Small freezer

darmento

FNG
Joined
Feb 24, 2022
Messages
61
Location
GA
Need to buy a freezer for my basement. The current freezer in our kitchen side by side just doesn’t have much room. This freezer I will be getting does not have to be huge. Just a decent one with a door that flips up and has about 40 or 50 cubic feet of storage. Does anyone have good experiences with any particular make and model? Thanks for any advice…
 
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
542
I had a haire ? Small chest freezer from Costco that worked perfectly for several years until I got tired of dealing with a chest freezer and needed more space anyway. I don’t think I’ll ever own a chest freezer again. Even organizing in crates that fit perfectly it was still a hassle. Stand up is way easier, that being said that brand seemed to be good especially as cheap as it was.
 

Sam Colt

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Messages
262
A 50 cf freezer isn’t small, unless it’s like the TARDIS.

I prefer chest freezers for long term. A small 5 cf chest freezer on Amazon is $225-300. Let it sit for a day before plugging it in.
 

GSPHUNTER

WKR
Joined
Jun 30, 2020
Messages
4,592
What are your needs? don't get a oversized freezer, but one to fit your needs. Freezer work best when there is less open area, but still has room for air movement, the frozen product helps maintain temp. Get a freezer capable of -10 to -15 degrees.
 

Jbxl20

WKR
Joined
Dec 29, 2020
Messages
875
Location
PA
I have a nice whirlpool one that we keep our main food in. But Check lowes for dented ones. I have two small chest freezers in my basement I picked up on scratch and dent super cheap. One is a hotpoint and the other is Hisense. We butcher chickens and turkeys 2 times a year and I needed more room to freeze whole birds. I’ve been happy with them.
 
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
338
Also consider used ones, both of my chest freezers were used, don’t recall exact prices but no more than about $100, had them over 15 years and still going strong.
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2013
Messages
453
Location
Truckee Meadows
Not sure what availability of freezers are these days nor prices. I picked up a small chest freezer from Lowes several years ago for not much money- a brand I didn't recognize. Its been good, no issues. checking the Scratch and dent section seems like a good idea as they seem to get scratches and dents fairly quickly anyways.
 

Rob960

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Messages
210
I bought a 7 cubic foot Magic Chef at Home Depot for $200. Works great.
 

alpine_troop

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
207
You’re probably looking for the 5-7 cubic foot size? That’s what the small size chest freezers are. You can fit multiple deer or black bear size game animals worth of meat in one, or fill one to the brim and then some with an elk.
 

WCB

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2019
Messages
3,640
Agree...small or 5-7ish cubic feet. About 33 x 32x 22. I have two deer, 1 smallish Black Bear (with full hide), some 20 breasted pheasants, and a couple odd ball items in mine currently.

Want to say ours is a hotpoint we got as a gift but it was a couple hundred bucks 4 years ago and zero issues.
 

WILLMCC

FNG
Joined
Jun 6, 2022
Messages
22
I use a small 7 Cu Foot chest freezer from Sam's club with a small generator in the back of my truck to get my meat from out West to my home back East. Generator will power the freezer for close to 20 hours on a single tank of fuel. Then the next season I rotate all of the wild game from the chest type back into my standup freezer and the chest type is ready to make another run. Works way better than ice and coolers.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2013
Messages
548
Location
Idaho
Digging this up. Seeing if anyone else has reviews of these small 7 cu ft freezers at costco. It's about the size my wife and I need just don't want garbage.

The one they currently have can be converted between fridge or freezer. Could I age my meat in it with the fridge setting then turn it 8ver to freezer after processing? Anyone ever done this?
 

87TT

WKR
Joined
Mar 13, 2019
Messages
3,572
Location
Idaho
I bought a 7cu ft Costco freezer 4 years ago on sale for $139. fit a whole elk in it quartered. still going strong. Also have 5 cu ft one from Kmart that I've had for probably 13 years or so that is still full in my garage and doing great.
 

NRA4LIFE

WKR
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
1,663
Location
washington
Unless you go with a commercial unit (i.e. real expensive) 40-50 CF is not really available. 25-30 is massive and you might not be able to even get it into the basement without some demo and reconstruction. A 20 CF will fit a dozen average sized deer in it.
 

EdP

WKR
Joined
Jun 18, 2020
Messages
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Location
Southwest Va
We have had a Frigidaire for over 20 years. It has been trouble free. Over that time period appliances have changed a lot so I don't know if they are still as reliable.
 
Joined
Feb 2, 2023
Messages
304
Location
Wyoming
Need to buy a freezer for my basement. The current freezer in our kitchen side by side just doesn’t have much room. This freezer I will be getting does not have to be huge. Just a decent one with a door that flips up and has about 40 or 50 cubic feet of storage. Does anyone have good experiences with any particular make and model? Thanks for any advice…
Bought a decent sized one from menards and it has lasted about 6 years and going. Will be deicing and cleaning it this week in anticipation of filled tags.
 
Joined
Apr 14, 2019
Messages
1,252
Location
Fort Myers , FL
I would buy somewhere between 7-14 cubic feet. 7 has worked for me along with my refrig freezer.
My game (4 deer) meat and ice blocks pretty much fills it.

If you buy a bigger freezer or don't fill which ever size you buy you can fill it with ice blocks or bagged ice and that will help with efficiency.

I like to stock up on non game meats like turkeys, hams, pork butts and vegs when I see a great deal. Sometimes right after hunting season I am full to the brim.

I have always had good luck with chest freezers but my next freezer I will try an upright. I have a descent organization system but just feel I would like an upright better.
 

SC HUNTER

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 9, 2022
Messages
169
We have a upright thats about 7 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. It's big and holds alot. We freeze alot of vegetables from the garden during the summer and put between 4-6 deer in there every year. Add in the random boston butt here and there I find on sale and ribs I buy on sale it does great for us. I freeze 2 liter bottles in the bottom of the freezer and throw them in the cooler with deer when we quarter them up. I prefer the upright because its in the laundry/mud room and keeps from letting stuff just pile up on it like the chest freezers.
 
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