Chest vs Upright Freezer: Which One Holds a Season of Meat Better?

For storing a season of venison, buy a chest. On the numbers the makers publish, the 14 cu ft Hamilton Beach chest is labeled at 282 kWh a year; ENERGY STAR lists the same-size BLACK+DECKER upright series at 396. The chest also has a written garage rating, and a chest holds a little more meat per cubic foot. Buy the upright only if frost-free convenience and shelf-level access are worth roughly 114 extra kWh a year to you, or if you simply don't have the floor space.

We haven't run these two freezers against each other. This comparison uses the EnergyGuide label, the ENERGY STAR database, both owner's manuals and the makers' product pages, all linked below.

Side by side

Sources: the Hamilton Beach owner's manual and EnergyGuide label; the BLACK+DECKER product page, instruction manual and the ENERGY STAR database. ENERGY STAR lists the stainless-look BUC1400XS rather than the black XB we link to; BLACK+DECKER sells them as color versions of one series.

Energy: the chest wins, and it isn't close

ENERGY STAR's freezer page gives the category averages: a certified chest freezer uses about 215 kWh a year, a certified upright about 395. It also says manual-defrost freezers use half the energy of automatic-defrost models, provided you defrost them. Our two 14 cu ft examples line up with that pattern: 282 kWh for the manual-defrost chest, 396 for the frost-free upright, a gap of 40%.

Two caveats. First, the frost-free upright never needs a defrost weekend, and that is real labor saved. Second, not every upright is frost free. Hamilton Beach's own 11 cu ft upright (HBFRF1100) is manual defrost and labeled 282 kWh a year, the same figure as the 14 cu ft chest for about 3 cu ft less space. Its seven clear drawers give you upright-style access, but its manual asks you to defrost once or twice a year, so you give up the main reason people buy an upright.

Capacity: same number, different meat

The Good Meat Project says a cubic foot realistically holds 20-25 lb of meat and that an upright holds slightly less than a chest. It doesn't quantify "slightly," and neither will we. But the reasons are visible in the spec table: shelves, door bins and the air gap in front of each shelf all take space that a chest fills with packages.

Where the upright wins is access. In a chest, the package you want is always under the one you don't. In an upright, every shelf is at eye level, and door bins hold the jerky meat and sausage you pull weekly. If you do go chest, a basket-and-bin system claws most of that back. See how to organize a chest freezer.

Garage use: read both manuals

The Hamilton Beach manual's spec table rates the chest for surroundings from 0°F to 110°F. BLACK+DECKER's product page calls the upright "garage ready (only in freezer mode)," yet the install section of the BUC1400X manual also says the freezer is "not designed to operate in temperature setting below 55°F." Those two statements don't sit comfortably together, so if the upright is headed for a cold garage, ask BLACK+DECKER which one governs before you buy. ENERGY STAR recommends keeping any freezer indoors unless you live in a mild climate.

Floor space and power outages

The chest needs about 54.6 × 28.2 in of floor and 57.24 in of height with the lid open. The upright needs 28 × 27.9 in of floor, roughly half, plus room for the door to swing. If your freezer spot is a tight corner of the basement, the upright may be the only one that fits.

In an outage, the USDA says a full freezer keeps food frozen for about two days with the door shut, and a half-full one about a day. It draws no line between chest and upright, so the practical rule is the same for both: keep it full and keep it closed.

Chest or upright, season by season

• 1-2 deer: the freezer is small enough that access barely matters. A 7 cu ft chest holds 2.7-3.4 average deer, and at this size the chest's lower energy use and lower height make it the easy call.
• 3-5 deer: the real decision point. Five average deer need 10.4-13.1 cu ft, so either layout works at 14 cu ft. The chest stores more and runs cheaper; the upright is kinder to a bad back.
• 6+ deer or a half beef: chest. Six average deer need 12.5-15.7 cu ft, and the Good Meat Project's note that an upright holds slightly less starts to cost you whole deer at this size.

One arrangement worth considering if you have the room: a chest in the basement for the season's bulk, and an upright, or the freezer above the kitchen fridge, for the next two weeks' packages. It is the same logic as a pantry and a cupboard, and it means the chest lid only opens when you restock.

Choose the chest if, choose the upright if

Choose the chest if you are storing a season of venison or a side of beef, the freezer goes in a garage, or running cost matters. At 14 cu ft it covers 5.4-6.7 average deer; for six or more deer or a half beef, step up to the 16.2 cu ft chest in the chest freezer ranking.

Choose the upright if you pull from the freezer daily, you hate defrosting, floor space is tight, or bending into a chest is hard on your back. Accept the higher energy figure and plan on slightly less meat per cubic foot.

Either way, work out your size first. The deer-by-deer table is in how much freezer space a deer takes.