Upright or Chest Freezer?

Justlookup

Wed, Nov 17 2010, 10:28 pm

Ok, so I just looked through all the posts about freezers but I'm still left with some questions:
I want to be able to use my freezer for the following:
Store cases of chicken, meat & fish (Need to stock up bec. of location)
Bake cakes in advance
Prepare ready meals in advance, have ready to take out on busy days
(Bake Challas for a few weeks at least)
Cook large batches of soup to have available for lunch/supper
and other things like pizza, etc.
So, firstly, what size freezer do I want? I've seen them go from 5 cu. to 20+!
Second of all, and my main question is, what kind of freezer should I get, an upright or chest?
I dont want to have to remove all the contents of my freezer every time I want to reach something - if I want to take out that lasagna that I put 2 weeks ago thats now on the bottom, I dont want to have to remove the 5 cakes and 6 Soups etc. to get it out, yet on the other hand I feel as though an upright has much less room - each shelf is not as deep; and I've read that you cant keep things in an upright for as long - is that true?
And whats your bottom line on manuel/automatic frost removal? I'm hearing many contradictory things.
Any and all advice/tips would be appreciated! Oh, and what company do you have or do you know is good?
Thanks!

chaya35

Wed, Nov 17 2010, 11:10 pm

I have an upright I think a 21 the biggest size. I would definately go with the biggest size if you plan on freezing that much. An upright is definately more organized than a chest. I have a manuel defrost. When I got mine around 4 yrs. ago that what most people told me to go with. Now I hear they so both are the same. I have no problem with the manuel one. I defrost it twice a yr. Once for Pesach and then again the end of the summer before I start stocking for Yom Tov. It's extremely easy. I just unplug it and the ice melts on its own very quick. I would anyway want to clean it so I clean it when I defrost. As far as it lasting longer in a chest I find mine to last very long.

Mimisinger

Wed, Nov 17 2010, 11:22 pm

An upright is more organized, but a chest, is more efficient and cheaper. For your uses, I'd probably go for a chest freezer. Those cases of meat need room, and are heavy which these shelves can't really hold.

Raisin

Thu, Nov 18 2010, 4:09 am

I prefer an upright. You tend to lose things at the bottom of a chest freezer, plus they take up twice as much floor space, if that is a concern. My shelves have no problem holding meat and chicken - I just remove them from the cases.

soboz

Thu, Nov 18 2010, 6:00 am

An upright. Its more organised - you can sort your food in the different drawers/shelves (raw meat and chicken in one or two shelves, challos in another, soups another etc). Also I would go for the largest one you can find that fits in the space you have. I have manual defrost and its v easy to use.

Tova

Thu, Nov 18 2010, 8:03 am

I have an upright freezer - the biggest one that Kenmore made (21 or 22 cubic feet). I even went for manual over automatic because I could get it in a bigger size and keep things longer in it. And it was cheaper than automatic. [We must have had it for 4 years or so, and only now I'm thinking we may need to defrost it. The build up is just an inch or so on the shelves. I'm hoping I could wait until before Pesach to defrost.]

I love it, but b"H I do have the space for it (in my basement). It's one of the best $500 I spent.

Justlookup

Thu, Nov 18 2010, 11:28 am

Thanks everyone for your help.
I'm glad I asked and got this response - I really did want an upright but from what I read it seemed I might be making a mistake. I think I'll get the largest upright I can find and take the chickens out of the boxes so that they're lighter, Ijust really hope the shelves will be strong enough to hold it all.
Or, perhaps I can get a small chest and small upright? does that make sense or will it be significantly more expensive? That way I can store the cases w/o worry of it being too heavy and store the ready food separately...

Justlookup

Thu, Nov 18 2010, 11:33 am

I just checked Homedepot.com and the GE 7.0 cu. ft chest freezer is $168 and the SPT 3.0 cu. ft upright freezer is $317. Is 3.0 enough for me (ready made food - soups, dinners, cakes, challas)? And anyone ever heard of the company SPT?