Chest freezer vs upright?

[jackie011]

We have an upright. Repairman suggested we get a chest given the way we use it- frozen foods and lots of meat. I’m frustrated that we’re replacing a 7 year old freezer.

[mcmel]

Doesn't everyone use their freezer for frozen foods and meats? lol

I don't think I would buy a new freezer just off that opinion. We had a chest and it was a pain trying to get things from the bottom. Plus, you couldn't put flat items or trays of things in the chest. I would have much preferred an upright. It did keep things frozen when we were without power for a day or two, but I think our food would have been alright even in an upright.

[rosiebear]

I think chest freezers are roomier and more efficient.

I loved our chest freezer because I used color-coded cloth grocery bags to organize: meats in a red bag, breads in blue, veggies in green, and desserts in yellow. It was easy to pull out a single bag and look through it to retrieve the item I wanted or assess what we had.

[nomad100]

I have both types. I use the chest (which is in my basement) for when I get bulk meats and use the upright for stuff I need to access more easily. For example, when I get a 1/2 pig or 1/8 steer, the majority goes in the chest freezer. When I get frozen stuff from Costco, like stuff I will use for lunches, or bulk berries, they go in the upright (which is in my garage) since I need to access them more frequently. I also store my pre-prepped meals in the upright.

[gummy]

Chest freezers are more efficient then upright. You also should have a very full freezer to help with efficiency and performance. An upright is really nice for getting things out but we've always had chest freezers.

[Patsy Baloney]

I prefer the upright. It’s just down to it being easier to get things out.

[jackie011]

Aug 17, 2019 18:11:32 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Doesn't everyone use their freezer for frozen foods and meats? lol

I don't think I would buy a new freezer just off that opinion. We had a chest and it was a pain trying to get things from the bottom. Plus, you couldn't put flat items or trays of things in the chest. I would have much preferred an upright. It did keep things frozen when we were without power for a day or two, but I think our food would have been alright even in an upright.

I think he meant because my H buys large cuts of brisket, pork, etc for his BBQ side business. Some are oddly shaped and would create unusable space in our upright.

The control panel went out on ours. It’s at least a $200 repair. We can buy a newer, bigger more efficient model for about $150 more vs doing the repair and getting a questionable length of time out of it. Repairman was pretty reluctant to repair, which I thought was telling.

[tripleshot]

We just had to replace our 7 year old upright. It wasn’t fixable per the repairman. We got another upright. Things get lost and buried in chest freezers in my experience.

[mcmel]

Aug 17, 2019 19:05:19 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

Aug 17, 2019 18:11:32 GMT -5 mcmel said:

Doesn't everyone use their freezer for frozen foods and meats? lol

I don't think I would buy a new freezer just off that opinion. We had a chest and it was a pain trying to get things from the bottom. Plus, you couldn't put flat items or trays of things in the chest. I would have much preferred an upright. It did keep things frozen when we were without power for a day or two, but I think our food would have been alright even in an upright.

I think he meant because my H buys large cuts of brisket, pork, etc for his BBQ side business. Some are oddly shaped and would create unusable space in our upright.

The control panel went out on ours. It’s at least a $200 repair. We can buy a newer, bigger more efficient model for about $150 more vs doing the repair and getting a questionable length of time out of it. Repairman was pretty reluctant to repair, which I thought was telling.

Ahh I see. For the large cuts of meat I would probably lean towards a chest, but if you ever have anything that needs to lay flat I would buy an upright. The only way to be completely satisfied is if you buy one of each. 

[CloudBee]

Chest! While I sometimes wish we could open a door and have everything organized on shelving, chest freezers are a LOT more energy efficient. We can lose power for a few days and food will still remain rock hard. This has happened during a power outage, and a few days after a service visit for our central AC. They had unplugged our chest freezer to access a crawl space, and we didn't realize for something like 3-4 days. Still frozen on the inside, though condensation was starting to collect.

ETA: I lay things flat in my chest freezer all the time. Many soups / sauces I make I freeze flat in Ziplock freezer bags. I just prop a plastic cutting board in the freezer by wedging existing items under it. Or I find a frozen pizza in the freezer and use that. Never a problem. Lots of people (myself included, a few yrs back) keep ongoing lists taped to the top of the freezer stating the contents.

[pumpkin]

Aug 17, 2019 18:24:25 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

I think chest freezers are roomier and more efficient.

I loved our chest freezer because I used color-coded cloth grocery bags to organize: meats in a red bag, breads in blue, veggies in green, and desserts in yellow. It was easy to pull out a single bag and look through it to retrieve the item I wanted or assess what we had.

This is a great idea for my chest freezer! Any chance you remember where you picked up the various colored bags? I could certainly use some.

[mich1]

I grew up with an upright, but have a chest freeze now. I hate it because things tend to fall to the bottom and there is no way of organizing it at all. If the chest freezer goes (and I doubt if it ever will since it was built in the 1980s, when appliances didn't die), I'm replacing it with an upright.

[skidunks]

We have an upright for exactly the reason others mentioned, organization.

[Nonny]

Chest freezers are more energy efficient, but any modern freezer should keep things frozen solid for several days through a power outage provided you don't open the door.  Your stuff will stay frozen longer in any freezer if you keep it full.

I think the most important thing is to know what kind of a person you are, and how well you'll keep things organized.  Our drawer freezer attached to our fridge contains mostly bread and frozen fruit and isn't really that much space, and I still lose things in there all the damn time.  I could never have a chest freezer because I don't dig.  

But my upright freezer works well because I can have separate shelves for bread/cheese, meat, meals/snacks, etc., and then I put smaller things in the door (like bacon, butter, portioned out pesto, etc.).  

Would your H dig in a chest freezer to properly rotate his stock of meat for his side business?  Or would it get lost and end up costing you money in the form of freezer burned goods he wouldn't want to sell?

[rosiebear]

Aug 17, 2019 20:08:08 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

Aug 17, 2019 18:24:25 GMT -5 rosiebear said:

I think chest freezers are roomier and more efficient.

I loved our chest freezer because I used color-coded cloth grocery bags to organize: meats in a red bag, breads in blue, veggies in green, and desserts in yellow. It was easy to pull out a single bag and look through it to retrieve the item I wanted or assess what we had.

This is a great idea for my chest freezer! Any chance you remember where you picked up the various colored bags? I could certainly use some.

It works so great, lol. But to be honest we get all of our reusable cloth totes from a local gym that practically carpets the neighborhood with them as advertising. So clearly we are not using the highest quality or most expensive totes; still works!

[steamboat185]

We have a chest freezer and it is awesome. We also do a color coded bag system and just use a bunch of free bags we’ve gotten from stores and fairs. I use a dry erase marker on the top of the freezer to remind us what is in each bag.

[isabel]

Our chest freezer is organized with large bins. One for meat, one for veg, one for prepared foods that have been frozen flat (soups, sauces, etc.), and baskets on the sides for breads, spice cubes (purées ginger, garlic, peppers). There’s a large bin that sits on top of the lower ones for quick foods like chicken nuggets and stuff.

An upright freezer would be nice in some ways, but we’ve found a way to make the chest freezer work and it’s true that I don’t have to stress about it during power outages.

[laurack]

We have a small freezer on top of the fridge and a chest freezer in the basement. While I love the idea of a chest freezer and do use it especially when I buy discounted meat in bulk I find it annoying because of the lack of organization.

It’s true though in a power outage it is very good for keeping food frozen longer than the regular freezer.

[lilac05]

I prefer the ease of organization in an upright, but we had one, and it died after about 3 years. We started having issues with it shortly after the warranty was up. Never again.

We organize the chest freezer with milk crates. I prefer the idea of grocery bags, though, and will add that task to my list of things to do after school starts!

When I have something like soup that I want to freeze flat, I put it on a cookie sheet for a few hours (or until I go to bake and can’t find my cookie sheet!). It works really well.

They’re cheaper to purchase, more efficient, and less likely to be accidentally left open (or not seal properly). And if they do fail to close properly, they’ll still stay frozen longer than an upright because cold air sinks. All of those pros make it worth it for me.

[TamiTaylor]

We have a large full size upright. I love it. We buy meat in bulk and Eric fishes a ton.

[dochas]

I wanted an upright freezer. We bought a chest and I love it.

[pooh8402]

We got rid of the chest freeze and got an upright instead. I freeze breastmilk in mine and I need it to be accessible.

[noodle]

I asked this question a few years ago, and ended up with an upright. I love that it’s easy to find things without digging, and it’s kept everything frozen during power outages.

[mommin]

We live in a very hot climate and have to keep the freezer in the garage so it was suggested to us that we get a chest. The doors on a chest freezer seal better so it helps with the efficiency. We bought the Ikea Trofast large tubs and use those to organize along with the baskets that came with it. It is fairly easy and I don't lose anything that I care about. Yes, I let the last bag of cod from DH's fishing trip fall to the bottom and no, I didn't care.
Some of the newer freezers come with plastic grids that you can set up in the bottom and move around to fit your needs. This takes the place of the bins and makes organization even easier.