Upright Freezer Advice Needed

[joelweb]

Hi everyone. I'm looking at buying an upright freezer to compliment the chest freezer we already have at our house. I want to accomplish two things with this: 1- I don't want to feel pressured to use up all my wild game before each hunting season to make room. I think having a reserve is smart in case something happens, and 2- I like the idea of storing unique and smaller quantity type foods like crab, fish, fruit, etc in the upright where I can find them, so they don't get buried by elk in the chest freezer.

Question for all of you foodies is should I go with a frost free upright or a manual defrost freezer? I'm familiar with the apparent advantages of both and am curious what others' experiences have been with things like freezer burn. Thanks!

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

I personally have manual defrost. I don't find it a big deal. Having to empty the freezer once a year gives me a good reason to clean up the freezer as well and remember some cuts of meat that went "missing" to the back of the freezer.

Only thing I don't like about the upright freezer is the door sometimes gets left partially open, so I added a child proof lock to the freezer so I remember to lock it closed every time. Also the temp can fluctuate more than a chest freezer, so I tend to use it more as a short term storage solution whereas the deep freeze is where meat goes to be held for months to years.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Whichever you decide on, check the door gasket for a good fit before you buy.

 

[noharleyyet]

I have a frost free upright...no problems. Great on the lower back and knuckles not having to dig thru my chest....

 

[Bambistew]

My experience with frost free is the food tended to freezer burn more quickly. I have 2 manual defrosters. As noted the door can be left open, make sure you level it so that it will close, and check it every time you use it.

Imo, chest freezes will keep food way longer than uprights. Every time you open an upright the cold air falls out, and needs to be replaced. That exchange leads to freezer burn, same way with frost free. It changes the air to keep the moisture down. I've eaten steaks out of the bottom of a chest freezer that were 5 years old in freezer paper, and where not burnt. With an upright you'll get 2 tops depending on how its wrapped.

 

[joelweb]

Thanks all. Lowes has had a good sale on freezers that ended today and I pulled the trigger on a manual upright. Appreciate your perspectives.

 

[beagle001]

We sold our small chest freezers and bought a huge upright. Love it, but now that we have more mouths to feed aka more tags to fill, I’m missing my chest freezer. I’ll probably snatch one up here before too long