Chest freezer?

[mainbutter]

Any suggestions on chest freezers for storing your venison? What kind of volume should I be looking at for a single processed deer? I was thinking about this today and realizing that there is literally no room for even a bucket of ice cream in our freezer currently.

[#fishhunt#]

Make sure it is not frost free. Meat lasts longer without getting freezer burn. Most chest freezer are not frost free. I would go with something that can hold more than 1 deer though. There isnt that much to a deer when you get done processing it. Also freezers are more efficient when they are completely full. I would buy a bit bigger freezer than you think you need. Fill gallon milk jugs with water in it and put a board across them to put meat on keeping the freezer filled and running less.

1 normal size deer usually fills up 8-10 one gallon freezer bags of scrap meat. Once it is made into susage it isn't double the amount you have in deer meat. A medium sized freezer woudl be sufficient.5.0 cubic feet hold approx 175lbs of meat/7 cubic feet approx 245. I wouldnt go smaller than these.

[hockeybc69]

Get an upright freezer. Nothing drives me more nuts with freezers, than having to dig down through piles of stuff to find what I want.

An upright is a much better option. You can use the shelves for certain cuts, certain meats, etc.

[paul pachowicz]

I suppose it depends on the size of your family and buying habits. Ya know, stocking up on sales items,etc. Chest type have thier drawbacks as they can become another flat spot to put stuff on. Then you have to move it to get it open and then dig thru stuff to get what you want. However, they are alittle cheaper than the uprights. Typically whatever you want to take out is going to be on the bottom. And, you have to defrost them every now and then. An upright fits most needs nicely as far as convenience and can be found in either frostfre or manual and can be found in various sq feet sizes.. Take a look at the smallest chest type that are around and figure out how much bigger you want then flip a coin. As said, a deer don't take up THAT much space but it's nice to have alittle room for other stuff.

[paul pachowicz]

oooooops....shouldda said cubic feet instead of sq feet

[Cheetah]

My chest freezer is a 7.2cuft. It could easily hold a few deer once cut and packed. I keep mostly salmon and venison in it, a turkey or two, and some other random meats and sometimes frozen vegetables at the end of summer that we plan to use in the coming winter.

To keep it organized the trick I have found is to use baskets for everything. Need to make sure they fit well and stack. I freeze everything in old baking pans before placing in the basket so they end up flat-ish and not all random shaped and stuck together. I also sort through what I have a few times per year just in case something was forgotten and needs to be eaten before it gets freezer burn.