Are chest freezers worth the money?

[pbmom]

I'm looking into buying a chest freezer in order to buy more stuff in bulk and hopefully in the long run save money. I've found a few that are 5 cu ft and are around $160. Are they worth the money? Can you save more by buying one and buying in bulk?

[Deleted]

Chest freezers are very efficient.

[cael]

My parents a couple years ago bought an upright freezer to put in the basement. Not sure what they paid for it, but it wasn't an expensive one. They do a lot of bulk shopping & freezing, and it's probably saved them money in the long run (my mother has a friend with a tax ID from a business, so they shop at a restaurant wholesale place & get great deals)

[Deleted]

I had a chest freezer before I moved the last time and I LOVED it. It was cheaper for me because I found a 7 (or was it 10) cu ft. one on sale for right at $100 at Sam's club. I was able buy sales, make ahead food (I was single at the time and this was a lifesaver!), etc.

I think it added maybe $5 a month to my electric bill, IF THAT. We will definitely be getting one when we move back east and have the space.

[justwhoever]

I love ours! It's a small one and sometimes I think I should get a bigger one but it will do. Didn't even notice a difference in our electric.

[Gardening Grandma]

You do have to consider your needs, your shopping/cooking habits. We have a small chest freezer (paid about $150 for it). We used to have an upright and while it was more convenient, it used more electricity. There's only two of us, but the freezer is generally nearly full. I keep most of my meats and breads in it. I have a smaller freezer in the kitchen (part of the refrigerator/freezer combo) and that's where I keep short term things: leftovers to be used in the next few weeks, for example.
When meal planning, I "shop" from the chest freezer before making a shopping list. I date everything and try to keep rotating items in and out so nothing is there too long.
FWIW, they now have baskets that make the chest freezer easier to use.

[Deleted]

I won't be without a freezer. We have a medium size upright that we keep in the garage. I'd say if you want one, and know you'll use it, buy it.

[telephus44]

I am considering getting one with part of our tax refund. We hit up "marked down meat" on sale at the grocery store occasionally, and I don't have as much room as I'd like to really take advantage of it.

[kimber45]

I have had both chest and upright freezer. My problem is, once something goes in the freezer, it might as well go into a blackhole, because it never comes out. When I cleaned them out I found stuff that was 10 years old .

For me it is more economical and less waste to buy my meat products weekly.

[westerngal]

I have an upright freezer in my basement and 2 chest freezers out in our shed. We raise our own beef, lamb and pork and usually have a deer too. We let our kids take what they can to there homes. I have been fortunate that we produce our own meat.

[craig]

I'm as guilty as westerngal I have 2 uprights and 1 chest freezer, about 15 cu ft each, and all are full. I raise my own beef and chicken and freeze fruits and veggies from the garden for winter use.

[sammi]

We bought ours 4 years ago from Sams for $100. Well worth it, but now it has become a black hole. DH buys lots of marked-down meat, but we just don't feed as many people anymore.

Ours has a wire basket arrangement on each end which is wonderful. All the smaller items are easy to find, while the big packs of meat get piled in the bottom.

[tiredboomer]

I had a chest freezer for 27 years; then passed it on. Three years later it is still working. Right now I have an upright. It fit better in the house I moved to. I would not want to be without a freezer. I buy sale items and freeze the produce we grow. Most important to me is the ability to make meals ahead and freeze them. That saves me from eating out on those nights I come home from work too tired to cook. I keep a running inventory to avoid that "black hole" syndrome. Plus, I clean it out twice a year in case I missed something.

[rubyslippers]

Before I bought my smaller chest freezer a few years ago, I worried if we'd be able to keep it filled. I am so glad we made the investment because I can fill it with food that I buy when there's a really good sale. I love being able to have the option to buy 8 bags of chicken breasts when they go on sale instead of just one. I don't think you'll regret it. I just wish we would've bought a little bit bigger one.

[desertmover]

What will you use it for?

Initially, I purchased mine for around $100 in my DINK stage of life to save money by having frozen pizzas on hand instead of ordering delivery. I saved the pizza money to pay for the freezer in the first year.

Now I have 2 kids and have moved 4 times, I use it to keep extra foods on hand, freeze garden produce. This summer, I made freezer pickles, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, peppers (stuffed and unstuffed). I also buy bread and sale meat for the freezer, occasionally will freeze milk on sale.

One feature that is worth the money is a drain at the bottom so that you can let it drain when you defrost (voice of experience with 4 moves with the same freezer).

My MIL has an upright that she has had for nearly 60 years. It was "free" with the purchase of a side of beef. Still works perfectly.

[kadee]

There are just 2 of us but I have 2 freezers, 1 upright & 1 chest.
I save lots by buying in bulk when we visit a town that has a Sam's. I also do lots of "cook once, freeze for next 1, 2 or 3 meals. Saves LOTS of time.
I also buy bread at the day-old bread store & keep a good supply. We are rural & running to town every day gets expensive especially since gas has gone up so much. This saves on that too!
My upright has most of my veggies & prepared meals in it as well as the breads. My chest has meats & bags of frozen fruits & nuts along with chocolate chips I get when they go on sale (after Christmas specials, if you look). I also bake ahead & for gifts & freeze that too! Oh, the chest keeps DH in milk, I generally get at least 4 gallon at a time & he uses about 1 gal. a week.
I would be lost without my freezers!!!!!!!!!

[piratesparrot]

Every Feb in honor of National Frozen Food month. Our local grocery chain (Jewel) sells a small chest freezer for about $120. that comes with coupons for $120 worth of frozen food to fill it with. About 3 yr. ago I went for it and the freezer works great. It fits on my sunporch fine with no noticable increase in elec bill. The foods we got with the coupons were lots of icecream, pizzas, veggies, friut, frozen juices, family size frozen entries etc. It worked out great for us.

[steff]

I LOVE our chest freezer. I can buy big freezer meat packs from the meat market and that always saves money in the long run. Also helps for having a place to put venison that hubby brings home during hunting season. Plus I do a lot of freezing of veggies during the summer and with the chest freezer, I don't have to try and crowd everything into the regular freezer. I did buy little wire baskets to organize it all better, but overall, I have NO complaints about it and would definately recommend having one.

[lurkyloo]

Another chest freezer fan here. California grocery stores will eat you alive if you don't shop the sales; ground sirloin alone is $6-7/lb regular price so you might as well stock up when it goes down to $3 or so (used to be $2 but haven't seen that in a while ). And I love catching the buy-10-for-$15 sales on Marie Callender frozen lunches without having to stress about where I'm going to put them all! Plus, it's really nice to have stuff on hand and not have to run to the store. We have a smallish chest freezer (5-7 cu ft?) that we got for maybe $160 on sale at Sears; well worth the convenience and peace of mind.

[merryheart]

I just replaced my upright freezer as I couldn't live without my freezer. DH works for a grocery chain and brings home lots of the specials. It really helps keep the food budget in check. I prefer an upright rather than a chest but that is just a preference.

[dragonfly7]

If you are the type who likes to buy in bulk, then yes. Now that we have a larger apartment, I've been considering buying a small one myself. I grew up in a family that always had a lamb, a hog, and part of a steer in the freezer at all times in addition to dozens of flats of canned fruits and veggies, so it feels weird to me to not have that much extra food on hand.

[pepperdoo]

I wish I had the space for a small one. Who knows, maybe after I get the bike sold.....

[998fbird]

I have had a small chest freezer for 10+ years and my household is very small. When I purchased the freezer it was just me and my son and now it's just me and I am so glad I have the freezer. I use it to help save money by bulk meat purchases which I break down into smaller servings. It also provides convenience because I don't have to shop as often (saves time/money/gas). So for me it has truly been worth the cost of the freezer and the electricity to power it.

[Deleted]

I am afraid of black hole syndrome. I'm single and have a side by side fridge. The freezer has been big enough so far.

[cronewitch]

I didn't need a freezer when I lived alone. My boyfriend offered to buy one for my garage in my old house, told me I needed one. We fish and he wanted to keep bait and fish. Now we use the bottom shelf of the upright for bait, lot of fish heads for crayfish and things like that. But we got about 196lbs of tuna this summer and lots of bottom fish and halibut that wouldn't have been good to have without a freezer. I stocked up on frozen turkey so have 4 now and 12lbs of burger, a salmon and other things. We need to eat more frozen food, I brought gizzards, premade raw meat loaf and raw tuna in today. I know we have at least one pork roast in there. When shopping now I don't ever need to buy meat so until the price is fantastic we just eat what we have.

I need a recipe for tuna noodle casserole made from raw tuna, I have canned but want to use up some raw. I might just make tuna bites with coconut they would make a fine football snack with a honey dip.

[sammi]

After reading this thread I was inspired to clean out the chest freezer. It wasn't as bad as I expected! DH buys lots of marked down meat, so it was outdated but frozen. Brought ham and chicken in to thaw for the week, and did throw out the 1lb logs of sausage at the bottom - dated 2009 and 2007!

[constanz22]

I could NOT be without my freezer! I have a full size upright, probably 30 years old (it was my parents, came with the house! LOL) but it still works like a charm! I've thought about getting a chest when I have to replace this one, but, I wouldn't like digging through to the bottom for stuff, I don't think. I think I'm spoiled having had the upright. Oh, and it is just me...and it's always full. When I find a great sale, I totally stock up. My family also buys a quarter of beef every year and that is kept at my house, so, when we have the full quarter, that takes up close to half of my freezer. NO WAY could I get by with just the bottom mount freezer on my fridge.

[olderburgher]

Buy one. we get a lamb every year in the late summer and enjoy it all year long. Ditto fresh fruit in season and as pie in the winter.