Upright manual defrost freezer - a thing of the past?

[Steve from GA]

Pulled the trigger on a GE freezer with great ratings. My hopes are high...

 

[Rangerpants]

Glad to hear someone's experience with the frost free type staying below 0F. I replaced my upright freezer right before the world fell apart and had to drive four hours to find a manual model. Maybe whn this one finally croaks, I won't worry about hunting for manual defrost.

On a related note, to anyone using a frost free type, do you notice any texture change with meat frozen for a year or more? So far with manual defrost types, meat seems to hold up a couple years pretty well if vacuum sealed.

 

[Steve from GA]

Glad to hear someone's experience with the frost free type staying below 0F. I replaced my upright freezer right before the world fell apart and had to drive four hours to find a manual model. Maybe whn this one finally croaks, I won't worry about hunting for manual defrost.

On a related note, to anyone using a frost free type, do you notice any texture change with meat frozen for a year or more? So far with manual defrost types, meat seems to hold up a couple years pretty well if vacuum sealed.

I can't speak for the quality of meat, but I received my GE freezer yesterday and it's built like a tank. It also has a "turbo freeze" setting, so if the door has been opened frequently or for an extended period of time, it goes into blast mode for the next couple of hours to quickly drop the temp. Mine pretty quickly got down to -14 F after plugging it in. I bought a Temp Stick as a freezer alarm - seems fantastic. Uses an app, is easy to connect, monitors the temp regularly, and I can create alerts to send me texts/emails if temps go above a certain range.

In any event, after watching historical performance, though I have seen some slight fluctuations in temp, it hasn't risen above 0 F. With cling wrap and quality freezer paper, I now have zero concerns about meat quality with this one. I'm starting to think a lot of the frost free opinions are misinformation. Any modern, quality frost free freezer should keep meat rock solid frozen at all times. A decent frost free freezer shouldn't be getting anywhere close to 32 degrees.

 

[packer58]

Pulled the trigger on a GE freezer with great ratings. My hopes are high...

Model # ??

 

[Steve from GA]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Gara...E-_-V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL&ecc_ord=WJ27312163

 

[Brendan]

I have had zero issues with meat quality kept up to 4 years as long as it's sealed correctly.

I think that old frost free models didn't get nearly as cold, and had a much higher temperature swing. I really feel like the "avoid frost free" advice may have been applicable in the past, but is now our of date.

 

[Whisky]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-Gara...E-_-V1_M1_CA-_-Product_URL&ecc_ord=WJ27312163

Any updates on this freezer, specifically long term meat storage?
I have been waiting for a 20-21 cu ft MANUAL Defrost to come in stock since about Dec/Jan. No luck.
The local appliance store just got in some of these exact GE freezers, and I'm really considering going against my gut and buying one. I routinely keep meat for 2+ years. I will still keep one of my old chest freezers, but there will be some stuff that will have to go in the frost free upright for longer term storage also.
Also, the freezer will be stored in an insulated/heated garage. 35-40 ish in the winter, hot as hell in the summer...

 

[WRM]

Anyone using a system to monitor temp that will alert to cell phone if out of temp range? I'm thinking something like a Ras Pi controller, but maybe there are off the shelf models I just don't know about.

 

[Steve from GA]

Any updates on this freezer, specifically long term meat storage?
I have been waiting for a 20-21 cu ft MANUAL Defrost to come in stock since about Dec/Jan. No luck.
The local appliance store just got in some of these exact GE freezers, and I'm really considering going against my gut and buying one. I routinely keep meat for 2+ years. I will still keep one of my old chest freezers, but there will be some stuff that will have to go in the frost free upright for longer term storage also.
Also, the freezer will be stored in an insulated/heated garage. 35-40 ish in the winter, hot as hell in the summer..

I haven’t put mine to the true test yet. So far, it has just had bags of ice in it. I will hopefully get a cow elk in there in Nov, at which point it will theoretically work even more efficiently than it does now. It fluctuates between -5 to 5 F. Every couple of days, it will go up to around 10 or 15 degrees briefly, which I assume is the frost free cycle. I can’t imagine that would affect anything in those temp ranges. Not sure how it would do in a garage, but it has garage in the name, so maybe it would do ok.

 

[Steve from GA]

Anyone using a system to monitor temp that will alert to cell phone if out of temp range? I'm thinking something like a Ras Pi controller, but maybe there are off the shelf models I just don't know about.

I use a Temp Stick. Seems to work well.

 

[tt_johnsclist]

It’s pretty easy to unplug the defrost element and thermostat on a frost free, making it manual.

 

[bowtech101st]

Hey guys, I was hoping to revive this thread to get some of your first-hand knowledge. I've been in the market for an upright freezer for a while in addition to our chest freezer. With limited space it has to be upright. Problem is that I can't seem to find any 20 cubic feet freezers that aren't "frost free." Tried craiglist/Facebook/etc for used manual defrost models and have gotten burned a couple times, so no luck.

Anyways...I want to revisit this idea of "frost free" causing freezer burn. I've been worried to death about buying a new frost free model because practically every single article I read online says, "NOT FOR LONG TERM MEAT STORAGE." I'm encouraged after reading some of your comments that this problem may no longer be an issue with newer technology.

However, here's my question. From what I understand from the reading I've been doing (and I could be totally wrong about this), is that the reason "frost free" freezers can cause freezer burn has nothing to do with the internal temperature the freezer is set at. In other words, it's not because the inside temperature of the freezer ever gets above 32 degrees. From what I've read (and again, I could be totally wrong) it sounds like people are saying that the meat sitting on the outside will warm slightly during the automatic defrost cycle and then refreeze over, and over and over again. So my understanding is that the internal temp of the freezer is never the issue, but the meat sitting directly on the rack during the automatic defrost modes that can be affected.

Related question: on most of these modern freezers, do they pretty much all have the ability to to switch that defrost mode off on the back and turn it to manual?

Can someone smarter than me help me out on this? I really need a new freezer soon (I still an elk iced-down in my cooler), but I can only find frost free models. Any expertise would be a huge help!

 

[rayporter]

a door seal went bad on our kenmore frost free upright this summer and when we replaced it we found meat from 2017. no freezer burn.

the meat was in a plain ol zip loc, too.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I'm not sure. We have had a frost free for 10 yrs and it seems fine. But we usually eat everything within 2 yrs.
What I've found is if there is air in the packaging you're gonna get freezer burn.

I also don't understand why some want there freezer so cold.
Frozen is frozen.
I'm not sure how -5 meat would keep any better then +15

If you need a freezer just buy a freezer.

 

[Steve from GA]

I won’t get an elk into my freezer until later this month. Yes, my frost free freezer does shift temps between say -5 to 10, but even then, I have a real tough time buying the idea that there’s anything about that freezer’s frost free function that would cause a properly shrink wrapped, heavy duty freezer paper wrapped piece of meat to get freezer burned prematurely.

 

[Whisky]

If you need a freezer just buy a freezer.

I'm at this point. Been a year holding out for manual defrost, can't wait any longer.

Next question would be, wire shelving or glass shelving? Or, who gives a sh1t?

 

[BRTreedogs]

I'm at this point. Been a year holding out for manual defrost, can't wait any longer.

Next question would be, wire shelving or glass shelving? Or, who gives a sh1t?

I kind of like glass shelving. It doesn't bow or sink into the meat while its still warm.
And they usually have more slots to configure what height u need.
Thats what we have in our fridge.
But or freezer is wire and it works fine.
I suppose if ur packing it full the wire shelves would circulate better and freeze it faster.

Idk id probably pay the extra $30 for glass.

 

[bowtech101st]

If you need a freezer just buy a freezer.

Definitely, unfortunately none of the appliance stores with 150 miles seem to be able to get any big ones in stock any time soon. Hopefully that will change

 

[BRTreedogs]

Definitely, unfortunately none of the appliance stores with 150 miles seem to be able to get any big ones in stock any time soon. Hopefully that will change

Yeah I had the same problem.
I know the one poster said they don't have room but I just grabbed up any cheaper chest freezer.
Hopefully by next year I'll actually be able to get one of the big garage ready stand ups.

Chests are nice to have around for quarters and hides and such anyway.

 

[Steve from GA]

I kind of like glass shelving. It doesn't bow or sink into the meat while its still warm.
And they usually have more slots to configure what height u need.
Thats what we have in our fridge.
But or freezer is wire and it works fine.
I suppose if ur packing it full the wire shelves would circulate better and freeze it faster.

Idk id probably pay the extra $30 for glass.

I went this way as well for my freezer - figured that glass might be a little more sturdy for large quantities. Now I did recently buy a separate cheap used refrigerator to put beside my freezer in the basement, and for that, I specifically went with wire shelves. I figured that I will eventually use that refrigerator to do some meat aging experiments, and the wire shelves will allow more airflow around large cuts.