Freezers - Upright or Chest?

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

We are interested in getting a freezer and have been reviewing what is available and it comes down to a chest or upright type. The chest type is manual defrost only while the upright you have a choice of either manual or frost free. I understand both have advantages and disadvantages i.e. the manual defrost is a pain to do but the frostfree have more freezer burn?? What do you have? Have you had both types, chest and upright, which would you buy again?

Thanks

Tom

 

[Bird]

Yep, we've had both. When we lived in town, we had an upright in the kitchen right beside the refrigerator, so we had a frost free model just so my wife wouldn't have the work involved in defrosting periodically. I guess that would be my personal favorite if you aren't going to leave anything in there long enough to get freezer burn. Then when we bought the little farm, we got a chest type; not frost free (don't know whether anyone even makes a frost free in a chest type), and kept it in my shop building where there was lots of room. It's more efficient; you don't let the cold air slide out the bottom when you open the door, and they'll hold more simply because you can just pile it in there. Unfortunately, after a few years, it died, so we replaced it with an upright, not frost free, so stuff wouldn't be as likely to get freezer burn, and when it was time to defrost, we really didn't care if a little water got on the concrete floor out there.

So . . ., chest type more efficent and holds more for the same cubic foot rating, but it takes more floor space, harder to find things in the bottom, more trouble to defrost, and harder to move around if you ever need to move it. And my wife didn't like leaning over the edge of it to get things out of the bottom!

<font color=blue>which would you buy again?</font color=blue>

Upright, frost free.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Bird,

Thanks for the info, what would say is Too Long for freezer burn? Did the stuff against the walls have freezer burn, or did everything or just more stuff then others.

Thanks

Tom

 

[MossRoad]

In my opinion, upright is easier to access the stuff, but you lose ALL of your cold air within seconds of opening it because it just falls out on your feet, along with the 3 pound rump roast, OUCH!. So, unless you can stack eveything super neat, you aren't going to be able to put the same amount of food in an upright that is the same CUBIC FOOT capacity as a chest.

We have an upright and I hate it. Whn it dies, I will get a chest type.

As for frost free, it is my understanding that those units suck the moisture out of the air, and therefore out of your food. Ours is manual defrost. We have stored well wrapped meats for over a year with no visible damage and the taste was perfect. Fruits, such as peaches or pears, if surrounded by syrup, tend to keep indefinately. I also like to store fish. I put the fillets in a quart sized zip-lock bag with a teaspoon of salt and surround it with water. As long as the fish was completely covered with the water, it has kept for as long as two years and looked and tasted great.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>what would say is Too Long for freezer burn</font color=blue>

Hard to say for sure. Mossroad gave a good answer. It'll partially depend on the packaging and partially on the type of food; i.e., meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, etc. I don't think it makes any difference as to whether it's against the walls.

I'm a peanut addict; used to buy raw shelled peanuts by the hundred pound sack, then put them up in quart zip lock bags in the freezer. (I like to roast my own peanuts and make my own peanut butter). Peanuts and pecans will keep just fine over a year. Most meats, properly packaged, may not show freezer burn for 6 months or more, but I think preferably used in 3 months. I think the thing we had the most freezer burn with was fish, and to a lesser extent, shrimp. My parents used to live on the coast during the winter so our freezer got stocked around Thanksgiving (when we went down there), Christmas (when they came up to our place), and about March (when they went north for the summer). We tried the somewhat popular method of freezing fish in water, but didn't care for it; seemed like the fish was "waterlogged" after thawing and just not quite the right texture to suit us. So, by just putting up fish fillets in zip lock bags for 6 months was pushing the limit. Fresh fruits seemed about the same as the fish.

 

[cpicton1]

GoYankees,

We have had chest and upright freezers. The chest type are the most efficient but they are also more difficult to keep food rotated, which is also the best way to prevent freezer burn. If you get in the habit of using the oldest food in the freezer first that will help prevent freezer burn. I don't know many people that stick to that rule though, including yours truly. I believe it is recommended by some that frozen food be used within 3 to 6 months, depending on what it is. I'm sure we have thrown things out that were 3 years old. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif Freezing meat in water works best if it is something that will be prepared in water such as beef for stew or chicken for soups or noodles. I've also heard of the fish in water but never tried it. I like my fish fresh. A large freezer with hundreds of dollars worth of food can be a concern in the summer if the power goes out. If that happens and you don't have a generator just don't open the door. If the freezer is mostly full the frozen food will help to keep things frozen for quite a while if the door is left closed. If the power is going to be off for a long time then you might as well fire up the outdoor grill and start feeding the neighborhood. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JerryG]

We have both. The up right might be easier to get to, but I don't like it. You have to make sure that you don't pack it wrong. As in to full and you have to watch out for you toes./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif When we buy another one it will be another chest. That is all I will ever have again.

 

[MossRoad]

Hmm, that's odd about the fish. Ours(bluegill, perch, crappie) are always firm, even after a few years. I just thaw them by running cold water over them. Then dip them in Golden Dipt Beer Batter Mix and put 'em in the Fry Baby. A couple minutes on each side, then eat with some cole slaw and a beer(non-alchoholic for me, thanks). MMMMmmmm, tastey! /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

 

[Bird]

I do love to eat bluegill, perch, and crappie, but usually ate up what I caught pretty quickly after catching them. The ones that stayed in the freezer longer (simply because of the quantity we had) were salt water fish, mostly flounder and sheepshead, along with redfish (red drum), black drum, and speckled trout (I think folks on the east coast call our speckled trout "weakfish"). I don't know whether that made a difference or not in how well they kept frozen for the long term.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, I was wondering about that when you mentioned your folks living by the coast.