Spare freezer or fridge-freezer?

[TheBermudaTriangle]

Cross-posted from Food to ask the wisdom of my fellow Preppers.

Hi all. I'm in the lucky position of being able to buy a spare appliance. I was initially thinking of buying a spare 'single' standing freezer, for batch cooking, stocking up on spare meat, fish, veg etc.

We have an American-style fridge-freezer in the kitchen.

However, I'm now suddenly doubting myself and wondering whether a combined 50/50 fridge-freezer would be better (using the fridge for things like extra fresh foods, drinks for gatherings etc, bulky stuff like the turkey at Christmas etc).

What do you think?

We have a spare fridge. It is a godsend. I can see the massive advantage of an extra freezer if you want to store a lot of food but I always fear how vulnerable it is if you put most of your food storage in it.

I have two fridge freezers. The one in the kitchen is the one we use on a day to day basis, the one in the utility room has batch cooked food, extra frozen veg, portioned up meat/fish, ice cream etc. The fridge section keeps all the condiments/chutneys we don't use regularly as well as drinks. At first I thought about just getting a freezer for the utility as I didn't think we would use the fridge but we use it a lot more than I imagined. At Christmas and birthdays it will get used more for storing puddings etc

Thank you both - I am quite torn now. The chaos of the fridge at Christmas and party time, or even when we have friends and family visiting reminds me how valuable a well-organised and spacious fridge is. I may have to canvass my DH for an opinion to break the deadlock...

We have one big tall fridge in the kitchen and a separate tall freezer in the utility room. Works for us!

Yeh.fridge freezer all the way

We have a tall fridge and a freezer, and bought a combined fridge/freezer for the garage. It’s a godsend. We use it for drinks during summer, and just basically extra food or food that takes up space. Should have bought it years ago!

We also have a lot of berries in the extra freezer, and again things that take up more space.

I have an extra freezer as we only have space for an under counter type. I would get a spare fridge freezer if I had space. It is more flexible. and if one went wrong, you have the opportunity to shift your really expensive stuff to the working one. (meat etc)

When I was cooking for seven people, I had two fridges and two freezers. Don't remember it being a problem filling them - I suspect whichever you choose, you'll use it. Now, there are only four adults, and I can't justify the (rising) energy costs, but it's definitely freezer space that's premium in this house.

I have our old American style fridge freezer in the pantry (which I use for a wine fridge) plus a chest freezer. I don’t struggle to fill them. I like being able to keep a high level of food and drink in the house .

I was just going to decommission the extra tall freezer we got during 2020 because of the electricity I assume it eats. Also, I think we may be heading for power cuts in winter and at that point the spare freezer becomes a liability rather than a safety net.