Buying a Freezer
Get the more for your food dollar
If the contents of your refrigerator freezer keep falling out because you don't have enough room, you may wish you had a freezer. Refrigerator freezers are not intended for long-term storage either, so if you are tempted by the seasonal sales, especially in the fall when the fresh fruits and vegies beg to be frozen and frozen food sales are going strong, a freezer can help you save money and keep a ready supply of homemade lasagne.
The advantages of a freezer can be significant. You can
- Save money by buying on sale, in season, and in bulk.
- Control quality. When correctly prepared and packaged, many fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats are as good frozen as they are fresh.
- Buy local and support your nearby farmer's markets. Also reduces shipping which saves gas and the environment at the same time.
- Store your own garden produce.
- Prepare family favorites in quantity and freeze meal size portions for extra time and cost savings.
What kind of freezer is best?
There are two basic choices in freezers: upright and chest. The following table shows the advantages and disadvantages of each:
| Freezer type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Chest |
|
|
| Upright |
|
|
Upright freezers open like your refrigerator. With a well lit interior, you can see what you have and with the contents arranged on shelves, there is at least a possibility that you can organize its contents.
The chest freezer is less easy to organize so keeping a freezer inventory is important. It's all too easy for contents to to drift to the bottom, so you may be less likely to find what you know is there. Still, they are more efficient, use less energy, and allow you to store more food per cubic foot, which makes them a very cost-effective buy.
Frost free or not?
There are advantages and disadvantages concerning whether you purchase a frost-free freezer or one that needs defrosting—usually a couple times a year. Though a frost-free freezer is a bit pricier and a more expensive to run, it saves time if you don't have to thaw it out and allow it to drain. That can be a huge advantage if you are pressed for time and don't have a domestic engineer who is willing to supervise. Keep in mind, that frost-free models tend to dry food out, which makes it important to use food relatively quickly.
On the other hand, defrosting your freezer encourages you to touch each package in the freezer which allows you to repack your freezer and move use-this-first stock to a location where you won't be required to root for it. Chest freezers often have convenient baskets for just this purpose. There is a modest savings in initial cash outlay too for a non frost-free freezer, and that could be appealing if you are trying to stick with a strict budget.
Making your choice
When you shop for a refrigerator, the number of cubic feet is is typically determined by the number of people in your household. With a freezer, the number in your household is somewhat less important. Consider the following:
- What are your food purchasing habits?
- How often do you shop?
- Do you want to buy in bulk and stock up when there are sales?
- Do you hunt or need a freezer for a large quantity of meat?
- Are you a gardener with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables that you want to preserve?
- Is convenience a priority?
- What kind of refrigerator do you have now?
- Is this a primary or secondary freezer?
- Where are you going to put it?
If you hate shopping and want to purchase a month's supply of food at once, a small freezer might be just right because you'd refill it every month. If you want to shop sales and stock a six-month food supply, a larger freezer might be needed. If you hunt or want to store a side of beef, you'll need a huge freezer.
Budget makes a difference too, but try not to get to hung up on the initial cost of the freezer. If you can discipline yourself to buy on sale, you can cut your costs by 10 percent or more a week; you could easily save the cost of the freezer and electricity in less than a year.
If you have a large side-by-side refrigerator, a small secondary deep freeze might give you the extra cold storage you need for longer periods.
Location and available space may also determine what type of freezer will work best for you. You may have lots of room for a mammoth freezer in the garage, but many homeowners are maxed out. Small can be good and just as cost-effective as a big freezer. An upright has a smaller footprint, but a small chest can double up as a folding table in the laundry—it just means you have to put stuff away.
Whether your household is just one person or a half dozen, a freezer allows you to preserve food for at least six weeks and it's often fine for much longer. Quality diminishes over time, but as long as the freezer contents have consistently remained frozen, the contents will be safe to eat.
Because people tend to buy too large a freezer, food ends up being stored longer than is optimum for quality. If it isn't at least 2/3 full, it also uses more energy. For maximum efficiency keep the freezer at least 2/3 full. Some freezer owners store gallon jugs filled with water just to take up space if they don't have the freezer full.
Keep in mind that Simple is Good. The more bells and whistles you choose for your freezer, the higher the initial cost and the more likely something will break. After all, it's just a big box for storing food. It's best not to get too carried away. The only thing that is really essential is a good freezer thermometer so you can monitor the freezer's internal temperature.
Freezer organization
To keep your freezer organized, the following tips might help.
- Package contents properly using a sealing system, freezer bags, or plastic containers that will keep air and water crystals out of the food.
- Label each package clearly with a description of the contents and the date. You can even add your own "use by" date. Don't try to remember when you put something in. You'll forget. Next to cause and effect and inertia, this is one of the immutable truths of the Universe. For other family members, consider adding cooking instructions or microwave times.
- Keep an inventory checklist on a clipboard near the freezer. This will help you plan for anticipated needs, organize meals from what you have, and simplify rotating stock. When you buy something, add it to the list. When you use it, cross it out. A white board and markers are great for maintaining an ongoing list.
New or used
Buying a used freezer could save you a lot of money, or it could easily end up being a financial sinkhole.
A relatively new used freezer may take advantage of newer construction materials and technologies and still be under warranty. Check Consumer Reports for information about models and styles. You might pick a freezer up for half the price of a new freezer and that could be a very good thing.
Use caution when looking at older freezers. Older models may not be as energy efficient and what you save in the initial cost, could add up quickly in extra energy costs and demolish any cost advantage quickly. You could easily find yourself with hundreds of dollars worth of food in a dead freezer and have to quickly replace it without the luxury of evaluating the type of freezer that best suits your household's needs.
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