As we talk about all things chilly and frozen this month, we're wondering how many of you have an extra freezer (maybe one of those big chests in the garage?) to store batches of homemade ice cream, bags of frozen berries, and containers of tomato sauce or jam.
We'd say our freezer is average or above average size for New York City, but it can get full pretty quickly, especially if we're storing our ice cream maker bowl in there. If you're freezing produce to save for the winter, you can run out of room—fast.
For some reason, a second freezer (especially freezer chests) remind us of an older generation. Our grandmother always had a second freezer in the back of the house, full of casseroles and sauces and frozen vegetables from her garden.
Maybe some of you are lucky enough...
Related: From the Files: Recipes that Freeze Well
(Image: Flickr member ValetheKid, licensed for use under Creative Commons)

Comments (24)
I wish I had a second freezer. Doesn't need to be huge, something small (3 to 5 cu. ft.) that is the same height as a countertop so it does double duty would be perfect. Because with the meat from my CSA, and all the frozen fruit and veggies, plus the homemade ice cream and bowl, my regular freezer is put together like a tetris game to fit everything! If I pull anything out, a delicate game of rearranging is necessary.
I hopefully will have one in the next couple of years. I have to make do for awhile b/c we have several other pressing repairs to do before we spend money on another appliance. And hopefully when I can replace my refrigerator with a counter depth one, the current fridge can go in the basement. I think the small freezer would be sufficient enough. Plus, the heat given off of the fridge will keep my basement warm enough thru the winter so the pipes don't freeze!
I'd be lost without my extra freezer. I cook a lot of things in big batches (soups, sauces etc.) and freeze a lot of fruits and veggies from my garden. It pays for itself with staples for quick meals without me having to rely on take out or commercially frozen stuff. (it's also good for freezing my hidden stash of dark chocolate.
i will hopefully be getting a freezer next month! with a baby on the way, i am getting more and more interested in making extra casseroles, etc that we can just heat and eat during the hectic months after baby joins us.
We live in a rental apartment with a standard fridge/freezer combo, but we definitely plan to get a chest freezer when we get our own place. I want to freeze fruits and veggies and get a side of beef.
Technically, I don't have more than one freezer (just a small one that I do daily battles with), but I just took over my parents' extra freezer in their basement that was not being used. Whenever I need something, I can either go pick up a few things, or my mom can drop it off at my aunt's home (who lives a few blocks from me) during her weekly Saturday morning visit. I am also about to take a shelf or two in my aunt's extra freezer. She has the room and is more than happy to share it.
I wish I had my own, but this will have to do for now. At least now I can take advantage of fruits and vegetables when they are in season...and when things go on sale.
I got lucky and a friend gave me his old freezer when he bought a new one. It lives in my basement. My husband smokes meat and makes stock, so we are very happy to have it.
When we bought a new fridge for our rental, the landlord suggested instead of hauling the old one away that he had provided, we stow the old one in the basement. The small old fridge/freezer is great in summer to store an ice cream bowl and stuff. Around the holidays when I buy and cook ahead, it's a lifesaver.
My grandparents had a second freezer that they willed to mother. It has and always will store nothing more than the bounty of September's New Mexico Green Chile Harvest.
We have a small, older freezer that is a lifesaver. It is packed solid with everything from meat, nuts, bread, frozen appetizers, and pie crusts. I really need to defrost it though.
we have a large standing freezer...my partner picked it up at a kitchen supply store, and this sucker has so much room you could feed 3 or 4 families out of it.
i love it. utterly love it. i dont' know what i'd do without it, to be quite honest!
I wish. We have the room.
We have two refrigerators (and two kitchens!) right now, since the house we bought used to be divided into two apartments and we haven't yet been able to finish renovations to convert it back to a single family home. Before we bought this house I had already purchased a smallish used chest freezer and we also have that in one of the kitchens. I use them all! Especially now that I've started making homemade chicken stock, buying extra of good deals at the store, and plan on freezing summer fruit.
When I was younger my parents had a huge chest freezer (the kind you could put a body in--creepy) that was kept in an old building at the back of the hotel property we managed. I hated having to walk back there in the dark to get things but it sure was handy to have.
My parents have two, a little one above the refrigerator in the kitchen and a full size up-right freezer in the laundry room. It was awesome having two freezers growing up. My parents would buy a whole side of beef and we could preserve our garden vegetables. Since there was was six of us in one house, it was also pretty sustainable.
We bought a new fridge a year or so ago when we found a good deal - thinking that ours was on its last leg. We moved the old one into the garage to be a "beer cooler", and I LOVE having the extra freezer space out there. 18 months later, and the old fridge is still running - and now I don't ever want it to stop.
Both my grandmothers (even the one who doesn't really cook), my mother, and my sister all have two freezers. The grandmother who cooks, though, has two extra freezers, one upright and one giant chest in the basement. Both are packed.
I can't wait to have a bigger kitchen. I feel like a slacker with just the one freezer. ;)
http://www.abreadaday.com
we like in < 900sq feet but we do have a seperate freezer in a bedroom. We feed our dogs raw food and use this freezer exclusively for the dogs.
we were at sears last weekend checking out freezers. we'd have to keep ours in the carport outside, but i think it would still be wonderful for buying meat in bulk and freezing yummy summer produce.
I agree with the others who have said that it reminds them of their grandparents, as both sets of my grandparents also have a separate freezer. My Grandma actually has a full freezer right next to her fridge in the kitchen, with another fridge/freezer and pantry for produce and canned goods. While we don't have one, we're across the street from my Grandmother, and we keep our ice cream maker base in her spare freezer.
Just want to add my tally to the "No, but I want one."
Same as above. I don't have any room since I live in an apartment, but once I have a larger place, a second freezer is a must.
I'm an apartment dweller, but we planned out space to include a chest freezer. I don't know what we would do without it! We've got frozen fruit for smoothies, chicken/fish/pork chops/shrimp, homemade Chinese dumplings by the hundreds, pasta frozen in one serving batches, etc. Up here in upstate NY, it's really important to not have to go buy fresh groceries every few days or even every week when the snow is up to your waist.
Only three separate freezers (two for me and one I use for my pet).
Byron
We have a small chest freezer that we bought when my twins were in the hospital's NICU. I was pumping so much breastmilk that we had run out of space in our freezer, the NICU freezer and freezer space at a friend's place.
Two Plus years later we use it for homemade ice cream (the irony!), bulk meats, soups, frozen croquettes, etc.