Freezers

mikem317

mikem317

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OK, going to take the plunge, but I'm not sure how to proceed with our purchase.

I think I'm committed to getting a chest freezer but I guess I could be persuaded to buy an upright. I'd like to be able to store 6+ months worth of meat for 3 to 4 people. Any thoughts on size? I sort of zeroed in on 13 to 15 cubic foot models, but I usually have a tough time sizing them up.
 
I have a 13 ft chest freezer that's good for about 3 months for 5 people. I think it was about 200 from sears. An upright would be easier to organize but it works pretty well.
 
I wouldn't want to depend on a freezer for long term storage. We have a 7cu ft for 2 people, but really just for stocking up on sales and Sams club stuff. If SHTF, it would supply us with some regular food for longer than just our fridge would. Even in the summer, its in the basement... without a generator everything should stay frozen to almost frozen for 3-4 days. A generator plug gas storage extends that to a few weeks. Around here, an appropriately sized and constructed outdoor cooler is a good idea, as we have free refrigeration/freezer almost half the year.

My priorities before the freezer were a All-American Canner and a self-sustaining garden, and food storage items you cant easily do your self.. like dehydrated milks , butter, cheeses, wheat+grain mill and boxed pastas etc. Also, there is no excuse for not having chickens and a store of feed unless you are in a condo or apartment.

Additionally meat can be canned, and frozen meat is pretty horrible eating after a few months anyway. A freezer, particularly a very large one, has very little purpose in a survivalists world. Only invest in one if you have a means of using it to save you money now and have already followed through on lower hanging fruit. That said, mine was $179 delivered from Home Depot during a sale.
 
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We got a chest freezer from Sam's Club about 10 years ago, for about $100. I would use it more if I was a hunter. It usually has a half dozen jugs of frozen water in it, and not much more. Our regular frozen food fits in the fridge freezer in the kitchen, with extra frozen pizzas or Thanksgiving turkeys going downstairs.

During the extended outage last fall, we moved what was in the chest freezer up to the fridge that was on the genny, and gave the frozen water jugs to our friends who didn't have backup power.

I do think they are good for saving money on bulk food, if you manage it properly. I always ended up with 5 year old frozen meat at the bottom that I had to toss.
 
We have a 15 CF for four. Got it from HD for about 200 IIRC. It is great. We freeze meat, veggies and fruit. I was able to fit 300 lbs of moose meat and probably 50 lbs of fruit in it this past fall. As long as you have a genny I wouldnt worry about it. THe odds that there will ever be a huge disaster where you will be without power for months are very very tiny compared to the money you will save being able to buy in bulk or freeze your own meat and produce. Our freezer has paid for itself several times over in the probably 8 yrs we have had it and I have yet to experience a months long power outage in that time. Just make sure it isnt your only food storage and you are all set.
 
mclina said:
I always ended up with 5 year old frozen meat at the bottom that I had to toss.
Click to expand...

This is why I'd suggest an upright. Back when we were still living in Ma, we bought a 15 cuft "Woods" brand upright 16 years ago from someplace (Can't recall) in Worcester. The only thing I'd do differently is spend the extra $ for a frost-free version. We generally need to de-frost twice per year and it helps if the freezer is nearly empty. A back up genny is a good idea if a power outage lasts nore than 3 or 4 days. Meat will NOT spoil the instant the power stops. We saved juice bottles and filled then with water to use as ballast for both the big freezer and the little one on the fridge.

Two other things I'd suggest is Buy a food saver vacuume sealer and get started in home canning. Some meats can better than others (some retain "texture" better than others and I don't want to drag this thread O/T) so having options helps. This can really stretch your food storage.
 
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I have an 8.8 cf freezer that I got at Lowe's a couple of years ago. I am a bit disappointed, though, because it really only fits about 4 cornelius(1/6 barrel) kegs, which won't last that long when TSHTF. It would fit 6 if the damned compressor bump-out wasn't so big, but then, if I had 6 beers on tap at once people might think I have a drinking problem.

But seriously, uprights are good for access, but they lose cold really quickly when opened. Chest freezers tend to be preferred, but as Mr. Twigg points out, you have to make sure you rotate your stock and don't just take what is on top.
 
Chest freezer should use quite a bit less energy, you can also convert them into EXTREMELY efficient refrigerators if you can find a good organizational system. You could easily run a chest fridge off a small scale solar array and could run a freezer off a slightly larger one.
 
Sorry for the multi-month bump.

Anybody have thoughts on Kenmore brand freezers? We have several of their appliances, and while I know they're sort of middle-of-the-road, the prices seem good and we've had pretty good luck with Kenmore in general.

I'm almost 95% sure I'm going with a chest.

14.8 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-14.8-c...p-04616542000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
13.0 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-13-cu-...p-04616342000P?prdNo=8&blockNo=8&blockType=G8
8.8 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-8.8-cu...p-04616922000P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5

I need one for a small, four-person family. My wife is constantly complaining there's not enough room in the freezer in the refrigerator and she's right. It will be mostly used to stock up on kept-frozen food like frozen veggies, ice cream, bagels/bread, batteries, fries/taters and one or two frozen chickens/turkeys.
 
Kenmore doesn't make anything. Whirlpool & GE are making their 'fridges, I would assume their freezers too.
My parents have a chest type, never liked digging thru it to find what you want. I have an upright, GE, got it at Depot. it had a small dent, bargained with them, I got $100 off, walked it out the door for $125.
 
mikem317 said:
Sorry for the multi-month bump.

Anybody have thoughts on Kenmore brand freezers? We have several of their appliances, and while I know they're sort of middle-of-the-road, the prices seem good and we've had pretty good luck with Kenmore in general.

I'm almost 95% sure I'm going with a chest.

14.8 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-14.8-c...p-04616542000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
13.0 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-13-cu-...p-04616342000P?prdNo=8&blockNo=8&blockType=G8
8.8 cu ft: http://www.sears.com/kenmore-8.8-cu...p-04616922000P?prdNo=5&blockNo=5&blockType=G5

I need one for a small, four-person family. My wife is constantly complaining there's not enough room in the freezer in the refrigerator and she's right. It will be mostly used to stock up on kept-frozen food like frozen veggies, ice cream, bagels/bread, batteries, fries/taters and one or two frozen chickens/turkeys.
Click to expand...

They aren't bad, but better deals can be had. I got a 7cu foot for $159 delivered back in Feb from Home Despot (GE brand). Just keep tabs on them, I've seen the sale repeat a few times since.

If you do bite on the Kenmore, my buddy recently got the 8.8cu though at the Sears appliance joint in Seabrook, so that's easy to deal with them their... he doesn't have a truck so I helped him. Just backed it up and they loaded it... in an out in 5 minutes.
 
Unless you're tall (or the wife is or you have a step stool) I'd suggest an upright. They are more expensive, but getting to everything is a breeze. We've got an older 16 cf upright for a family of 5 and it's great as far as organization and ease of use. Chest freezers are definitely cheaper, but sometimes you've gotta dig--I learned this in my food service days :)
 

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