What size freezer do I need?

[Nevada Ed]

I have never had a freeze before but with the refigerator full
top and bottom, I might need a small freezer for the Garage,

if I get lucky and fill my deer tag, this season?

Hopefully it will be skined and a full section, instead of cut up in the field, and bagged up.

I have looked up a 5 and a 7 cu ft and have no idea, what might be needed.

PS;
it has been so long, how long will deer salami keep, before it needs to be frozen?

Thank you for any help.

 

[Bugkiller99]

Freezers are similar to safes. Get one size bigger than you think you need. We had a small chest freezer that recently died. Replaced it with a larger, upright freezer.

It’s full.

I would stay away from a chest freezer. Things go to the bottom and are never found again. Or, if found, resemble frozen tundra.

 

[Rustyt1953]

I have different parameters than most here. I have two young eating machines under roof so we have a full size upright freezer in the utility room.

Pro Tip for high traffic: get one with durable hinges.

 

[SweetMK]

I have finally wised up,,
the only thing I eat out of the freezer is ice cream.

If you fill that tag,,
a friend at a previous job said he could can all the best of a deer in 14 quart jars,,
I have never tried that. If you can it, no freezing is required.

Meat is SO cheap (if you select what is on sale) I can not think about storing it.
The total cost for the wife and I to cook dinner with ribeye steak is usually under $12.
If we have chicken, the cost is half that.
Pork is somewhere in between.
You can not hardly get two McD hamburgers for $12,,,

We have been eating like this for over two years.

 

[SweetMK]

Another negative about freezers,, the COST of electricity!!

Some locations are paying $0.50 per KWH,
That is insane,, and will suck up any savings you THOUGHT the freezer would give.

If you get a self defrosting model,, the electricity usage goes through the ROOF!!

Look at the yellow energy tag on the freezer you are considering.
It will tell annual typical electricity consumption,,

If you put the freezer in a hot garage (typical for Florida) power consumption could easily go up 4X.

You have to correct that number due to your local electricity costs.

 

[timjake]

Your question made me think of this.

 

[pantannojack]

Upon my first elk kill in 1998, I got a Sears chest freezer "on sale" 11cu ft for 150$. It, looked about twice as large as absolutely needed, but not so much now. It still works @ 26 years. I use it to fill with bread from the day old bakery @ half price, grocery store quantity sales, and everything else I need for the next pandemic hoax. I also freeze gallon jugs of water for my house fridge when power goes down. The disadvantage of an upright is that every time you open the door, ALL the cold air falls out and it refills with warm.

 

[djohns6]

If you put the freezer in a hot garage (typical for Florida) power consumption could easily go up 4X.

.

When you shop for freezers you will see a lot of them labelled " Garage Ready " . They are able to handle a wider range of temperatures in their environment .

 

[djohns6]

Freezers are similar to safes. Get one size bigger than you think you need. We had a small chest freezer that recently died. Replaced it with a larger, upright freezer.

It’s full.

I would stay away from a chest freezer. Things go to the bottom and are never found again. Or, if found, resemble frozen tundra.

We got some wire baskets that fit our freezer so that it's easier to organize things and when you want to rotate items out you just lift the basket out and grab what you need .

 

[SweetMK]

It still works @ 26 years. I use it to fill with bread from the day old bakery @ half price,

This "NEW" bread that Kroger's and Food Lion sells has so many chemicals in it,,,,,,
that it will not go stale, even a month after being opened.

It used to be that the bread makers (and potato chip makers) filled the bag with inert gas,, maybe nitrogen??

With that gas, the bread etc,, stayed fresh UNTIL the bag was opened.
Now, it does not matter,, bread does not go stale.

Because of that,, and the little that the wife and I consume,,
my wife makes the bread for us,, NO strange ingredients to try and push the expiration date.

The other reason for DIY bread,, the stores are raping the customers,,
$4 to $8 for a loaf of bread??
The ingredients do not cost $0.25 per loaf.

Yes, I can afford bread,, but, I am not buying it for two reasons,, not just unhealthy ingredients,,

 

[steelslaver]

Once a deer is cut up and wrapped a small 10 cu ft freezer is all you need. I bone them out, cut my steaks and roast, run the rest through a grinder for mixing with pork sausage and they don't take up much space

 

[30-30remchester]

I bought a large 27 cubic foot chest freezer in November of 1982. Raising 3 kids, our freezer was full to the brim every November. At least 2 elk, a few deer and antelope. By the next November it was empty. We still eat out of our freezer at least 3 times a week.

 

[TXBryan]

Your question made me think of this.

These signs are actually on freezers at the Brownwood, TX Home Depot today. Makes me laugh every time I see them.

Bryan

 

[pawngal]

I have finally wised up,,
the only thing I eat out of the freezer is ice cream.

If you fill that tag,,
a friend at a previous job said he could can all the best of a deer in 14 quart jars,,
I have never tried that. If you can it, no freezing is required.

Meat is SO cheap (if you select what is on sale) I can not think about storing it.
The total cost for the wife and I to cook dinner with ribeye steak is usually under $12.
If we have chicken, the cost is half that.
Pork is somewhere in between.
You can not hardly get two McD hamburgers for $12,,,

We have been eating like this for over two years.

Ribeye steak dinner for 2 for $12??? What do you do, split 1 10 oz steak?

 

[jeffrefrig]

The chest freezers, as stated above, would be the first choice for me, but every one has different requirements. I seriously doubt the extra electricity usage is going to put you in the poor house. And, if it’s not being used for all the game meat storage, and store bought food, there’s room for several ice packs, etc., to keep your beer and everything cold during power outages. If you keep the freezer full by having ice packs and frozen water bottles in it, the freezer will not run as much. You can’t refrigerate air, yes the air will be cold, but it holds no usage in one’s house. Buy as large as you can afford or want to pay for it and have room for.
Separate question, are deer really butchered out in the field like big animals where you come from, whoever said that? Things are done differently all over the country, obviously, but I never ventured out more than a mile from where I had to drag the deer to.

 

[SweetMK]

Ribeye steak dinner for 2 for $12??? What do you do, split 1 10 oz steak?

Food Lion has ribeyes on sale every three or four weeks for $7.99 per pound,,

The other weeks have T-bone steaks $7.99,,, then New York Strip $7.99,,,
I hate the last week,
that is when they have chuck roast on sale,,, $4.99.

Also, we are not big fans of New York strip,, even though it is supposed to be the larger half of a T-bone,,,

 

[SweetMK]

The chest freezers, as stated above, would be the first choice for me, but every one has different requirements. I seriously doubt the extra electricity usage is going to put you in the poor house.

50% of the use of a freezer is to hopefully save money,,

Put a Kill-A-Watt meter on that freezer built before 1982ish,,,
You will see the cost to operate that old freezer go WAY north of $300 per year.

Connecticut or California,, you might be paying above $1,000 per year.
(because of high per KW charges)

It is tough to save over $1,000 per year by using a freezer, with only two people.


That is especially true if you have, (or purchase) a self defrosting freezer,,,
How does it get rid if "frost"??
It heats the interior with electricity,, until the frost melts and runs out as water,,
then re-freezes the stuff,,,

Trying to save $$$??? get a freezer that is manual defrost.
It will probably run for close to half the cost of electricity.

Then, un-plug it once a year,, when you have it low on stored stuff.
The frost will be gone.
It needs wiped out anyways,,

 

[steelslaver]

Ribeye steak dinner for 2 for $12??? What do you do, split 1 10 oz steak?

I buy a steer every year. Usually runs me about $2400, cut wrapped and frozen for about 550-600# of meat. About $4 a lb, while it ain't all rib steaks a T bones, the hamburger is all lean and hasn't got a bunch of water in it.

I had a rib steak and fresh corn on the cob, Tuesday and wedsday evening and a nice top sirloin last night and will be having another tonight. I sliced up a couple bottom rounds this morning stuck the strips in my smoker and am chewing on some good jerky right now. My one brother helps out a rancher doing things like branding, shipping, etc and he gets 1/2 steer a year. There are 12,000 people in this county and 80,000 cows.

I get mine from a Hutterite colony, that has cows, raises alfalfa and corn and a feed lot, and has a nice state inspected butcher shop. They also do pigs, and geese. Another one has a dairy and another supplies the area eggs, those guys also sell chickens. But, I have my own chickens. I get all my spuds, corn, cukes, cabbage etc from them too in late summer and fall. Most of my food ain't full of junk

If you cut out the shipping costs, the feet lot, packing plant and grocery store mark up and beef ain't that bad.

 

[pawngal]

Food Lion has ribeyes on sale every three or four weeks for $7.99 per pound,,

The other weeks have T-bone steaks $7.99,,, then New York Strip $7.99,,,
I hate the last week,
that is when they have chuck roast on sale,,, $4.99.

Also, we are not big fans of New York strip,, even though it is supposed to be the larger half of a T-bone,,,

Interesting, when I visit in North Carolina I shop at Food Lion and have their app so I can check the specials. This week's special is rib eyes $10.99 per pound. Personally, I've never seen a steak there that I'd carry home. But they always have good prices on pork and the quality is good.

 

[steelslaver]

Pawngal, there have to be some feedlots and custom butcher shops in IA. Even if you can't use a whole beef, some sell halves and quarters or you could get together with another family and split

A lot of ranchers are tire of seeing how much more the supermarket gets for their beef than they do. 85% of meat is controlled by the big four. In the U.S. beef sector are: Cargill, based in Minnesota; Brazil-based JBS SA is the world's biggest meat packer; and National Beef Packing Co which is controlled by Brazilian beef producer Marfrig Global Foods, Tyson Foods Inc , the chicken producer is the biggest U.S. meat company by sales;

Those guys control 85% the butcher steers from feedlots When factoring in other cows used to make hamburger meat, the companies comprise about 70% of total U.S. beef production. Burger or cull cattle are older brood cow, older milk cows, over the hill bulls and other cattle not fit for the feed lots to become steaks etc Baloney bulls