I will never, ever have a chest freezer again, but we do have a large, self-defrosting, energy star-rated, upright freezer in the basement. Between my garden produce and Wes getting so much game and fish, I wish now we had gotten the even larger model.

When I need to replenish the fridge's smaller freezer, Wes goes downstairs and "shops" the big freezer. It has shelves, pull-out basket-drawers, and cubbies on the door. It is very convenient, easy to label and inventory, and nothing gets buried or hidden.

If for some reason he wasn't able to up and down the stairs, we would have it moved upstairs into the mud room since there absolutely no where to put it in the kitchen.

Mine is in the garage - no room in the kitchen. At the last house it was in the laundry room. It's a chest freezer and it was a great workspace for folding clothes.

Mine is in my DR. The kitchen/DR/LR are open plan so easy to walk over and grab something. Our DR is a former bedroom and had one of those miniscule 3' closets - perfect for a small upright frost-free freezer!

Mine is in the shop. Also brand new energy star frost free. LOVE it. But I did just take the dryer out of the laundry room. I know I am weird like that. I totally prefer the lines to dry my clothes even in winter. I could put it there but I also like the table I put in there to feed kitties on and hide litter box under. All is good in the pyle laundry room now I have it as I always wanted it. Hubby insisted on a dryer I almost never used. Also added a drinking fountain for the kitties on the table and more plants. Imagine that!!!

Great advice by all. NEVER in the kitchen - it's for "extras".

I love having my freezer in the kitchen. I'm trying to make space for a pantry to put it in, but so far haven't been able to rearrange the space. Our garage is also our woodshop, so way too dusty for that kind of appliance.

Anglophilia, I disagree strongly with you.
I currently live in an apartment, and insist on having a full size upright in my kitchen. I'll also have a 2nd full size freezer in the basement.
Why?
I grew up in a rural setting, and will be moving back to a rural setting shortly.
Even in the 'big city', meat prices have been varying widely. I buy on sale, and defrost daily what I need to eat. It works great, especially when I garden and add frozen veggies to the freezer, too.

Oh, and I make 3 stockpots of soup at a time! Which means it's 2 steps to put 2 dozen (or more!) containers of frozen soup away, rather than trucking downstairs to a far-off freezer while holding boiling hot/frozen soups. (The basement freezer will be overflow).

I don't think I've gone a day in 35 years where my mother didn't send me to the freezer for something, or where I haven't reached for something myself. I hated going to the basement for frozen food as a child, and I sure as heck ain't doing it now that I'm an adult!

when I had a freezer I kept it in my carport. If I get another one day I would put it in my cellar.

lookintomyeyes, we are the same way. My chest freezer is for meat and my upright for everything else. I probably get into the freezer 3 or 4 times a day. But I also don't have a freezer section in my current fridge.

Missouribound your built in fridge and freezer are really lovely in your kitchen now and you had the space for both. They look more like one unit than most of us think of as a freezer in the kitchen elephant in the room thing. I remember that big project of yours getting it to look so nice. I also must have a freezer and buy meat on sale to stock up. And I loved shopping the freezer. I do have a top freezer on my fridge so that helps me to usually only make one trip a week.

Where we lived before it was 160 steps out to the shop for the freezer and that was a long way to go lugging things to and from it. I did not enjoy that especially in winter. Pros and cons to having it both ways.

Since I have moved the front porch furniture to the carport for a shady patio next summer I could move the freezer to the front porch. And this just popped into my brain and might do this. Of course I would need help for this. But the proch gets very hot so might be hard on the freezer??? I would also need some electrical work done for the front porch to plug it in. But then I could put the dryer in the shop with 220 added out there and still keep it if I ever needed it. Thoughts to ponder. I do plan on keeping the dryer over winter stored in the shop to be sure I can get by with out it.

My upright freezer is 'round the corner in the garage. If space had permitted, I'd have put it in the mudroom.

Am I the only one without a separate freezer of any kind? I am not a foodie, although my DH definitely is. With only us two old farts here, we do not need to stockpile things which can be purchased two miles down the road with no problem. Our problem of power outages is ended, now that we have a whole house natural gas generator. Man, that is a blessing! I've had to cook the entire contents of a freezer before due to power outages following hurricanes. And when the weather is blazing hot and no a/c to be had, you are not really hungry.

IF I wanted to have one, and if i had room for one, it would be like the one on a paddlewheeler yacht I worked on way back when. (I was the chef.) The refrigerator and the freezer were side by side with glass doors, I think commercial units. Really neat. They looked like one unit actually.

In my remodel, I briefly considered locating a freezer where it would not be seen from the front of the house (we now have an open dining/kitchen), in what is an "L" shape area of the new addition. But, that was not big enough after I located my baking area and toaster oven and pet food etc. Maybe in the future I would add a freezer in my Teahouse, now full up with stored items and not cleared out for my studio and my parrot and my sewing. Keeping bird food in the freezer is a good idea to keep down the little moths, you know.

It occurs to me that placing a freezer in a confined space like a closet may require ventilation. At least a vented doorway, perhaps a louvered door for full air circulation, or an a/c vent inside that closet. Keep it in mind anyway.

Upright freezer is in the garage

Next door in the farmhouse...well, you asked. (LOL) But our mudroom is so small it was either pantry or freezer storage and we decided pantry was more important.

ML, does your whole house generator power your central a/c? What brand is it? We want to put one in our next place. We have power outages here all the time. Last one was yesterday, for 4.5 hours. We were just getting the generator out when the power came back on. These power outages are really hard on the appliances too.

I guess we are foodies. Or maybe just cheapskates. Our last side of beef was $3.50 per pound at a time when even hamburger was over $4 per pound, and t-bones were out of sight. Plus, I like knowing what has gone into my meat. Once we have moved, it will be grass fed only, with no hormones or unnecessary antibiotics. Of course if 2017 (that's his name) gets sick, he will have to have shots.

Shades, thank you. We finally finished the kitchen last month. Can you believe it?

I don't have a freezer other than the little one with the fridge. had one yrs ago when kids growing up and it was wonderful. didn't see the need anymore to keep hauling it with me after they were gone.

I have thought about getting a small upright (table top size). that'd be good to keep some extra things stashed for when I don't get out to the store. or when a sale comes around. It'd live in the mud/laundry room. I don't eat much meat. I had a steak last week (over 3 days) - haven't had one in probably 20 yrs. it did taste good. I go thru maybe a lb of grnd chuck and 2 chicken breasts every 2 months or so. a bit for soup, a bit for chili, a meatloaf (patties for me), a few burgers w/fried onion.

it would be nice to be able to have extra ravioli dinners (WW), veggies, ice cream etc on hand. I do like to freeze soup in containers - that takes up space. and frozen Ream noodles.

Steph, if I were single, I wouldn't have a freezer either. In fact, if I were single, I'd probably be vegan.

Since I am almost a total carnivore and live 42 miles round trip to the grocery store. I must have my freezer. I also seriously shop the sales and freeze butter and cheese when I can get it on sale. I grew up with a freezer and always had one in my adult life. I even had a freezer when I did not have a dryer. I do not mind walking to it though. I have learned to grab some thing from the freezer on trips in from doing some thing else. Just did it last night taking some thing out to the garage and bringing in meat on my way back.

"freeze butter and cheese when I can get it on sale"

how does that work out? I've never frozen those! do you freeze shredded cheese? I need a better grater so have been buying pre-shredded lately... I do need to get to BBB and look for a decent grater - large size. or a new 'chopper' contraption.

since I don't use much meat I figure buying those larger pks would be more waste to me... it'd get freezer burn before I got around to eating it. buying enough for 6-8 wks has been working out. but the other frozen things... like Pepperidge farm apple turnovers, quiche, misc veggies, onion rings, WW ravioli dinners, frozen rice w/veggies (to which I add chopped chicken), ice cream - those are why I need more room! plus space to put containers of soup, chili, spaghetti sauce, spaghetti etc.

A regular upright wouldn't be worth running and I don't want to defrost the other kind. besides, i'd probably fall into it... but I did see some small uprights somewhere online (HD, lowes, best buys?). they cost about as much as a small regular upright but take up less space and (of course) are much smaller - could be put on a table top, so I wouldn't be bending down to get things in/out. about 300$ or so. I'd have to save up for it. I'd have room for one since I don't have (or plan to get) a dryer.

I really need to clean out my little top freezer tho and see if I can manage to organize it better before I put out $s for a larger freezer. will probably do that when it cools down outside.

"it will be grass fed only, with no hormones or unnecessary antibiotics"

is grass fed the better option? I listened to a neurologist on a tv show the other wk telling about how all disease starts in the intestines - where antibiotics kill off the good bacteria and allow the bad ones to grow and flourish. A Sprout's opened up close to me ('in town') and I've been thinking maybe I should buy my chicken/meat there and get antibiotic free - even if it costs more.

we've been eating this STUFF for decades and feeding it to our kids and then wonder what's wrong with everyone. not even to mention the crud put into our minds thru tv/movies/music/other media. I find very little on tv I can watch anymore... (so shopping channels, hgtv etc became a staple). haven't been to a movie in over 5 yrs. last one was about a firehouse dog. that's my type of movie...

1. In our new home we had our small chest freezer in the garage close to the entry door for convenience. We are a retired couple and also have a large freezer in our French door fridg. We found we didn't have to get stuff from the chest freezer very often so we moved it to the basement to free up garage space.

Steph if you freeze blocks of cheese you no longer need a grater. They crumble when defrosted. I just use my fork to scrape some off to use in an omelet. I also try to save some blocks of cheese not frozen for slicing. They use a starch in grated cheese to keep it from clumping. I can not eat this starch so I never buy already grated cheese.

Freezing butter has no issues at all. Just let it set in the fridge for a day and it is defrosted. If you want soft butter leave it out of the fridge. Defrosting frozen butter happens really fast.

"if you freeze blocks of cheese you no longer need a grater"

great! and that's awesome that it 'grates' itself! I mostly use it for on omelets and a bit on a salad. and I slice some up for a grilled cheese. But having some in the freezer for when I run out would be a great plus! and yikes! the last thing I need to have more of is starch. I'd rather have my starch in the form of a potato or spaghetti!

the butter will be great too - I usually only use that in baking. otherwise, I get a tub of whipped butter for toast etc. Having some in the freezer if I get the urge to bake something will be good. I limit my trips out to usually twice a week and in the future, who knows? it might go down to once a week.

is grass fed the better option?

That's what they say. They say that cattle do not normally graze on grain, but I remember as a child that the neighbor's cow would much rather be munching on the corn in the next field than the grass in her field. So I really don't know. I do know that I won't be able to afford grain, so I am going to find out why they say grass is so much better and promote that platform. lol

Anglophilia, you say it runs two HVAC units. Is that electric central A/C or just heat?

My heat is gas with fans powered by electricity, and my AC is run by electricity. Yes, the generator powers it all. My house has about 2800 sq ft. I think my generator and installation (lots of electrical, new circuit box etc) was about $9000 six years ago. My don in CT got one about the same time, but there's was powered by propane, and their house had 6400 sq ft and multiple HVAC zones. It cost $12,000 but only powered part of the house.

Frozen butter might separate a bit when it thaws. If it's only been frozen a month or two it might be OK. I've had long term frozen butter not make such great cookies. I ate them anyway. Grass fed meat is better for YOU not necessarily the cow.

ImHappy I have never had that issue with butter being frozen then separating when thawed. I just bought 8 pounds of it on sale and I am sure it will be in the freezer awhile. But then I am not baking cookies with it either.

I've never had a problem with it separating either. I always freeze my butter.

Lookintomyeyes, do you put items straight into the freezer which are that hot? Does it seem to be okay? I have been told to let foods cool first as that much heat causes freezer to work very hard and could cause other foods in the vicinity warming up more than is desired.

Chest freezer kept in garage. In Texas, so want as few heat producing appliances in house as possible.

That's true Lucille. And yet, a freezer in the garage has to work twice as hard to keep cool too. It's just a no-win in Texas.

It's way beyond my budget, but last week I looked at this cottage with a brilliantly arranged super-tiny kitchen where they managed to fit everything in, although you'd have to be careful carrying wide loads of laundry to the washer in the garage through this space:

That's a Frigidaire counter-depth all fridge/freezer duo in the first photo. The actual kitchen is very small (wide angle lens for the photos), but has everything you could want.

It looks like a pretty big kitchen. I just hate wide angle distortion, but I know I'd hate just seeing a little snip of this and a snip of that too. I adore that wall of floor to ceiling cabinets.

I think it's 6-1/2 or 7 x 10 including the attic stairs, so it's not teeny tiny, but not huge, either. There are lots of houses in this area from this era with this kitchen but they did a far better job of making it feel spacious and useful than the others. Here's a flip with the same basic kitchen:

And yeah, I've been looking at another house where I could double the number of base cabinets by going down to a 24" range, all the way from one cabinet to two, whoohoo! I've lived with smaller kitchens than this, but I think they did a super job of making a small kitchen live large.