I need a freezer

**New-mom-to-be** · 03-23-2011, 10:57 AM

Since I am going to be staying at home, I thought I could shop for great sales and freeze them. I also thought I could freeze a bunch of summer produce.

What kinds do you recommend? Chest or Upright? Manual or Self-defrosting? We are buying new, so craigslisting is out.

**Russ** · 03-23-2011, 11:09 AM

IMO..Upright! I dislike our chest freezer because it is so disorganized!

**Spirit Deer** · 03-23-2011, 11:12 AM

Check reviews online as far as brands go.

A chest freezer keeps things colder and the cold does not pour out the door every time the door is opened. An upright makes things easier to find.

Buy the largest one you can afford and have room for. Once you have it, you'll find all sorts of uses for it.

**Spirit Deer** · 03-23-2011, 11:26 AM

A chest freezer CAN be organized!

Ours has two large baskets at the top for small things. You could add baskets across the entire top if you wanted to. I've added two tall cat litter pails on the bottom of the freezer for smallish items and stuff I shouldn't eat much of, like candy. On top of those, we set another wire basket that holds meats. On top the compressor box are items that stack well, like the small square Tupperware boxes I freeze OAMC meals in. One back corner is reserved for things that stack well, like boxed items and flours. The center is for odd stuff like whole turkeys and other things, and I'm currently scrounging for something to help organize that space a little better, too, maybe more pails and then sort meat by type such as chicken, pork, etc. It's not perfect, but I can usually lay hands on any needed item fairly easily in ours, and I keep thinking of ways to make it even better.

I'm considering buying a second freezer and it will be a chest freezer, too. But I also like my side by side's freezer which in essence is an upright. And which I have also organized with the addition of aluminum drawers on a couple of shelves to keep things tidy and stop them from becoming an avalanche out the door whenever it's opened. Cheeses go in one drawer along with things like tortillas, and specialty meats like sausages, pepperoni, bacon, etc, go in the other. I can easily pull out a drawer and set it on a counter to find what I need, so I like that.

A chest freezer will hold more than a same-sized upright, because you're not putting things on shelves and ending up with spaces in between.

**ShadowMom** · 03-23-2011, 11:45 AM

We have an upright for two reasons, 1) there is a built in space in our back room that would fit an upright, but no place for a chest freezer, and 2) I'm so short I can't reach the bottom of a chest freezer.

**Lady_V** · 03-23-2011, 12:13 PM

I'm 5'2 and as much as I would LOVE to have an upright, it's not in the financial cards (it would involve getting a new house

)

I am buying THIS chest freezer (OldMan says Friday) and it's currently on sale for $150.

I had to put the family needs over my personal wants - want upright, need freezer before someone gets trapped under the frozen avalanche that happens whenever someone opens the one above the fridge.

**MsMarieH** · 03-23-2011, 12:52 PM

I have a large chest freezer. I HATE IT! It *is* as organized as I can get it. I have things separated out into four plastic milk crates (veggies, meat, cheese/pasta, butter/dessert) plus a wire basket, but it's still a huge pain in the neck to find anything in there. I told hubby (many times) that it is on my list to go get a new upright freezer and only use the chest freezer for "big" stuff like frozen pizzas, whole turkeys or hams.

I definitely agree with the advice to buy the biggest one you can afford and have room for. I'd much rather have too big than too small. You could always use the excess space to hold jugs of water and ice cubes for future emergencies (and filling coolers for picnics!).

**pinetree** · 03-23-2011, 01:06 PM

I have both and love both. Mine have to be defrosted, I was told the self defrosting dries out what you have in the freezer.

I also like that I have to defrost, that means I have to go through it once in awhile.

I really dont like my upright sometimes, because my beef was put in shrink wrap that is really slippery, when you open the door things fall out.
My chest freezer is organized like mentioned above and have no problems.
Buy the biggest you can afford, it wont take you long to have it filled up, and the small ones fill up fast!

Good Luck and let us know what you got!

**Spirit Deer** · 03-23-2011, 01:36 PM

I've been looking at freezers online and I'm starting to re-think the chest freezer I'd prefer. I made the mistake of measuring my space and found I could only get one around 8 cubic feet, which I'm not sure would be worthwhile for us. So I'm looking at uprights. As mentioned above, space is the issue for us. I only have 39 inches of width to work with. A 36", 20 cf upright would fit nicely in that space.

I think this bears more thought.

Our side by side freezer is frost-free and it does not dry out our food. As long as things are properly packaged and used in a reasonable time, that shouldn't be a problem.

**nuisance26** · 03-23-2011, 03:23 PM

~I have a 14 cubic foot, upright, manual defrost freezer from Home Depot. I defrosted it 4 times last year which is a 3 hour project but easy. I save $3 a month on electric over an automatic($10 every time I defrost). Another reason I picked manual was less noise and appliance heat. It's near the living room so that was important to me.
And I completely agree with Pinetree about being forced to sort. I know what's in there and what needs to be used first!~

**Ali Lee** · 03-23-2011, 03:39 PM

Mine is a 1962 chest & absolutely NOT frost free. The next one will be frost free upright. I'm 5'.. I can't reach the bottom

**NikoSan999** · 03-23-2011, 06:56 PM

Chest...5'3" and couldn't reach the bottom. Just don't like them.

**mndtrp** · 03-23-2011, 07:09 PM

There is quite a few threads discussing this topic, maybe with more information.

I have a chest, and it's unlikely I would get an upright. It's organized, it isn't difficult to find anything, and I don't have anything falling out when I open the door. The only upside I can find to an upright is the use of vertical space.

**craftypam** · 03-23-2011, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by Spirit Deer

A chest freezer CAN be organized!

Ours has two large baskets at the top for small things. You could add baskets across the entire top if you wanted to. I've added two tall cat litter pails on the bottom of the freezer for smallish items and stuff I shouldn't eat much of, like candy. On top of those, we set another wire basket that holds meats. On top the compressor box are items that stack well, like the small square Tupperware boxes I freeze OAMC meals in. One back corner is reserved for things that stack well, like boxed items and flours. The center is for odd stuff like whole turkeys and other things, and I'm currently scrounging for something to help organize that space a little better, too, maybe more pails and then sort meat by type such as chicken, pork, etc. It's not perfect, but I can usually lay hands on any needed item fairly easily in ours, and I keep thinking of ways to make it even better.

I'm considering buying a second freezer and it will be a chest freezer, too. But I also like my side by side's freezer which in essence is an upright. And which I have also organized with the addition of aluminum drawers on a couple of shelves to keep things tidy and stop them from becoming an avalanche out the door whenever it's opened. Cheeses go in one drawer along with things like tortillas, and specialty meats like sausages, pepperoni, bacon, etc, go in the other. I can easily pull out a drawer and set it on a counter to find what I need, so I like that.

A chest freezer will hold more than a same-sized upright, because you're not putting things on shelves and ending up with spaces in between.

All I can say spiritdeer is that you are VERY ORGANIZED!! I say that because I am NOT an organized person and that is the reason I would not have a chest freezer. Even the way you are describing it is very organized. And then when you said you like your side by side; I KNEW you were organized because I could not have one of them.

**Spirit Deer** · 03-23-2011, 09:17 PM

I'm fairly organized in my mind. In reality, I'm working really hard to become more organized. It's like I have little pockets of organization here surrounded by chaos.

In the house where I grew up, disorganization was the norm and it took me a long time to realize it doesn't have to be that way.

I'm organized in the way I express things because I'm a writer. That's a requirement of the job.