An Ode to the Freezer
If you’ve never bought a separate freezer, you’re probably wondering what kind of freezer to get – and you might even be wondering if a separate freezer is worth the expense.
Having had a chest freezer in our barn for almost a decade, I’m here to tell you to embrace the Memorial Day Sales Extravaganza and go get yourself a new freezer ASAP.
Here are a few reasons why:
You will be able to buy more food in bulk, which will save you both time and money.
Considering all that you will get out of it, freezers are not super expensive. Just the other day I saw that Costco was selling a nice 7 cubic feet chest freezer for $149.99.
You will be able to store so much more in your freezer in addition to your North Bridger Bison quarter (you knew the plug was coming, right?). But, seriously, we’ve used our freezer to store fish, berries, pizzas, ice packs, meat, bread, buns, vegetables, and all sorts of other stuff.
When you need to figure out dinner at the last minute, it’s incredibly convenient to be able to just open your freezer at 6:00 PM instead of fighting traffic to drive to the grocery store, wander the aisles, wait in line at the checkout counter, etc.
Okay – hopefully at this point you’re safely aboard The Freezer Train and fully understand all of the benefits and savings it will provide you. So now you’re probably wondering: what kind of freezer should I get?
Here are a few thoughts:
The foundation of your freezer will, of course, be a North Bridger Bison quarter (boom! – leading with the NBB plug this time). Your quarter will provide approximately 80 – 90 pounds of bison meat. And you should plan on 3 cubic feet of freezer space for your quarter (assuming 1 cubic foot of freezer space for roughly 35 pounds of meat).
For freezers, you have two main options: a chest freezer or an upright freezer.
Chest freezers are less expensive (as noted above, I just saw a great 7 cu. ft. chest freezer for sale at Costco for $149.99), and they work really well and take up less vertical space.
Upright freezers are more expensive, but they give you more organization and storage options (and take up less horizontal space).
The bottom line is that either will work great — and you should make the decision based on where you plan to put it, your budget, etc.
All jokes and North Bridger Bison plugs aside, having a separate freezer is really, really useful and economical. Once you buy one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend – and make sure you pick up a freezer by the end of it!
