Whats the best freezer to get for family of 5?

[reddwarf]

I guess it will go in basement? Currently have teeny ice compartment, can never buy anything frozen. Used to have an undercounter sized 3 drawer one.

Also, energy ratings (A, A+/A++) - does it make much difference?

And what makes are good or best avoided? Thanks so much if you can answer these!

sorry, meant also to ask if a front opening or chest freezer is best?

I am about to buy a front opening one because I find it impossible to organise my chest freezer. Food tends to migrate at the bottom and I forget it is there.

Whatever you get, make it a frost-free one.

good point, thanks trills. Javotte, what size are you getting? My single fil has an enormous one that's 1.5 m tall, so about 6 drawers. Just wondering if a 3 drawer one will be enough?

I would get a upright one as it's easier to organise.

What do you keep in your freezer.

I have a 4 drawer and 3 shelves one.

But I do a lot batch cooking so have meals and well as veg bread ect.

I like tall, all drawers, much easier to get stuff out

I'd also say, you need one in your kitchen, even if you have another, vast one in the basement

A Frost free wil save you the effort of defrosting it once every year or two, however frost frees are more complicated and are liable to get choked. A simple one goes wrong almost never.

Chest freezers tend to be cheaperto buy and to run. They are often very difficult to defrost if they have no drain and you have to mop them out.

I plan to do batch cooking (what do you store your portions in?). I cannot fit one in my freezer unfortunately, apart from the teeny ice box size thing I have.
I also plan to bake bread and have some scones, cakes etc baked and frozen.

So, frost free or not?
Concensus seems to be upright.
Is it a good idea to get the biggest one I can get?

Hi again, reddwarf. I'm getting a huge one (about 1.8m tall), but I bulk-buy meat and fish and do a lot of batch cooking.

Sorry to hassle you, I'm a freezing Bach cooking beginner but need to start. If I make eg a big vege lasagne, destined only for 1 family member, how do I freeze and store this, or if I make a huge batch of soup/ ragu etc without buying a gazillion Tupperware tubs or baking tins?

I'm afraid you'll need a gazillion Tupperware tubs. Since many of them will be in the freezer at any given time, they won't clutter your cupboards too much. I tried freezing bags for soups, risottos etc. but they take up more space and I often find holes in them when it is time to defrost.

I make things like lasagne, cottage pie and spinach and ricotta cannelloni in the foil containers like you get from the takeaway. You can buy them from every supermarket and things can be cooked directly in the oven in them.

I also save every plastic container with a lid that I come across and use those in the freezer.

I have a small chest freezer in the garage but it does need sorting every few months. I do try and keep a list of what's in there but it slips occasionally.
I also have a 4 drawer front opening freezer in my kitchen which has frozen veg, ice cubes, ice cream and bread products in it.

Thanks mrs Pnut - so if I freeze say e.g. a big lasagne, will cutting it prior to freezing be enough to ensure individual prtions, or do I need to freeze them separately?

I use various size foil containers.

I freeze in individual portions, and two person portions.

If the lasagne is frozen before cooking I would freeze as a whole then re freeze in portions.

If I doing soups I freeze in single portion bags.

I think front opening freezers with drawers are much easier to organise than chest freezers. Also, you don't really want to keep food in your freezer for too long - if there are five of you, an upright front opening freezer should be an ample size providing you eat what's in there with a rotation of one month to six weeks.

Oh, and invest in those plastic rectangular boxes with clip-on lids. They are much the easiest to use for freezing home made food and they are very economical on space.

To feed the family of five from, or hide their bodies in?

A really, really big one?

Carole, i hadnt thought of that, but actually very, very tempting

Ugh, I just started a thread about freezers, then saw this.

I'm trying to sort out my own batch cooking and wondering if it's worth replacing our normal fridge freezer with a big american one - I can't fit a separate one anywhere in our house.

Definitely front opening is easier. And tupperware rather than bags. And you have to keep a list of what's in it, because otherwise you'll lose track very quickly if you're anything like me!

I used to have a big american style one and hated the freezer, you couldnt seems to get hardly anything in, despite it seeming so big.

Any tips on batch freezing? That was a good one about freezing it uncooked then freezing again once cooked. I think. Saying that, what's the advantage? Sorry i'm tired!

How do you know what's suitable for freezing?

I have three freezers
The chest freezer is vast. We do things like negotiate with a local butcher to buy half a pig (butchered) and then freeze it into the portion sizes we need (e.g. bags of 2 chops/roasts/sausages), or lately a quarter of beef. We also get given a lot of game (we're farmers) so have a lot of pheasant and venison. We also freeze a lot of autumn harvest, so damsons, blackberries, plums etc to make crumbles and pies in later in the year. My upright freezer tends to be for fish and batch cooking so e.g. three times a year Tesco do whole salmon on half price, get them to fillet it into two sides then chop it up at home into the sizes you like (DH likes to eat more than me and the children have smaller portions) and freeze in a freezer bag. Also soup/stock etc can be frozen, as can cheese.
The fridge freezer is for more everyday stuff, ice cream, lollipops, frozen peas, ice cubes for gin, emergency frozen chips etc.
Lakeland sell fantastic freezer bags, and its lovely to have proper tupperware etc but if you're really on a budget then anything goes; old ice cream tubs, old margarine tubs, chinese takeaway plastic containers - you'll find it all in my freezers!
My MIL once defrosted, cooked and ate an 11 year old pheasant she found at the bottom of the freezer and pronounced it delicious!!

Ladyflip, you can't imagine how much I want to have written that post myself!

Frost free and up-right. We have loads of freezers and chest are a pain as you have to climb in to find anything.

I bought a huge bosch upright on e-bay. Its damaaged (tiny dent in door) so I paid £200 less than retail. Very happy with it. I put labels on each flap/door so I know whats in them.

The room temp must never be too cold for a frost free though.