# How big of deep freeze?



## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Getting ready to take our first steer to market and in need of purchasing a deep freeze. How big do I need to get? I'm leaning towards a chest type should we consider an upright? Is there much of a draw back to purchasing one that's bigger then the min requirement? I know it'll use more energy but will it function well if its only say 50% full?


----------



## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

We butchered a big steer two years ago, and bought a second 16+ cubit foot freezer just for the meat. This was a bit of overkill, but I also came home with half a pig and a veal calf from somewhere, and I always have the inevitable garden produce.

I tend to keep the meat in the chest freezer in the basement, and the produce in the upright upstairs. I'm thinking that came about from processing in the kitchen and just taking stuff as it came in to the closest freezer, whereas all the meat came in at once and got placed quickly. 

Man, it was tight for a while! Now after two years of eating, we should be able to download one into the other once the tomatoes are processed. Or maybe not; I'm not going to worry much about it. While half full freezers use more energy than full ones, chest ones tend to be really efficient, and we produce our own electricity via solar anyhow.

Buying a chest one or an upright is a personal decision. Each has pluses and minuses. Chest freezers are energy efficient, but tend to lose stuff at the bottom because it's hard to reach and stuff gets buried. Uprights offer easy access, but the cold falls out the bottom really fast every time you open and close. Whichever you get, make sure it's a manual defrost. Automatic defrost freezers dessicate the food, leading to freezer burn. That radically shortens the shelf life of your meat.


----------



## FarmerDavid (Jul 16, 2012)

Manual defrost.... Check

Didn't know about that


----------



## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

You can fill gallon jugs with water to take up some of the extra space and keep the freezer more efficient. And if the power goes out helps keep food cold longer or can be emergency water! 

Our chest freezer is a horrendous jumbled mess, I need to get some gloves on and dig to the bottom. Having said that I think the energy savings outweighs the convenience of an upright. 

I can't answer what size to get, but get bigger than you think you need.


----------



## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

I have the biggest chest freezer we could get & also 3 small ones. All are packed full!

Use milk crates to organize your chest freezer. Some of the new freezers have dividers in them. You can grab a crate & take it out to get to stuff in the bottom. I have never lost anything in mine. I always take out the old stuff & put the new on the bottom. We have a beef & hog going to the butcher in December. I defrost mine once or twice a year as needed. Fill with water jugs as it empties out & remove them when I fill it with food.

I had an upright once & hated it. Things fell out when I opened the door & I always had to worry about the door coming open if something fell when I wasn't around. You don't lose cold air every time you open the door in a chest freezer because cold air falls. Of course, a lot of people love their uprights.


----------



## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

2nd on the manual defrost, esp. if you want to keep it an unheated space during freezing weather. Size depends on how many in your household and how you will be using it. As someone said, you can always put plastic jugs of water in it when necessary to keep it efficient.


----------



## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

DH is the freezer man and he prefers uprights, so that's what we have. A few months ago he bought a 20.5 cubic ft upright with all the energy saving bells and whistles. It's an automatic defrost and has shelving that prevents fall out. It was on a special sale for $599 and free delivery/installation. I just checked and it's still available at our store for that price. We really like this freezer and how much it holds.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_36_0__?productId=3240904

I hope it shows up for you in that link. Sometimes the Lowes search engine gets into the act and messes up the links.


----------



## semimoonman (Oct 31, 2012)

My votes goes for whatever size(s) show up in good condition on craigslist first. We got ours, a tiny by most homesteading standards--only 5.5 cubis feet--but it's holding the pig and blueberry harvests just fine, for $70--and it was brand new.


----------



## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

I wanted to add that our other main upright freezer is a Whirlpool. It's 16 years old but is starting to show its' age. It's a 15.5 cubic foot and doesn't hold close to what the new one can store. We use it now for the wild game and fish.


----------



## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

soulsurvivor said:


> DH is the freezer man and he prefers uprights, so that's what we have. A few months ago he bought a 20.5 cubic ft upright with all the energy saving bells and whistles. It's an automatic defrost and has shelving that prevents fall out. It was on a special sale for $599 and free delivery/installation. I just checked and it's still available at our store for that price. We really like this freezer and how much it holds.
> 
> http://www.lowes.com/pd_36_0__?productId=3240904
> 
> I hope it shows up for you in that link. Sometimes the Lowes search engine gets into the act and messes up the links.


All the energy savings bells and whistles except manual defrost. We have the manual defrost version of that (526kwh vs. 690kwh). Kind of irks me that it doesn't qualify for the elec. co. rebates because it isn't rated as an energy star. I understand the reasons but it seems to me the comparison should be made by size and not how many others of the same type are available on the market. Rant over, sorry, but it is something to think about - energy star doesn't always mean more (or even very) efficient.

I love this freezer though - the ice-cream bin keeps home made ice-cream at exactly the right temperature!:icecream:


----------



## Kristinemomof3 (Sep 17, 2012)

The chest freezers have dividers in the newer ones. We went with as large as we could several years ago. I think it was $600.


----------



## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I've got a 26 cu ft chest freezer and an extra large upright (can't remember how many ft). Both are full. I much prefer the chest freezer.

With the chest freezer, packages don't fall out on the floor when I open the door. It's got dividers and baskets. I keep a dry erase board where I list an inventory of everything in the freezer and what compartment it is in.

I've never had any problem keeping the freezer full. Between home raised meat, bargains purchased on sale, and the fruit, veggies, baked goods, and home made microwave meals, it is a scramble to find space sometimes.


----------



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Size? As big as you can find!

Upright or chest? Go with the chest. It's hard to hide a body in an upright.


----------

