Would you rather have an upright freezer or a second refridgerator?

[one l michele]

This would be for a family of 5, I can't decide. I see myself using both, but have to start with one or the other. We do all of the holiday hosting and have food allergy issues.

[Jennifer in NH]

we actually have both. We are a family of 5. That being said, the extra refridgerator only gets plugged in around Christmas time for about 2 weeks. The upright freezer I don't ever wabt to live without!

[Mekanamom]

Both... sort of. We have our regular fridge/freezer, an upright freezer, and one of those little half sized fridges for drinks. (Yes, we do often fill it with sodas. But it would be helpful for pitchers of juice, iced tea, and gallons of milk as well. Those things take up a lot of space in the fridge! ;))

If I had to pick just one of the extras, I'd pick the freezer.

[WTMindy]

because I freeze lots of fruits and veggies in the summer to use all winter! I love our freezer.

[KIN]

We have an upright freezer and will never be without one. We buy a 1/4 of a beef at a time, as well as 20lbs. of chicken at a time, freeze various types of fruit, freeze homemade applesauce, freeze homegrown corn, homemade jam, make several loaves of bread at a time and freeze that, umm, last week I found a great deal on organic yogurt and stocked up and froze that. :) I've thought about an extra fridge, but it wouldn't get plugged in very often here! We have 6 in our family.

[Whisperlily]

I'd say freezer, too. My thought is that the food in a refrigerator is there to maintain freshness for a relatively short amount of time. Wouldn't I rather go to the store a little more often so the food is truly fresh rather than storing refrigerator items until they're past their prime?

[siloam]

This would be for a family of 5, I can't decide. I see myself using both, but have to start with one or the other. We do all of the holiday hosting and have food allergy issues.

This is funny because I also have both, and I use the refrigerators more than the freezer. Just keeping us in Milk can be interesting.

But I don't can, buy meat in bulk, have a husband who hunts, so pretty much the only think in the Freezer is bread and a few frozen foods that won't fit in the main fridge.

Heather

[Jennifer in MI]

We have an upright freezer and will never be without one. We buy a 1/4 of a beef at a time, as well as 20lbs. of chicken at a time, freeze various types of fruit, freeze homemade applesauce, freeze homegrown corn, homemade jam, make several loaves of bread at a time and freeze that, umm, last week I found a great deal on organic yogurt and stocked up and froze that. :) I've thought about an extra fridge, but it wouldn't get plugged in very often here! We have 6 in our family.

Hey!! You can freeze yogurt??? I didn't know that! Anyway, we also have an upright freezer and it is FULL most of the time. I use it to stock up on sale items - meat, cheese, milk, veggies, etc. Next year I hope to pick my own blueberries to freeze.

KIN - I wonder if we have some of the same sources for chicken? My dad gets organic chicken from an Amish farmer in MI for $5/chicken. He buys 75 at a time and splits it up among all of our siblings.

It is wonderful for when we have guests. I can freeze the meals and get them out later.

[Amy in NH]

Freezer, without a doubt. We had an extra upright freezer (aside from our regular fridge) where we rented for 5 years, and now I don't think I could live without a full upright freezer.

[KIN]

Yes, you can freeze yogurt. :) My boys even like to eat it partially frozen. We buy our meat, cheese and chicken from a place here in Shipshewana. All of the meat is grown locally, hormone and antibiotic free. While not totally organic, I feel good about the choice. I also buy hormone free cheese there by the brick, shred and freeze it too. :) What would I do without a freezer???

[Peek a Boo]

family of 7 here--yet another vote for a freezer!

yes, a second fridge that had regular width shelves [as opposed to this darn side by side] would be WONDERFUL, but I am really liking the ice and water dispenser. besides, this fridge came w/ the house, so we didn't hafta buy it, lol.

I do keep lots of stuff in our freezer --Ice Cream. B/S chicken breast that we get in 40# boxes from the Pilgrim's Pride plant in Dallas --about $50 a box. I usually get two. Lots of frozen veggies. strawberries for smoothies [icky story there] . Frozen pizzas. Ice Cream. taquitos. lasagnas. corn dogs. beef hot dogs when they are on sale. other meats when dh buys them on sale. Ice cream. extra ice for parties. frozen water bottles for park days [including a frozen gallon jug for extra hot Texas days]. and don't forget the popsicles!!! did I mention ice cream??:cool:

i also keep other stuff in there - like flour, sugar, and dog treats in bulk- to keep the bugs out of them. ugh. I hate bugs.

[fiddledeedee]

There's only 4 of us, and I can keep my freezer fairly full. It saves money to be able to stock up on things that are on sale. Pork chops are 89 cents a lb this week! You get to buy a couple turkeys when they're cheap, we buy chicken breasts in 20 lb boxes from our grocery store when they are on sale. Frozen veggies, several ice cream flavors, juice concentrate, freezer jam, bread, homemade spaghetti sauce, leftovers, homemade pancakes, bulk yeast, etc.

You're used to one little freezer, you wonder what you'd put in a big one, but once you know you have the room, it's scary how fast you can fill it! Now that I have one, I don't know how on earth people can only have the little one over the fridge. Both of mine are always filled.

HTH!
fiddledeedee

[Amy in Orlando]

We have both, but if I had to choose, I'd pick the upright freezer.

[Mrs. Readsalot]

Mainly becasue we have a side by side frig and freezer and lots of things don't fit in the freezer well.

[Marie in Oh]

and use them for different reasons. Meat (1/2 of a side of beef and half a pig at a time) and veggies from our garden, and bread, etc, goes in the freezer.

Milk, large pans of left overs, other drinks, and food prep for large meals go in the extra fridge.

I would go w/o the fridge before the freezer.