get a PLASTIC scraper from the hardware store. Remove contents as above. Lay a junk towel on the bottom and use a hair dryer and the scraper to loosen large chunks of ice and melt the smaller ones. Wrap the ice in the towel to dump into the bathtub to melt & drain away. I do this once a year or so, whenever the ice is getting in the way of shuffling the baskets.

Edit: I just looked at your link. That model looks a little small. If you have the space, I'd opt for a larger model, or at least a size up from that. It won't be that much more expensive, and I'm sure you'll outgrow that model quite soon. Also, check out scratch & dent stores in your area to see if they have any cheap floor models. This is an appliance destined for the garage, it doesn't have to be pretty.

[Marlene]

I have an upright freezer that self defrosts, and I'll never go back to a chest freezer again! It's wonderful to be able to open the door, stand in an upright position and be able to see everything I have in there!

[tug]

Edit: I just looked at your link. That model looks a little small. If you have the space, I'd opt for a larger model, or at least a size up from that. It won't be that much more expensive, and I'm sure you'll outgrow that model quite soon. Also, check out scratch & dent stores in your area to see if they have any cheap floor models. This is an appliance destined for the garage, it doesn't have to be pretty.

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We dont actually have much more room. I'm hoping that the size is a good value for the price. We're going to take a look at this model in a few minutes. Wish me luck!

[CarolineLD]

I've got an upright freezer divided into drawers, which I love - so easy, and nothing is ever more than a few inches from the top of its drawer! Over the summer I was using my parents' chest freezer, and the huge drawback was not so much knowing what was in there (I'd mostly stocked it so I knew) but rather the hideously difficult 3D-jigsaw puzzle with icy cold items when I had to get something out of the bottom and then get everything else back in.

(Obviously my parents disagree on this, as they bought the thing, so I guess which model you choose is a question of taste... and spatial skills...)

Caroline

[daves]

We have an upright freezer that *doesn't* self-defrost. Easier to access (and to see what might be for dinner).

The non-self-defrost means that things stay frozen rather than going through the defrost cycle once a day. Keeps everything tastier and really helps avoid freezer burn. Anything that will be frozen for longer than a week goes into the 'big freezer', while other stuff gets stored in the fridge's freezer.

I do have to defrost it once a year, but no biggie...

[Mayhaw Man]

Here's a plus!

When the power goes out, or you have a giant, honking hurricane show up and everything in it melts into a big pile of unidentifiable, but really stinking goo, they are really easy to clean out as the vents that let the cold air in are on the top. This means that the thing is, essentially, a big igloo with a motor on it. You can (speaking from multiple experiences here) take it out, dump out the goo, hose it out, and go plug it back in again. They're great like that.

On another note, when you are making your insurance claim, be sure not to insist that you had just stocked up on lump crabmeat. Insurance adjusters see right through that.

[purplewiz]

I never thought we needed a chest freezer, since there are only the two of us, but after sort of inheriting one (long story), I don't know how I'd do without.

It has allowed me to take excellent advantage of sales on things like meat and bread, and freeze stocks and pesto. I can buy the big bag of meatballs at Sam's Club and not worry that it'll take up room for months while we work our way through it. We get snowed in here on and off, and it's just nice to know we don't have to worry about food if that happens unexpectedly.

The downside is that yes, you do have to go through it and rotate things out. (As I found out recently when I found a beef roast from 1998.)

We keep ours in the garage, and it came in handy this summer when my husband accidentally locked me out of the house (he's still apologizing). Since I was doing yard work the garage door was open, so I rummaged around in the chest freezer and found an ice pop to sustain me while I thought of all the things I was going to say when he got home .

Marcia.

[fifi]

I was wondering about the uprights with self defrost. I only dealt with one for a short time in a rented place. I had a devil of a time with freezer burn. Of course, that was years ago and maybe they have improved them.

[Marlene]

fifi, I've never had a problem with freezer burn, but then, I vacumn seal everything that goes in there.

[fifi]

fifi, I've never had a problem with freezer burn, but then, I vacumn seal everything that goes in there.

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That would certainly help the situation. The bag material is of a plastic with low permeability. My experience was in the days before such things were generally available.

[snowangel]

I have a chest freezer; mine is in the basement close to the washing machine.

I only defrost it about every three years, but then again, mine is very organized with milk crates and I do know what's in there and make sure and rotate the milk crates so that stuff comes to the top. And, because of where I live, a mid-January defrost is no problem!

The other bonus is that I can use it as a surface for sorting clothes, blocking hand-knit sweaters. I've even covered the top with a piece of plastic and used it to finish wood trim!

But, the big thing to remember with any freezer is that it is not a safe deposit box. I'll never forget my MIL showing up at our house with the top of our wedding cake -- we'd been married close to 20 years and she'd found it at the bottom. But that's another story...

[tug]

here's the latest addition to the family

We've named him Frosty

[bleachboy]

Awww, he's cute!

[fifi]

Give Frosty a hug for me.

Now . . . Go and get yourself a roll of freezer tape. This stuff looks like masking tape but has a special adhesive that stays stuck on cold stuff and will come off cleanly when you want it to. Paired with a fine tip Sharpie indelible marker, you now have the optimum labeling system for your freezer. Keep it in a handy spot in your kitchen so you won't be tempted to get lazy about labeling.

[Mayhaw Man]

I have a chest freezer;

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Why would you buy a chest freezer when you live in a chest freezer?

I would have thought that your money would have been better spent on some of these.

You should really think before you shop.

[thursdaynext]

Now . . . Go and get yourself a roll of freezer tape.

YES!!!

Helps prevent the "Honey, do you think this is still okay?" debate...