Chest Freezer

**Rhayne** · 03-03-2010, 09:39 AM

I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions on chest freezers. We want to get one to put in the kitchen and I'm not sure what brands are any good. I'm sure a lot of you here have freezers and everyone here is so very helpful so I come here to ask first. I've looked around online and seen different brands but I'm not sure what's good. Oh and one other question. What size do you think would be better? A 3.5 cubic foot or a 5 cubic foot freezer? It's just me and my boyfriend here so we don't need a huge one. Thanks in advance!

**Russ** · 03-03-2010, 09:48 AM

If I had it to do again, I would get a stand up freezer. Much easier to organize.

Reviews>> Freezer Reviews: Freezers, Chest Freezers, Upright Freezers

**Rhayne** · 03-03-2010, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by rcannon

If I had it to do again, I would get a stand up freezer. Much easier to organize.

Reviews>> Freezer Reviews: Freezers, Chest Freezers, Upright Freezers

Thank you for the link. I thought about a stand up one but I would much rather have a chest freezer. Partially my preference and partially because of space.

**MaryCarney** · 03-03-2010, 11:59 AM

If you go with a chest-type, buy some sturdy dowel rods and stand them in the corners, so you can make un-squashable 'layers' using masonite or something similar for the shelves. The reason so many people (including me) who used to own chest-types now own uprights, is because everything tends to fall to the bottom and get lost or squished or both (gravity, don't you know

)
Nothing worse than finding a freezer burned cut of expensive beef at the bottom!! They make small footprint uprights.

**wanderinggrandma** · 03-03-2010, 01:49 PM

I have an upright and a chest freezer. I also have a refer with the freezer on the bottom. That is a love/hate relationship. Love the viewability on the refer, but I HATE trying to use or find anything in the bottom/freezer.

I have the chest freezer because we are in an area that has power outages frequently in the winter. Food will stay frozen much longer in a chest than an upright. There are 3 baskets that slide on the top level and the bottom has dividers to help keep it organized and is easier to find what I'm looking for.

The chest freezer replaces an up-right freezer that died. It was 8 years old and the compressor went out. When I called a repair guy and he comfirmed it was the compressor (the side of the freezer will be warm if the compressor is running--mine was cold) he also told me that freezers are "disposable" items now--unless it's a minor repair-gaskets for example-that it will cost more to repair than to purchase a new one.

I purchased the chest from Lowes with a 10% off coupon and on sale, I saved a bunch. Frigidaire Gallery series. Check the reviews of customers and then Consumer Reports. Most have a 1yr parts and labor guarantee.

The up-right freezer is over 30 years old and also a Frigidaire I purchased from a friend. It keeps chugging along. It sits in our garage(pole barn) and is far from pretty--but talk about a work horse, for a lot of years it was our only freezer and stuffed to the gills. Having it in the garage helped when power went out-it was usually so darn cold everything kept frozen solid.

Good luck with your shopping!

**pinetree** · 03-03-2010, 02:09 PM

We bought a chest from Lowes, a Frigidaire. Love it.

If you have room, get the bigger one. You can always fill it with water jugs if you need to.

If you garden, you can use the extra room for freezing fruits & veggies. Our store had milk for $1.00 a gallon, you could freeze that.
It will fill up alot faster than you think. When you go shopping look for the dividers they sell now, it helps you keep your food together so you can find it easier. We just used a couple boxes that came from the processing plant. I just bought the one I liked. Good Luck, let us know what you got!

**dcompton** · 03-03-2010, 02:58 PM

When I was researching freezers a couple of years ago, from the information I found it appeared that virtually, if not all of them, were made by a couple of companies under different brand names, so it may not make much difference.

If you have the room, I would get the larger one. As someone said, you can always fill it with jugs of water to help with the efficiency. But you will probably be surprised how much you will eventually be putting into it.

**Jenibelle** · 03-03-2010, 07:41 PM

I got a 7.5 cubic foot chest freezer from an estate sale/auction and I loved it until it died. But I agree if I was to replace it would be a stand up because lots of food got lost in there! I think i was the only college student i knew with a chest freezer! Good luck with finding the one that works for you...I think as long as its a reputable brand and it fits your needs it is the perfect one for you.

**frugalfranny** · 03-04-2010, 02:26 AM

I LOVE my chest freezer. Have had both and wouldn't have an upright. BUT---you do have to do some work to keep it organized.

And yes, a chest is better if you have ANY power outages.

I would def. get the larger one. You will be surprised at what you end up freezing. You could even cut kitchen time by cooking large amts. and freezing it. Also - more room for sale items.

The one thing I WOULD NOT GET is a frost free. They not only burn food faster but if the power does go out and it is cycling (defrosting) ---it will keep cycling when the power comes back on........and who needs that with already thawing food? They aren't that hard to defrost and the others are MUCH HARDER on food.

I am a pretty faithful Whirlpool user..........if I can't afford Bosch!

I see used freezers on our CL quite often...... U might check.

**nadine64** · 03-04-2010, 04:14 AM

We have a standup freezer that's 20+ yrs old. Bought it 2nd hand over 14 years ago. Still works great. Much easier for us to organize stuff in there and view what we have/don't have. I agree with previous posts though, brand name doesn't seem to matter too much.

**Rhayne** · 03-04-2010, 09:45 AM

Wow, thanks for all the comments everyone. We're still in the "looking" phase but I'll deffinately let ya'll know what we end up getting.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 03-04-2010, 11:57 AM

If you want a good size, I'd go with the 3.5 model. Do you guys store a lot of frozen meats, vegetables, fruits, etc?

DH wants to buy a standing freezer and put it in the downstairs because the chest freezer wasn't cutting it for a while. We've since stopped stockpiling meat for now and it's not as full. If you're not on a restrictive diet, you'd need more room for things like hash browns, french fries, etc. But in our case, all we store in it is frozen vegetables, fruits and meat.

We got ours for a wedding gift. My inlaws got a standing freezer and a chest freezer since FIL hunts moose and elk and also does ice fishing. It's just him and MIL there now, but they do host dinners for holidays as well.