Smiling woman putting leftovers in a container

Food waste is a pretty significant yet preventable issue occurring in the United States.

In fact, did you know that the average American family of four throws out $1,600 a year in produce? That’s a lot of unnecessary money and food right down the drain. Whether it’s making a little extra dinner and not having enough room to store everything properly or maybe just needing a large enough area to place the appetizers for your next event, getting strategic with space is a crucial part of keeping food for longer and preventing wastage.

The good thing is, this dilemma doesn’t need to be complicated—having a backup chest freezer or refrigerator in your garage will help when you’re lacking room in the house so that you can continue to preserve food for longer. Of course, that’s not the only good reason to own these appliances.

If you like stocking up on food, meal prep, buying meat in bulk, or just ensuring you always have that additional supply of cookie dough ice cream in case you run out, there are so many incentives for owning a garage fridge or freezer.

If you’ve been considering purchasing an upright freezer, a chest freezer, or a second refrigerator for your garage, this is the guide for you!

Food Preservation

Spoiled food is a way of the past—it’s time to start preserving food the proper way with these common methods:

Chilling—When your food is chilled, the growth of bacteria is slowed down. Chill your food with a refrigerator by setting the temperature no higher than 40° Fahrenheit.
Freezing—When your food is frozen, the bacteria stops growing altogether which means food could be good for an indefinite amount of time! While that may be the case, the food will still deteriorate in quality over time, so it’s best to throw things out after being frozen for a maximum of a year. Your freezer should be set to no higher than 0° Fahrenheit to ensure frozen perfection.
Salting—Salting is a very old but efficient method of preserving food. By salting, moisture is drawn out of the food and bacteria growth slows down so you can keep it for longer.
Canning—When you put food in an acidic, salty, or sugary container where no oxygen can get in, bacteria has a hard time surviving in this type of canning environment.

Salting and canning are creative ways of food preservation, but we’ll mainly be looking at the simpler processes, like chilling and freezing with the assistance of an upright freezer, chest freezer, or garage fridge.

How Does Freezing Preserve Food?

In warm conditions, bacteria has the ability to grow at an alarming rate, so when you freeze food, it stops altogether. Freezing food keeps the bacteria at a standstill, ensuring that your food is safe to eat for up to a year!

How Long Does Freezing Food Preserve It?

Not all foods expire at the same time when stored in frigid temperatures, so it’s a good idea to look at each type of food individually to know how long is safe to freeze it. According to The National Center for Home Food Preservation the bulleted list below is the standard:

Fruits and Vegetables: 8-12 months
Poultry: 6-9 months
Fish: 3-6 months
Ground Meat: 3-4 months
Cured or Processed Meat: 1-2months

Meal Prep with a Freezer

Is one refrigerator’s freezer really enough when you are storing meal-prepped dishes in an already packed space with frozen foods from your last grocery run? Not if you want to do it right!

Don’t settle for less with a half freezer when you can cook pre-made meals at whatever size you want and can preserve them in a chest freezer or upright freezer.

Buying Considerations for a Garage Fridge or Freezer

Shopping for a garage freezer or fridge can be a tedious endeavor, but with the right knowledge in your back pocket, it won’t be so difficult. When it is time to peruse, keep these three things in mind while considering a purchase: size, cost, and organization options.

Are there a lot of people who live with you?

Do you often throw events with lots of food?

Do you and your household eat large amounts of meals?

Meat and cheese organized inside a refrigerator

These are all important questions to think about so that you can decide on the appropriate size chest/upright freezer or extra refrigerator for your home.

For example, we have chest freezers on the smaller side that come in 3.8 cu. ft. all the way up to larger ones that are 24.8 cu. ft.—and a variety of sizes in between. If you are unsure of how much those sizes can hold, a good rule of thumb is one cubic foot of freezer space can fit 35 to 40 pounds of meat. Of course, be sure to allow more space for all the oddly shaped packaging.

If you don’t need that much storage for frozen food, maybe you and your family would prefer a refrigerator for your garage where you can have more room for just chilling items. On the other hand, getting too big of either a refrigerator or freezer can be less energy efficient if you don’t fill it often. When there is less food to block the cold air in, opening its door will let a lot of the chill out, so choose one that will fit your lifestyle right!

If the price of your appliance is a major factor in your buy, a chest freezer will normally run less expensive than an upright freezer and usually even a refrigerator as well. For more information on specific prices, check out our catalog or give us a call!

Keeping your food and prepped meals organized can be overwhelming, unless you have the right storage for the job! In this case, refrigerators tend to be the top choice as far as organization goes because they tend to have drawers of different sizes, various compartments, and side bins for filling. Upright freezers and chest freezers may not have as sophisticated of a setup, but their blank canvas may inspire you to create your own system of organization.

Where You’ll Keep It

Maybe you’ve decided to finally take the plunge and get that chest freezer or upright freezer you’ve always wanted, but now you have an even bigger concern—where are you going to put it?

The answer is simple: your garage!

It may not seem like the most intuitive place to put an appliance, especially if you are placing leftovers in it, but these hefty refrigeration machines can withstand more extreme temperatures, so placing them in an indoor/outdoor setting like a garage works perfectly. They aren’t nicknamed garage freezers and fridges for nothing!

Refrigerators

You may be asking yourself, “Can I just put a normal fridge in the garage?” While yes, you can put a normal refrigerator in the garage, our experts wouldn’t recommend doing it if your garage ever gets below 50° Fahrenheit. Because of this you need a garage-friendly fridge such as the Gladiator refrigerator to handle the cold winter months and hot summer heat.

Freezers: Chest & Upright

When you want to store food for longer periods of time, a chest or upright freezer may be more up your alley than a garage fridge. Although they are most commonly set up in garages, you may also find that they do well in a laundry room, the basement, utility room, or even an outdoor shed.

Check out our catalog here for a more detailed look at each individual appliance to help you choose the best one for your home.

FAQ about Chest and Upright Freezers for the Garage

There’s a lot to learn about garage freezers and refrigerators, so we’ve provided answers to a few frequently asked questions regarding them below.

Can You Overfill a Chest Freezer?

When the lid on your chest freezer is struggling to close due to how much food is inside, then yes, it is overfilled.

But the truth is, a full chest freezer works more efficiently than one less full. The reason being that if you open your chest freezer often, the more packed the freezer is, the less likely cold air will escape. On the other hand, a chest freezer that is only partially full allows for better air circulation and keeps your condenser from burning out.

Unfortunately, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no.

How to Organize a Chest Freezer

stocked and organized chest freezer

One simple way to organize your chest freezer is by first grouping your frozen foods together in categories such as meats, vegetables, prepped meals, ice cream, or any other specific categories that work for you. Get a couple bins that fit in your chest freezer, label each one with a category, and place your groups into the appropriate bin.

You will most likely need to layer your bins, depending on the amount of food you have, but now you have a system that allows you to see everything and know exactly where everything is stored. Get even more organized with a printable freezer inventory!

How to Defrost a Chest Freezer

Woman taking food out of refrigerator or freezer

When you start to see frost building up on the sides of your chest freezer, that’s a good indication that it’s time to defrost it. Follow these steps as a simple guide for how to defrost your chest freezer:

Empty everything out and place into your refrigerator’s freezer or another freezer. You don’t want things to defrost, so plan out if you’ll need to fill a cooler with ice before starting this venture.
Unplug your chest freezer and keep the lid wide open.
Wait for all the ice to melt.
Wipe up any water and make sure it’s dry.
Put all the food away and don’t forget to plug it back in!

How do You Keep a Garage Fridge from Freezing?

This time of year in Washington is perfect for a garage fridge, but come winter, temperatures can get below freezing. If your garage goes below 50° Fahrenheit, there’s a chance that your refrigerated items may freeze and then thaw out as the temperatures rise. In order to prevent this, we suggest either heating your garage so it stays above 50° Fahrenheit, checking out our garage heater kits made to adapt to your current fridge, or consider a refrigerator that can handle extreme weather such as this Gladiator upright refrigerator.

Keys to Success

There are a few steps to take to ensure everything goes smoothly when you shop for a garage fridge or freezer.

1. Figuring out which style is right for your household

Chest freezer, upright? Just a fridge?

If you like to buy meat in bulk ... go with a chest freezer.
If you like more organization and functional space … go with an upright freezer.
If you need extra space for drinks, food for an upcoming event (birthday cake, tray of appetizers, etc.), and other items that don’t need to be frozen … go with a second fridge

2. Nice-to-have features

One of the best parts of a chest freezer and an upright freezer is their simplicity, but that doesn’t mean they are featureless. Refrigerators tend to differ in that way, having anything from smart home technology such as on this Samsung with Tuscan finish, and compartmental cooling like on this LG French door with humidity-controlled drawers, to just name a few.

As for garage freezers, there are a couple with features that we would highly recommend, such as the adjustable temperature control feature from this Frigidaire chest freezer which allows you to always keep your items at exactly the climate you need, and the door-ajar alarm on this Frigidaire upright freezer, ensuring you never make the mistake of leaving the door open again.

We know that it can get overwhelming looking through the features, so let us know what is important to you in your garage freezer or fridge and we will be happy to narrow down the search!

3. Using Chat or Phone to ask questions

If you happen to be perusing our website and have questions, we have a teal-colored chat icon in the right-hand corner that, once clicked, will open a small, rectangular window and allow you to talk with one of our store’s representatives.

After hours, the button changes to a letter icon that will allow you to fill out a short questionnaire complete with your name, email, phone number, and any questions you may have for us. If this is your preferred method of contacting us, sit back and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible the next work day!

Of course, you can always give us a call and we’ll be happy to speak with you over the phone regarding garage fridges and freezers! Want to know even more? Check out our two part refrigerator buying guide: Refrigerator Buying Guide part 1 and Refrigerator Buying Guide part 2.

Now that you have a better idea about what garage freezers and refrigerators are, take a look at our online catalog to find what you are looking for. If you have questions or just need a little assistance, give us a call today! Our Albert Lee appliance experts would love to help!

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, please check out www.albertlee.biz/ala-covid19 for updates on how we are taking safe and preventative actions while providing our customers with continued superb contactless delivery, online orders, and other services during this time.

Blog

Exploring Food Preservation in a Garage Fridge or Freezer [Guide]