ISO: ISO: Calling all stand-alone freezer owners

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ruthab

Well-known member
I’m looking to purchase a stand-alone freezer. Never having owned one before, any information you can offer will be helpful.

What kind do you have and do you like it? What would you look for in your next freezer? Any recommendations on a brand, style or features would be very helpful.

Right now, I am leaning towards an upright freezer with manual defrosting, but you may be able to talk me out of it ;o)

TIA!

 
Nope Upright that defrosts itself.......why make extra work and who can get the frozen....

whatever off/out of the shelf when it is frozen stuck.....in the old days I used hot water to do this...OH gee why...nowadays with automatic defrost I never have a problem. I have the biggest freezer poss here in the tropics and freeze just about everything, including spices....it is the BEST appliance ever....but I have a crappy Canadian one (most of the appliances from canada are good)...it was cheaper than some other here on the island;
the seal has gone, (I've stuffed it up with an extra seal) it lost it's handle in the 1st 2 months and the bottom ledge is cracked from when a lump of meat fell on it about 4 years ago...yes, it still works even so some 6 years down the road.

 
Ruth, I have an upright that is a manual defrost.

It is a Kenmore and I have had it for at least 10-15 years, and I still love it. I was told that the manual defrosting freezers are more energy efficient than the automatic. As I recall, they didn't have that many auto-defrosts when I was looking.
I have to defrost it about every six months, no big deal. Mine is in my garage, so I just put the food in a cooler, open the door and let it drain out the garage floor, wash it out with a bleach-water solution.
Either one, you will love your freezer!

 
Joanie, my seal was acting up too, and my appliance repair man told

me to rub the rubber seal with some Vaseline, which I did, and it worked great. It is still sealing perfectly.

 
Mine is Upright, Frost-free...

a Frigidaire Commercial. It has shelves and pull out bins at the bottom. Plenty of in-the-door storage for quick-grab stuff you use often. I liked it so much the first time, I bought it again when a lightning strike took the first one out.

 
Another factor to consider when deciding between frost-free and manual defrost is...

...how long you plan to keep food frozen.

If you tend to keep food for many months, you are better off with a manual defrost. It keeps a constant temperature, and if you keep the door seal intact and the door closed so humidity doesn't cause a bunch of ice to form, you may not have to defrost it more than once a year.

Frost-free freezers are designed to cycle on and off, allowing the frost to melt away on its own and drain out the bottom pan a little at a time. It doesn't wait until there's a big build-up of ice. It cycles hot/cold fairly often. This also reduces the shelf life of the food in the freezer (as opposed to a manual freezer with a constant freeze).

If you use your frozen foods on a regular basis and rotate your stock properly, a frost-free is a nice convenience. If you tend to let food sit in the freezer for months before being used, you might want to consider a manual.

Michael

 
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