# Freezer Space



## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Walter, and others who have customers buying half-whole pigs at a time...how much freezer does a 250lb butchered pig take? I'm trying to decide how much cu ft I need freezer space for my distributor's license... I run 2-3 hogs every 3-5 months...taking to farmer's market 9 months out of the year, and I have customers that buy halves and pickup at processing...

Thinking an upright will be more effective  Open to suggestions...

Andrea
www.arare-breed.net
www.faintinggoat.net


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## Rogo (Jan 1, 2006)

I'm short, so I prefer an upright. I could fall into the chest freezer, the top would close, and they wouldn't find me for a long time! -LOL-

I'm looking for a separate freezer. The regular fridge/freezers just aren't large enough. And this is meat just for me - I don't sell it.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

So what would be the largest amount of meat you would be storing at any one time? When we do pigs we usually do 3 at a time but unfortunately I spread it over our three freezers so don't know how much room it would take up in any one of them. 

My advice would be to go for as large as you can afford on the premise it's better to have too much freezer space than not enough.  Our best buy, and now hard to get here, was a 25 cu.ft. freezer and I know that will hold a whole beast, a mutton, a pig, bread plus. Stay away from uprights - they are not economical users of power as every time you open the door all the cold air quite literally falls out and the freezer then has to work to get the temperature down again. Nor can you fit as much in them.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

I figure about two to three cubic feet per typical finisher. We just did a 313 live weight (by the string method) pig that came back to us in three boxes each 12"x12"x12" (1 cu-ft each). The boxes weighed about 54 lbs each.

On freezers, I prefer chest freezers because they are more energy efficient. I'm very tall (5'8.27532") so that isn't a problem for me.    I lock the lid up with a bungie cord. 

We just bought a 22 cu-ft Amana chest freezer after doing a lot of research. I would have gotten a bigger one (25 cu-ft) but I couldn't find one that had as good ratings as the Amana.

We also have a 45 year old(?) huge "Tru-Cold" that freezes down to -20Â°F and lives on our porch out even in the -45Â°F weather. Unfortunately I am told newer freezers are not so hardy or strong. It saves energy by not running much of the year. Eventually I plan to build my own walk in and I may use the compressor and such from the Tru-Cold. It is hard to argue with seniority. 

On shelf life, I just read something on the USDA web site where they talked about 45 days freezer shelf life for pork patties. I'm looking for more info like that but haven't nailed it down yet. I have on occasion eaten 4 year old paper wrapped pork - tasted excellent. That was kept in the Tru-Cold - it had fallen to the bottom and stayed very cold that whole time. Generally I would recommend eating it sooner. 

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

5'8" is tall? DANG I must be a giant 

I didn't realize that chest freezers were more energy efficient. How do you solve the sorting type issues? Boxes? Or do you go swimming in the chest freezer?

I'm looking to store probably a whole hog, 1/2 chevon, 1/2 lamb and a few chickens at any given time. We aren't allowed to use this space for our personal use, so we'll have the other freezer upstairs for that. In theory, I won't be storing that much cause it's gonna sell so fast (ha ha! yah right!)

Thx - looks like hte largest chest freezer I can afford is in order!

Andrea


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## highlands (Jul 18, 2004)

thatcompchick said:


> 5'8" is tall? DANG I must be a giant


*grin* I married a giant. When we married I was 5'6" (barely) and my wife as almost 5'11". She is shrinking and I'm still growing in height almost 20 years later. I'm now taller than her by 1/4". She gets a big kick out of that transition. Our son is growing far faster though and will soon be taller than either of us. Maybe he'll be as tall as my father who topped 6'3".



thatcompchick said:


> I didn't realize that chest freezers were more energy efficient.


When you open the door on an upright all the cold air flows out. When you open the door on a chest freezer the cold air stays in better.

It is also important to keep the freezer full. Slowly add gallon jugs of water, let them freeze, and they will provide thermal mass that helps the compressor not work as hard and you won't lose heat as easily. An important trick.

Another important trick is making sure the lid closes properly. On the chest freezer we put a weight on it. On our upright kitchen refrigerator we use a bungie cord. This makes a very significant difference in energy consumption over the year.



thatcompchick said:


> How do you solve the sorting type issues? Boxes? Or do you go swimming in the chest freezer?


Boxes. Our current one has eight cardboard boxes. Each one is a vertical area that holds one type of thing. Works great.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog/
http://HollyGraphicArt.com/
http://NoNAIS.org


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## thatcompchick (Dec 29, 2004)

Let me know how that goes with your kid taller than you phenomena. My poor hubby is 5'8, I am just shy of 6', and my son is already taking after my bro who is 6'5 and change...I bet by middle school he'll be looking down on his Italian papa! 

But back to pork and freezers, thank you greatly, you are a wonderful resource!

Andrea


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