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You can count on these chest and upright models from Consumer Reports' tests
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When you buy your groceries in bulk or make large batches of food ahead of time, the freezer compartment of a standard refrigerator can be woefully inadequate. This became readily apparent at the beginning of the pandemic when folks were stocking up on groceries and, not surprisingly, sales of standalone freezers shot up.
With food prices inching up lately, you may still find yourself wanting more freezer space. How better to take full advantage of whatever sales you may find on chicken and meat or stash those 4-pound bags of frozen berries from Costco for your morning smoothie? If you’re in the market for a standalone freezer, we can help.
Buying a standalone freezer is a calculation. Do you want an upright or a chest freezer? Where will you put it and how much space do you have? To help you find the best model for your needs, Consumer Reports recently refined our freezer ratings to make it easier for you to compare them. We now group freezers by size and capacity (small, medium, and large) as well as by configuration (chest vs. upright). That way you’re not comparing the performance of a chest freezer as big as a couch to one the size of a dishwasher.
“The overall result of the reorganization is ratings that are a good comparison of models in a way that consumers shop—by size,” says Maria Rerecich, who oversees product testing at Consumer Reports.
Data from our tests is folded into an Overall Score for each model and appears in our freezer ratings charts. Our freezer buying guide offers additional information on the pros and cons of each type, the features you’ll want to look for, and tips for helping your freezer operate efficiently.
We test freezers under both normal and adverse conditions. That’s because if there’s ever a power outage, you want a model that keeps your food frozen for as long as possible.
We start by evaluating how well each freezer maintains food at a constant temperature on a day-to-day basis. To do this, we pack each one with boxes of frozen spinach and measure the internal temperature of the cavity in 15 different places over the course of six weeks.
To see how well a freezer fares under adverse conditions, we simulate a power outage by raising the temperature in the test chamber to 90° F and unplugging the loaded freezer for 9 hours. “We test them in a warm room because summer is often when the power goes out,” says Larry Ciufo, who analyzes our freezer test data. In the best freezers, the temp rises by just a few degrees. But the worst models show a temperature spike of 25° F or more, which means food can start to thaw.
In addition to these tests, we also calculate energy efficiency and measure noise output. This information is also included in our ratings.
If you’re planning to put your freezer in a basement or other out-of-the-way place, consider a chest model. Chest freezers don’t come with a self-defrosting feature, which means you’ll have to take the food out periodically to defrost it manually. Also be aware that the deepest of these deep freezers can be difficult to organize. Below are the top-rated chest freezers from our test in four categories: small, medium, large, and extra-large.
Think about an upright model if you’re putting the freezer in your kitchen. Some are available in different finishes that you can match to your kitchen suite. (Chest freezers usually come in basic white.) Some upright freezers also come with a self-defrost feature, so you don’t have to take everything out to defrost it. In our tests, the self-defrosting models perform better than manual-defrost models. Keep in mind that uprights usually cost more to run than chest freezers. Below are our top picks in small, medium, and large sizes.
Mary H.J. Farrell is a senior editor at Consumer Reports whose real passion is for cooking and all that entails. She has expanded CR’s cookware category to include not only more pots and pans but also other essentials like stand mixer attachments, sheet pans, and vacuum sealers. Mary also covers vacuums but finds cooking way more fun than cleaning. Since the mid-1990s, Mary has held senior positions at People.com, MSNBC, and Ladies’ Home Journal. One of her earliest jobs was at Good Housekeeping.
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