Stand up freezers. Frost free or not?

I prefer a not-frost-free freezer for our secondary freezer (where we store large quantities of meats, etc.). The temperature cycling of frost-free freezers shortens the time things are preserved at optimal quality. Frost-free is great for in the kitchen when you’re going through everything in the freezer relatively quickly, but not ideal for longer term storage.

I agree with Busy, not frost free.
Jen

Not frost free. Make sure it has a lock and lock it every time to reduce frost. My friend lost a whole freezer of food when a kid didn't close it or it popped open after being shut. Our freezer got some frost in it when the door was locked but didn't close all the way because a box was in the way. We didn't lose all the food though because the door was barely open. I use pans of hot water, a hair dyer (be careful not to get hairdryer wet from drips), and plenty of towels to sop up the melted water to defrost my freezer and it doesn't take that long. I usually only have to do it once a year or 1 1/2 years.

Wow! I had no idea no frost is the way to go. I don't expect my frost free upright to last much longer ( it's 11 years old) I'll keep this in mind. Thanks!!

Interesting... we have two uprights in our basement, one of each. I have never noticed a difference in noise, but they are in a part of the basement that is unfinished and also has the furnace which makes plenty of noise on its own. Even with 2, I don't think that we store things long enough to affect the food quality. A year or two maybe, but not planning for the apocalypse here. I will be the dissenter....I personally hate the one that frosts. It might just be some of the features of our particular one that I hate, but nonetheless if we were to downsize it would be the first to go no doubt.

We have a non-front free one, but mainly because it was the one DH wanted. We did not research other than what was on sale. That being said, we really like it!

We have an upright frost free. It's noisy, but not too bad being that it's in the basement and we can't really hear it. Frost free can result in meats drying out, but manual defrost freezers can result in frost damage. Personally, I can't imagine trying to defrost a freezer that size.

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I regret getting a frost free for the long term storage last time around. Defrosting a freezer a couple times a year isn't difficult if you get into a routine. It also encourages you to use stuff up and inventory. The quality goes way down quickly in the frost free.

I’m with you!! We just replaced our 14 year old frost free upright with with another frost free, no way would I deal with that mess! It’s in the garage but I never noticed it being noisy. Not the Kenmore and not this one either.