The Great Chest Freezer Thread

[V-NH]

I am hoping that the name of this thread will create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

What size chest freezer do you have?

What brand is it?

How many birds can you fit in it?

Do you recommend it to others?

I am currently considering buying a Kenmore Elite 24.6 cubic foot chest freezer. I am about to process 25 birds and I plan to process another 40 a couple months from now. I figure I will be able to fit all of those and still have room to spare. Here is a link to the product I am considering:

http://www.sears.com/kenmore-elite-...p-04616582000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

 

[jllynn601]

Ok, so I'm sort of answering your questions....
Personally I would never recommend a chest freezer. Had one for years and switched over to a Kenmore upright freezer with 20.6 cubic square feet, for me that holds 5 fully processed deer just fine. Makes it a lot easier to see what you have and consume the meat date order. Loading and unloading is far more easier as well. The size upright I have I believe you could fit 40 chickens in it no problem.

 

[Tonkasmum]

^agreed. I had a chest freezer for a number of years, we always ended up with things getting "lost" in the bottom. Now I have a huge upright and it's WONDERFUL. Easier to see what you have, load and unload. Now I just use the old chest freezer to hold feed!

 

[Elke Beck]

I have a huge Frigidaire upright freezer, and I love it. In the house I have a French door refrigerator with the drawer freezer. Man, is that thing inconvenient! I find myself unloading stuff at least 2 or 3 times a week when I am looking for something that I know I put in there, but I can't find it. I can only imagine how it must be with a big chest freezer. OTOH, chest freezers are much more energy efficient, so there are trade offs.

I also have had a prejudice against chest freezers every since my aunt fell into hers. True story! My aunt is about 4' 10" in thick sox, and one day she was trying to get something that was at the very bottom of the freezer (Family lore has it that it was the last tub of vanilla ice cream. My aunt loves her ice cream, but I digress.). As she was reaching, her feet came off the ground and she wound up head down in the freezer with her feet sticking up in the air. It was not a large freezer, so she was wedged in pretty good. She had to wait until my uncle heard her yelling to get out. Now, I am 6 feet tall without the aid of thick sox, so it is far less likely that will happen to me, but I still think of it every time I look at a chest freezer.

Good thing my aunt is never going to see this. She would kill me. Or at least stuff me head down in a freezer.

 

[Tabasco Jack]

I've got the best of both worlds. An upright that the groceries go in and a huge chest freezer that the chicken, deer and berries go in.

The chest freezer is a 25 cf (+/-) GE manual defrost. It's working great and currently has over 400 lbs of chicken in it.

Check consumer reports for the model you're thinking of buying and see what their recommendations are.

 

[Sami]

Just switched from a medium chest freezer to an upright. Totally in love with my freezer. As stated before things would get lost in the bottom of my chest freezer. Now I can see what I have. I also went and bought some large containers from the dollar so I can put all my chicken together, berries etc. the make is a Woods and it has five large shelves. I have heard that they are not as efficient as the cold air falls out when opened but I don't keep it open for long and figure I am saving money by being able to actually see what I have in the freezer now

 

[sandspoultry]

We have a 20 cubic foot upright and 10 cubic foot chest freezer. I like the upright for the ease of getting food out, each shelf is dated so it's easy to pull out the oldest first. Like others have said the problem with a chest is things tend to get lost in it. All the newest food goes in the chest first until a shelf is clear in the upright.

One thing to think about when freezing your birds is if you cut them up you can save alot of freezer space vice freezing whole.

 

[jllynn601]

Just switched from a medium chest freezer to an upright. Totally in love with my freezer. As stated before things would get lost in the bottom of my chest freezer. Now I can see what I have. I also went and bought some large containers from the dollar so I can put all my chicken together, berries etc. the make is a Woods and it has five large shelves. I have heard that they are not as efficient as the cold air falls out when opened but I don't keep it open for long and figure I am saving money by being able to actually see what I have in the freezer now

I like to use those $1 clear boxes like the shoe storage boxes to organize my meat. I take a post it and stick it on the inside.

The doors in the upright freezers are AWESOME for those small packages, small cuts of meat like dove breasts, and for holding long pieces of meat such as back straps from deer.