Chest freezers

[Cooperman]

I'm looking to purchase a small 7cf chest freezer to take on the overflow from my side x side refrigerator/freezer. Anyone have any input or recommendations for these types of freezer? Most seem to be manual defrost, is that a hassle? Very few are energy star rated. I know Menards has the cheapest 7cf but It is there own brand, and you can't find any reviews on it. Plus I don't like buying Menards dump. Costco might be the best place, but I can't find any that size on there page. I'm going down to the cities tonight, anyone know of a good place down there?

Thanks All

[Moon Lake Refuge]

4 minutes ago, Cooperman said:

I'm looking to purchase a small 7cf chest freezer to take on the overflow from my side x side refrigerator/freezer. Anyone have any input or recommendations for these types of freezer? Most seem to be manual defrost, is that a hassle? Very few are energy star rated. I know Menards has the cheapest 7cf but It is there own brand, and you can't find any reviews on it. Plus I don't like buying Menards dump. Costco might be the best place, but I can't find any that size on there page. I'm going down to the cities tonight, anyone know of a good place down there?

Thanks All

If you can, get one that is fully metal lined.  Ours has(soon to be had) plastic lining in it.  Got unplugged with chicken, venison and beef in it.  The smell as you can imagine was horrendous.  With metal lining they don't retain the smells like plastic does.  Or better yet... don't unplug it.  Honestly the most awful thing I have ever encountered.

[RebelSS]

I have a 4 cu ft Sunbeam from Walmart...LOVE  it! I know it's half of what you want, but it's 2 big coolers of food it holds for me, and that's enough. Anywho, My Dad owned an appliance store, so my input: a lot have a "power on" light, and also one that comes on when running...usually a green one, and a red for power. Look for that. Nice, removable basket(s) that slide from side to side. Some DO have energy star; mine does. As far as manual defrost, my Dad always said a lot better than auto, because that heats things up a TAD, and forms ice crystals. Plus, less energy efficient than a manual.I think defrosting is easy, put stuff in coolers, take hair dryer to inside, and use a plastic or rubber  "spatula" or bakery frosting spreader to CAREFULLY push ice walls off when it gets melty. And of course, have drain plug hole somewhere close to a drain, or just slide a big cookie sheet under it to catch the water. Those are my views. Oh, and try to stay with a brand name, GE, Frigidaire, Danby, Haier, Sunbeam, etc. Probably all use the same compressor anyway, but my sunbeam sure is built with some nice extras in it, you can tell. I also have mine on a NON GFCI dedicated circuited, code may not like that, but if the GFCI trips sometime from a power "wiggle"........oh no.      Good luck!  

[nofishfisherman]

I don't recall which brand I bought but I know it was one of the name brands.  We went with an upright freezer so its basically like a small fridge thats all freezer.  I think it makes finding stuff easier as its sitting on 3-4 shelves right in front of you and there is storage in the door for the small stuff that usually finds its way to the bottom and gets lost.

Its probably not as energy efficient and the normal chest freezer but it has worked well for us over the last 4-5 years.  

It is also a manual defrost which is really no big deal.  Only needs defrosting ever 2-3 years.  I've only done it once so far but it needs it again pretty soon.  Just take everything out and leave the door open to start the thawing process.  You can hit it with a blow dryer and do some scrapping.  Once it starts to thaw I put a towel or two inside to help absorb some of the water.  

We got ours at the Warner Stellian warehouse sale that they do a couple times a year.   Think we paid under $200 for it.

[Walleyehooker]

I bought a menards one 10+ years ago still works fine. There is very little to go wrong with a freezer and I wouldn't be surprised if most don't use the same or very similar parts.

As far as defrost about once a year I take everything out of freezer and unplug freezer for maybe an hour with lid open. After 20 minutes or so you can start knocking ice chunks off of sides and scoop them out. Dry with a towel and put stuff back in and don't forget to plug it in. In that time stuff doesn't even start to thaw.

[BLACKJACK]

One tip on defrosting is after you have all the food out, fill a couple of ice cream pails with hot water, put lid on, and set in the freezer. Close lid for about 20 minutes and when you come back you'll be ready to clean up the mess. 

I've had mine for about 25 years, sure is nice to be able to buy a 1/4 beef, whole chickens, pork loins, etc. and keep them in the freezer, I don't need to be running to the grocery store every time I want to cook. Come Wed/Thursday i start planning the weekend meals and take some meat out of the freezer. Looks to be nice out this weekend, may take something out to grill....

Its one of those items that if it went to heck I'd go right out and buy another one.

[Cooperman]

Thanks guys,

I stopped at Costco on my way home and purchased one. They had a 7.1 for 189.00

Thanks again for you input.

[CaptainMusky]

I know you asked about a chest freezer, but I went with an upright when my chest freezer bit the dust.

Main reason? Well, its in the garage so I wanted one that could handle the winter (Fridgidaire are the only ones that come "garage ready"), but the most important thing was so that it wouldn't become a dumping ground for my wife to set things on so it was a PITA to open when we needed something.

I couldn't be happier with the upright. Everything is easy to find and I can always get in it.

[Juneau4]

12 minutes ago, CaptainMusky said:

I know you asked about a chest freezer, but I went with an upright when my chest freezer bit the dust.

Main reason? Well, its in the garage so I wanted one that could handle the winter (Fridgidaire are the only ones that come "garage ready"), but the most important thing was so that it wouldn't become a dumping ground for my wife to set things on so it was a PITA to open when we needed something.

I couldn't be happier with the upright. Everything is easy to find and I can always get in it.

Just be careful with the upright that nothing shifts in it and the door pops open, have known 3 people where that's happened and they had spoilage. There's pro's and con's to both types.

[CaptainMusky]

yeah, that could be bad. Hadnt thought about that, but with the shelves as they are in the one I bought at least I think it might be tough for that to happen. Good to think about though.

[nofishfisherman]

I prefer my upright as well for the same reasons.  The lid doesn't get cluttered with junk, everything is easy to find, and it also takes up a smaller footprint which is nice in my smallish basement storage area.