chest freezer????

[soontobe]

I'm thinking about getting a chest freezer, but I am at a loss as to what size to get. I love to be able to stock up at costco with milk, bread, ground meat, chicken, meat etc AND still be able to cook ahead for when the need arises ( I do tend to do this a lot for some reason). it is only me, dh and ds right now, but hopefully it won't be that way forever.

I really don't want to spend an arm and a leg, but I don't want to buy something that is too small. we also don't have tons of space...... lol

Do you think the 7 cubic foot would be too small for what I mentioned?

any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!
THANKS:)

[newg]

we have a 7 cubic feet one from Home Depot and it's the perfect size. We got it for about $200 or less (we may have had a coupon). Right now we have about 7 1/2gallons of ice cream, bread, costco veggies/chicken/pasta, hamburger patties.......My MIL and BIL also have a 7 cubic foot (for years now) and I've never heard them complain that it's too small. Our has two baskets that hang at the top: a great place to put veggies and bread).

[soontobe]

thanks. is it full with what you listed or there is more room?

[smiles33]

If I could do it over, I'd get the upright freezer. We have a 14 cu ft chest freezer & stuff gets lost in there all the time. I even bought storage trays to stack items but you forget what's at the bottom.

[soontobe]

ya, people say that a lot, but they are MUCH for expensive from what I have seen. My mother keeps a list of what she has in there, so I guess I would just do that....

[sunshine873]

I think ours is about 9 cu ft. There are only 3 of us and it has plenty of room to spare. As a matter of fact, DH filled some gallon jugs with water and put them in there just to keep it full (it's supposed to work better when it's full.) It's original use was breast milk, but now we mainly fill it with meat, meat and more meat. Oh, and a few pizzas, some ice cream and frozen veggies.

[craftysierra]

I hada chest freezer in our previous house and really starter to hate it and digging to find what I need. I will be getting a new freezer soon and I am eyeing a 20 cu ft at lowes just under $600. So a lot more, but for us I want the space.

Sierra

[HIU8]

My MIL has a chest freezer. I don't particularly like digging for items. I have an upright that I inherited from my parents. I'm so used to that and I love being able to see everything I have. When my upright goes we will get another upright (we don't have room for the chest freezer now anyway).

[brittone2]

We have a commercial upright from CL that we got for $150. I forget the capacity now but it is rather big. I prefer it as I'm short and dislike having to hang 3/4 of my body into the freezer to retrieve my items. Kills the convenience factor for me :wink2: We had a chest freezer growing up and I hated having to lean so far into the thing.

[infocrazy]

If I could do it over, I'd get the upright freezer. We have a 14 cu ft chest freezer & stuff gets lost in there all the time. .

:yeahthat:

[soontobe]

thanks everyone:)

another side question-if I do go with the chest style (which I think I will just for monetary reasons) do you think I need to get one with a lock for child safety reasons?

[doberbrat]

thanks everyone:)

another side question-if I do go with the chest style (which I think I will just for monetary reasons) do you think I need to get one with a lock for child safety reasons?

I would. I'd be paranoid about my kids or their friends deciding to 'hide' in a chest freezer and add me to the upright only camp. I hate digging through a chest freezer. I'd hunt a sale, find a scratch & dent or returned one before getting a chest.

We now have 3 stand alone freezers in the basement. First we got 1 for the dogs' food. then we got a 2nd b/c we were being overrun by breast milk. Fast foward 4yrs later - the dogs need their own freezer, and we need 1 for breasst milk and 1 for human food. the challenge is not loosing stuff in there and being able to rotate foods.

and put an indoor/outdoor thermometer w/an alarm on it in case someone leaves the door ajar. cheap insurance.