Deep Freeze - which one and where to place?

[Newventurer]

Thinking of buying a 1/3 of a calf with some neighbors, but will need a freezer.

Which one is more efficient (cheap to operate) chest or upright?

Has anyone done the brain damage to calculate whether it is more efficient to place the freezer on the patio (temps range from 20 to 100 degrees) so that the heat given off the condenser doesn't heat up the house or if having inside the house uses less energy to operate over time?

One of you guys with a slide rule, can you figure this out for me? Make whatever assumptions you want for style and such.

Thanks

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newventurer Thinking of buying a 1/3 of a calf with some neighbors, but will need a freezer. Which one is more efficient (cheap to operate) chest or upright? Has anyone done the brain damage to calculate whether it is more efficient to place the freezer on the patio (temps range from 20 to 100 degrees) so that the heat given off the condenser doesn't heat up the house or if having inside the house uses less energy to operate over time? One of you guys with a slide rule, can you figure this out for me? Make whatever assumptions you want for style and such. Thanks

An important question is where do you live if the north where heat dominates cooling in HVAC energy use then inside is a net benefit on a year round basis.

[Newventurer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde An important question is where do you live if the north where heat dominates cooling in HVAC energy use then inside is a net benefit on a year round basis.

Thanks, I live in the South - NW Arkansas. 3 months of heat and 3 months of air and pleasant the rest of the time.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newventurer 3 months of heat and 3 months of air and pleasant the rest of the time.

If I only got air 3 months out of the year I think I'd seriously consider relocating.

[Spudd]

Chest freezers are definitely more efficient.

I would place it inside the house, in the basement (if you have one).

[tmm99]

No suggestion on what kind of freezer to get, but I have bought 1/4 of a cow as well as 1/2 pig a few times in the past, and this is the system I adapted and it works well. (I happened to have a chest freezer.) I bought huge ziploc storage bags and numbered them and made a list of what I put in each bag by the bag number (ex. ground, sirloin, round roast, rib eye steaks, etc) and scratched off the ones on the list I took out of the bags each time. It made a whole lot easier to find what I was looking for, plus I could pace the usage (I didn't want all ground beef left at the end or run out of it.)

[Lakewood90712]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spudd Chest freezers are definitely more efficient. I would place it inside the house, in the basement (if you have one).

+ 1

[Nodak]

+2. The chest freezer doesn't lose all the cold air when you open it since cold air is denser that warm.

[splitwdw]

Chest freezer, in the house. As tmm99 suggested, use bags or freezer bins to store the meat and list what you have and cross it off as you use it. Since it's Summer, you should also blanch some veggies and freeze them. Nothing like fresh frozen veggies in the Winter. If the freezer isn't full, I put bags of ice in my freezer..........my mom told me to do that.
Quick story. I always freeze corn for the Winter and one year a girlfriend wanted to try it. She called me at work and said I must be nuts to do the corn. She said she had an awful time scoping the corn out of the pot she was using for blanching. She had cut the kernels off the cob and dumped them in the pot instead of just blanching the whole cob and then cutting off the kernels. We laughed then and every Summer she brings up her "freezer corn". She hasn't tried it since.

[Newventurer]

Great info, thanks!

[Another Reader]

Although they are more work, a manual defrost freezer is better for food storage. Automatic defrosting warms the freezer up so the ice crystals melt and the water runs off. Over time that can compromise the food stored in the freezer. Most chest freezers are manual defrost, while most uprights now are automatic defrost.

[Big_Hitter]

you can get freezers dirt cheap on craigslist

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Another Reader Although they are more work, a manual defrost freezer is better for food storage. Automatic defrosting warms the freezer up so the ice crystals melt and the water runs off. Over time that can compromise the food stored in the freezer. Most chest freezers are manual defrost, while most uprights now are automatic defrost.

You defrost your freezer with the food in it?

[RunningBum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by splitwdw You defrost your freezer with the food in it?

I think that's the point of recommending a manual, so you can remove the food when you defrost. With an automatic defrost you don't control when it happens so your food can heat up a bit and refreeze.

[splitwdw]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunningBum I think that's the point of recommending a manual, so you can remove the food when you defrost. With an automatic defrost you don't control when it happens so your food can heat up a bit and refreeze.

Ahhhh, sorry, afternoon brain damage from toooooooo long a meeting.

[youbet]

Aren't we confusing "defrost" with "frost-free?"

[Texas Proud]

The other thing I would check out is how much space a 1/3 cow takes.... if you do not have much in your freezer you probably could fit it in there...

I have not done it since I want more of the good cuts instead of all of the cow... but I saw a video where they put a 1/4 of a cow is a pretty small space in a top freezer fridge...


I would also suggest that they bag it and freeze it for you... then you do not have to do the bagging suggestion....