Why You Need A Chest Freezer

As a professional gear tester, my kitchen (and basement…and floors, if I’m honest) fills up fast with gizmos and gadgets. All of this testing also ends up stocking my larder with the various foods required to evaluate said equipment. For example, when I tested petty knives I had to mince a ton of shallots (I’m still finding bags tucked away in my freezer), while cleavers involved cutting up bone-in chicken breasts, and my review of the Traeger Ironwood XL meant I was eating ribs for weeks. Combined with my proclivity for impulse buying (hello discounted turkey from the day after Thanksgiving) and you can see how this is a storage nightmare. Enter my chest freezer, which lets me stash racks of ribs, chicken, and even minced vegetables from knife testing. It helps prevent my rather small main freezer from overflowing, and mitigates food waste—and it can help you, dear reader, do these things, too.

What’s a Chest Freezer Good For?

I don’t know about you, but my bottom freezer is, well, quite small and fills up quickly. Enter the chest freezer, which opens from the top and comes in a variety of sizes. Rather obviously, chest freezers are great for food storage, but they especially come in handy when you’re hosting. Ever bought a massive turkey or ham, returned home, and thought, where the heck am I going to put this? A chest freezer answers that question. It’s also just nice not to have your main freezer packed to the brim.

As far as where to put the chest freezer, I have a mud room that I keep mine in, but you can also stash it in your garage or basement like people often do with extra refrigerators. Just keep an eye on it if it gets really cold out (since, ironically, the cold is bad for freezers and can actually cause them to shut off ), and give it a regular cleaning to prevent ice buildup. 

What’s the Best Chest Freezer?

While we haven’t formally tested chest freezers, I quite like my 5-cubic foot Magic Chef freezer, which is just the right size for my two-person household (it’s also fairly affordable, with the current price at $190). However, you can find freezers as large as 16 cubic feet (and even bigger), though these are mostly used by avid hunters or industrial kitchens. Something to remember beyond capacity is where you want to keep it and the color—I have a white freezer that shows grime, especially where I grab the lid to open it. A black freezer might be a better option if you’re concerned about aesthetics. The chest freezer should be easy to use, and the lid should stay up so you can rummage around. I will note that because you’re reaching down into the freezer, it can be difficult to find things, as stuff tends to get buried. 

How to Use a Chest Freezer

Well, duh, you might think—you freeze things in it. But over the years I’ve learned some practical tips for storing stuff in the freezer, especially a chest freezer, which is prone to becoming a black hole for frozen goods. Here are a few tips:

• Act like a chef and label and date everything (you can write directly on freezer storage bags or label something with freezer tape)—that way you’ll know what that baggie of freezer-burned mystery meat is, and if it’s time to toss it. 
• If you can, try to be strategic about organizing stuff in it; this could be as simple as placing bigger stuff at the bottom and smaller stuff at the top. 
• Finally, don’t be like me and avoid confronting the inevitable task of cleaning your freezer—ice buildup can warm it up, leading to smells and potentially spoiled food. 

FAQs

What’s the best way to clean a chest freezer?

Sadly, you’ll have to empty it out—so I recommend either eating away at the food in it or transferring it to your main freezer. Then, unplug the freezer and let it thaw out—if you have a lot of ice buildup, you might want to take it outside or place it on a plush towel. Once it’s thawed, dry it off and use cleaning spray and a rag or towel to sanitize and clean it. 

What size chest freezer is best?

It depends on your needs, but for a two-person household, my five-cubic food freezer is more than enough.

Why We’re the Experts

• Grace Kelly has been a commerce editor for Serious Eats since 2022.
• Prior to this, she worked at America’s Test Kitchen, where she reviewed gear and organized taste tests.
• She’s reviewed hundreds of products and conducted dozens of taste tests, and a chest freezer is essential to her job. She’s had hers since 2021.