older freezer

majorcatfish

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just purchased a upright freezer, got tired of putting on my Carhart's arctic bibb and coat attached to a safety harness to find something in there...

question. we are going to keep the 20+year chest freezer, once we defrost it should it be unplugged till we need it again or should it be kept running?
have been reading on this subject and have seen conflicting answers! would like to hear everyone's input on this..
 

flowerbug

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from what i recall a freezer does best when it is nearly full. so running it on empty seems like a waste of $. i'd unplug it, defrost and then prop the door open so it has some air flow to keep it from getting stinky.
 

Ridgerunner

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If you run it fill it with water so it freezes. A full freezer is more efficient. I save plastic milk cartons and rinse them well, then freeze them for hurricane season. That way the stuff in the freezer lasts a lot longer if the power goes out or you can use the ice if you need to.
 

ducks4you

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I'm with @Ridgerunner . Fill empty (cleaned out) milkjugs/waterjugs with water, but leave a couple of inches of air for expansion, and put them in the freezer running.
I lost a 15 cu ft (freebie) chest freezer that was 1972 vintage and survived in my two garages--I moved--until 2004.
You don't open up chest freezers that often, so they last a LOT longer than upright freezers.
Still, upright freezers are more convenient, and ANY freezer is a good investment, IMHO. :hugs
We bought 965 pounds of steer last April, hanging weight 1,525 pounds. I hadn't ever bought a full beef, and I was very concerned that the brand new 14 1/2 cu ft + mostly full 7 cu ft (on my porch) + DD's 7 cu ft freezer wouldn't hold it all. I bought aNOTHER brand new 7 cu ft. Works well bc the most expensive cuts are in my basement, though I do lock up the biggest one in the garage, and I carry ALL hamburger inside in an Aldi bag so my neighbors aren't aware of my bounty.
I am glad that I did, since all of the steaks, roasts and specialty beef parts filled the newest freezer, and the hamburger only 1/2 filled the 14 1/2 cu ft--therefore it probably ALL would have fit in the biggest chest freezer.
Still, you sometimes need to dig through what you have.
I froze a large and clear bag of 18 pie sized bags of tart cherries on top of the 2 lb hamburger packages, and my miserable 2022 grape harvest, AND leftover bags of purchased ice that is also in the biggest freezer. My porch freezer has last year's okra, frozen vegetables, ice cream...stuff that you want right away that would never really fit in the fridge freezer.
Point is, it is very good to have extra freezer space.
DD's freezer is now empty, but this week I pick up about 40 lbs of Lamb and it's going into THEIR freezer.
 

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