Chest Freezers

[porcupine]

I've finally gone off the deep end. My large kitchen freezer is stuffed full of homemade tomato sauce, marinara, mole, pesto, strawberry jam, lemon curd, tomato confit, tomatillo salsa, and a few others. I'm out of chicken and beef stocks and have no room to store more. And so help me God I just finished a batch of homemade dog food. And I had so much fun cooking up 30 pounds of plum tomatoes last weekend (and the sauce is that good) that I want to do it again...

I need a chest freezer. Does anyone have specific recommendations, warnings, or advice? Thanks.

[monavano]

I've finally gone off the deep end. My large kitchen freezer is stuffed full of homemade tomato sauce, marinara, mole, pesto, strawberry jam, lemon curd, tomato confit, tomatillo salsa, and a few others. I'm out of chicken and beef stocks and have no room to store more. And so help me God I just finished a batch of homemade dog food. And I had so much fun cooking up 30 pounds of plum tomatoes last weekend (and the sauce is that good) that I want to do it again...

I need a chest freezer. Does anyone have specific recommendations, warnings, or advice? Thanks.

I have an upright freezer in my basement. The uprights have a smaller footprint and won't pose a possible problem of closing on a small child should they go or fall in (just in general for those who have kids or kids around, especilly if the freezer is in your garage). I find it easier to find what I want in the upright as items aren't piled up.

I got mine at Lowe's. I wanted to get one at Costco, but they only carried a small chest at the time.

[ScotteeM]

I got my chest freezer at least 10 years ago, when I started feeding my dogs raw food in earnest. I chose the chest over the upright, because I anticipated having to accommodate some large items (it seemed logical at the time, although years later I can't for the life of me think what the large items were that I expected to store).

I bought mine at Circuit City, although these days my usual first stop for such appliances is Sears. I think CC was having a good sale. My recollection is that chest freezers were less expensive than uprights, in terms of price per cubic foot of storage.

The problem with chest freezers is accessibility. Stuff that winds up on the bottom is almost lost forever, or until you empty the freezer to defrost.

I think that if I were buying a freezer now, I would spend the extra money for an upright. It would make my life a lot easier!

HTH

[DanielK]

My recollection is that chest freezers were less expensive than uprights, in terms of price per cubic foot of storage.

The problem with chest freezers is accessibility. Stuff that winds up on the bottom is almost lost forever, or until you empty the freezer to defrost.

I think that if I were buying a freezer now, I would spend the extra money for an upright. It would make my life a lot easier!

Completely agreed. We have a chest freezer, and stuff gets lost in the bottom for months or years. Definitely worth the extra cost for an upright, unless you are in the habit of shuffling everything in the freezer every month.

We also shopped at Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears. Don't remember where we eventually got it, but they all have basically the same stuff at the same prices.

[mktye]

I have a Kenmore chest freezer we bought at Sears ~12 years ago. It has been to California and back, is in its fourth house and is still going strong. It is 13 cu. ft. and I've always been very happy with that size.

The problem with chest freezers is accessibility. Stuff that winds up on the bottom is almost lost forever, or until you empty the freezer to defrost.

What I find helps with this to use large plastic storage bins with lids. A couple of squarish ones for stock and tomato sauces, a medium flat one for meats, a large flat one for breads & cakes, and so on. Yes, you lose some space in the freezer, but being able to pull out just a couple of bins to access the stuff on the bottom is worth it for me.

I also initially freeze stocks & sauces in zip-top baggies on their sides on a sheet pan (with a layer of paper towels between them so they won't stick to each other). After they are frozen solid, I put them upright in a deep plastic bin for compact storage. It is easy to grab the sauce I want, peel off the baggie and dump it in a saucepan for defrosting.

[DanielK]

What I find helps with this to use large plastic storage bins with lids. A couple of squarish ones for stock and tomato sauces, a medium flat one for meats, a large flat one for breads & cakes, and so on.

We do this, as well as using some of the plastic grocery bags to group like items that don't go in the storage bins. It helps, but I still wish I'd bought an upright.

[edenman]

Chest freezers are often the refrigeration solution chosen by homebrewers with multi-tap setups. The freezers tend to be the perfect height to accommodate a keg, and they are generally wide enough to comfortably hold several at a time. They also tend to be a little easier to regulate with an external regulator, since there is no separate fridge component: you can regulate the whole thing up to 40-45 F if you so desire (I'm not sure on the technical details here, but it's the impression that I've gotten). And then there's the bonus of having a convenient place to mount the taps (the top of the freezer), as well as a built in place to rest your beer.

[PollyG]

We've created a partial solution to the "lost in the depths" problem that plagues chest freezers. We have half a dozen Trader Joe's reusable bags in the freezer, each with a landscaping flag poking out, labeling the contents by type of food. (Seafood, pork, chicken, etc.) That way we can just pull out the right bag and then root through it for the item we're seeking.

If there are no small children in your house, the energy efficiency of a chest freezer may outweigh the floorspace, safety, and access concerns.

[jparrott]

Check craigslist, et al. There's no reason to pay full price...freezers are basically indestructible, and plenty of folks are willing to part with them for not much more than the elbow grease to cart it away. I got mine (and my second fridge--yes, I have three cold boxes for two people) from coworkers.

[edenman]

I got mine (and my second fridge--yes, I have three cold boxes for two people) from coworkers.

Four coldboxes (two fullsize, two small ones) for one person. Electric bill, pshaw!

[Scott Johnston]

I researched these a couple of years ago and bought a upright non frost free freezer. Non frost free does need to be cleaned once a year, but keep food longer and fresher (and are more energy efficient).

[MsDiPesto]

Ha ha, my parents had a chest freezer in the basement....it was a time capsule for food of the past! Things would disappear on the bottom for decades, so you definitely need a filing system.

"What's in that thing?"

"Hitchhikers."

[porcupine]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up with a 5 cubic foot Kenmore upright. In addition to all the stuff listed above, it also contains a dozen or so 8 oz jars of tomatillo salsa, soon to be joined by many jars of chicken stock.

[squidsdc]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up with a 5 cubic foot Kenmore upright. In addition to all the stuff listed above, it also contains a dozen or so 8 oz jars of tomatillo salsa, soon to be joined by many jars of chicken stock.

I don't recall seeing the 5 cu ft model...we were looking for one a while back, and I only recall seeing the 12-13 cu ft as the smallest upright. (Maybe it was the smallest frost free type) Does Sears stock this model, or was it only available on line? We definitely cancelled out the chest freezer ourselves, but sort of gave up the search when we didn't find what would work for us.

[porcupine]

I don't recall seeing the 5 cu ft model...we were looking for one a while back, and I only recall seeing the 12-13 cu ft as the smallest upright. (Maybe it was the smallest frost free type)

I believe that is correct. I couldn't find any frost-free models under about ten cubic feet. Sears had it available for pickup or delivery within two days.

[lperry]

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up with a 5 cubic foot Kenmore upright. In addition to all the stuff listed above, it also contains a dozen or so 8 oz jars of tomatillo salsa, soon to be joined by many jars of chicken stock.

How's it going after five years?  Did you choose the right size?  I've been struggling with the freezer decision for a while now, and the major issue is making room in the basement, so the small size is looking pretty good.  Right now the side-by-side is crammed full of sauces, lemon juice and zest, nuts, mirepoix, roasted tomatoes (with the tomato vines still cranking),  and I've got a full bed of short-season leeks that will need to be harvested and frozen before frost this fall.  Maybe I should have planted the ones that overwinter.

[porcupine]

It's still working fine, though it needs to be defrosted.  There's not a huge buildup, but there's some.  I guess the last time it was defrosted was when we moved in October 2009. I store most of the jars in flat boxes that I can pull out as if they were trays, so accessibility isn't an issue.  I can get one box of (say) a dozen 20-oz jars on a shelf (there are 3 shelves), with room along the sides for a few more large jars, and there's room on top of the jars for flat gallon-sized ziplock bags of produce. There's a decent amount of room in the door, too.

I actually tape an inventory to the front and cross off quantities as I take them out, eg "tomato sauce 8/12 16oz jars 24 22 19 17"; that way I don't have the "what's this ancient thing and is it still edible?" problem.

It's the right size.  My kitchen freezer is pretty roomy, too.  Short-term stuff goes in kitchen, long term stuff in the basement.

At the moment most of the odd spaces are stuffed with It's-It ice cream sandwiches.