What size freezer
 

I' m about to purchase a freezer, in hopes of filling it with fish, deer, pig, and in a few years, elk. I' m leaning towards the upright model, like the idea of being able to use shelves instead of digging down to the bottom.

What size freezers have you found to be best? Any lessons learned?

RE: What size freezer
 

depends on your hunting skills lol
when i first started hunting a small freezer was great but now i have two both are uprights. 1 small and 1 very large
I like the upright they dont hold as much but its easier to see what is left
1 elk will fill most (90%) of a smaller freezer if cut up properly

RE: What size freezer
 

Hi CalNewbie ,
I used to bodysurf and boogie board at HB many moons ago when I lived in Garden Grove . I prefer a chest freezer because the cold air doesn' t spill out every time you open it . That tends to be hard on the compressor and shortens it' s effective lifespan . A standup has the advantage of taking up less floor space , and is easier to organize . If you fill either one on a regular basis let me know so that I can move back there , I still miss the beach too . ;)

RE: What size freezer
 

Kevin1 - I' m two miles from the beach and have only been there a handful of times in the last few years. No boogie-boarding for me.

I hear you on the likelyhood of filling it on a regular basis. It won' t be just for meat - I' m heading down to La Paz Mexico in a few weeks with high hopes of coming back with a cooler full of Mahi Mahi. Add the possibility of a deer and/or pig each year, thought I should get a freezer.

I' m looking at a 7 cubic foot model, think that' s around the right size. May not be big enough for when I graduate to elk though. Like JJT said - it' ll all depend on my skill.

RE: What size freezer
 

I have a 7.1 cubic foot upright. It along with a large size freezer section of a normal fridge, will hold 5 deer, a turkey, some squirrels, a couple steelheads and some misc store bought food. I like the upright cause I can see what I have and it doesn' t take up space. 7 is about the minimum I' d go.

RE: What size freezer
 

I like the chest freezers myself. Bought mine for $40 from my neighbors when they moved out. I' m not sure how many cubic feet it is but it' s roughly 6 feet wide and about 2.5 feet deep. My refrigerator in the house is a side by side so when it gets low I restock it from the chest freezer. I take empty milk jugs, rinse them out and fill them with water and put them in the chest freezer to keep it full when it' s not full of meat. I' ve heard that a full freezer takes less power than an empty one. Not sure if it' s true but that' s how I do it.

RE: What size freezer
 

Just what ballistictip said. It is true about the milk jugs. And get a big one its better to have too much space than not enough.

RE: What size freezer
 

I have two uprights, a 19 and 17 foot models. They are both full of something all year long. I should mention that I live on a farm and we butcher a beef about every other year; have a large garden; fish and kill a few deers each year as well. A seven footer seems very small to me.

One thing I have against uprights, is sometimes you have to watch little ones with them. I have a 8 year old that will slam the door shut and the door pops open behind him.

I have danby refrigerator which has 9.9 cubic feet top mount freezer.

Old thread, but a good subject.

I have two upright freezers. The shelves, and door shelves are nice and much nicer than digging through a chest freezer.

I also have a chest freezer that we've used for transporting game. It's worked very well. Can either use ice, plug it in at hotel/campground or run a generator.

usually weight is centered obviously. That was just a temporary tie down to get a few miles to the road so I could butcher while others went to hunt.



-Jake

23 cubic foot chest freezer, with gardening, fishing and hunting I also need another 7 cubic foot in additiion

I have a 20.5 CF and a 14 CF and they are both almost full . I had to buy a second freezer last Nov when I killed my elk because the big one had wild boar and deer meat in it in addition to domestic meat. and vegetables. Do yourself a favor and get an upright, you will be glad you did and so will your wife and kids. My wife is 5 feet 2 inches tall and she almost had to stand on her head to get things out of the freezer at close to the bottom, she hated that chest freezer, our first was a chest ant it was a PIA trying to find things. Only reason I had it was because it was free to I put up with it until it crapped out, then I went to upright. Today they are all frost free no matter what size.

I have two 16 cu ft uprights side by side in the cellar. We have a large garden, orchards and berry patches so one is mostly veggies and fruits in one form or another. The other houses most of my wild game and fish I like to eat. One is frost free and the other is without that feature. I think things stay better in the regular freezer so that is where the fish and meat goes.

I got a 16qt upright... Not big enough. I could use another.

I think you mean 16 CF not 16 qt. Unkess you shoot really teeny deer.:happy0157:

Well ot, those Florida deer can be little!

-Jake