Large upright freezer with drawers = nonexistent = why

[Sedgehammer]

No one makes one . They put stupid shelves in them and frozen food doesn't stack very well . It all sides out , that's why we currently only have chest types , but then you need to remove everything on top to get to the stuff you want , which is suggests on the bottom

I'd buy 1 or 2 large ones if they could be found 

[Southside]

I put the food into boxes that fill the shelf, coordinate it by what it is, mark the box, and I can absolutely fill a freezer. Takes 5 seconds to pull a box and grab what I want, much better than a chest freezer. I think we have 6 up rights set up like that.

[rusticretreater]

Either the cost to make them now pushes the freezer out of the price point for most folks or they just don't sell a lot of them in that configuration. 

My wife doesn't like chest freezers and not being all that tall, its hard for her to get things that are at the bottom.  But we seal and freeze so many veggies from the garden, the chest freezer seemed the way to go.  Unlike an upright, you can fill a chest freezer up to the very top.

I have an upright where I keep my side of beef in boxes and I use boxes in the chest freezer too.  

[Sedgehammer]

@Southside thought of that , but I have family and extended family from 9 to 69 that get things from the freezer . Would like drawers that roll out , but ........

@rusticretreater I dunno on that . Could buy a 11 cf 6 drawer for $400 from cosco . out of stock currently . My wife doesn't like them either , but yes , you can fill them fuller 

I wonder if the smaller ones would be better overall though , as one can turn them off when not using vs having to cool a big one half full

[SwampDonkey]

I went and looked at the industrial ones and all just shelving. And big $$'s.

[Ianab]

No one makes one . They put stupid shelves in them and frozen food doesn't stack very well . It all sides out , that's why we currently only have chest types , but then you need to remove everything on top to get to the stuff you want , which is suggests on the bottom

I'd buy 1 or 2 large ones if they could be found

Probably a supply chain issue more than anything?
Checked a local appliance store web page and they have 6 vertical freezers, all with drawers. Mitsubishi / LG / Haier etc.  So they are still being made, but possibly selling faster than they can be delivered? Leaving the less popular ones with shelves still in stock?
We bought an upright simply because of lack of space, but with the drawers it's actually quite convenient. Things don't get frozen in the bottom like a long lost mammoth, waiting to be discovered by a future archaeologist  :D

[69bronco]

Ordered an upright, non frost free freezer in 2020. They said there was an issue with wiring harnesses. Waited for over a year, finally bought a used frost free. Never seen one with drawers.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Never thought about an upright with drawers but sounds likea good idea.
We have 2, Wife's 25 year old upright with shelves and plastic bins-that wifey uses for our veggies etc and my chest for meats both domestic and wild along with breads ice cream etc.The bins in the upright work well and i use cardboard boxes for my meats.
Also my chest freezer is much smaller due to the fact that I am not the hunter I used to be.
.

[kantuckid]

Our upright freezer is a couple years old and has a large, coated wire basket below which we mostly use for meats. I bought it after replacing three digital plug-in temperature controls on another freezer. The digitals cost ~ $100 with the real issue being the loss of the food inside.
The current one came from Sears local outlet right before they went out and has a manual, rotary dial. Sadly that guy had used his life savings to buy the local outlet store right before they went bankrupt. I don't think many are left?

We had a fridge and elec stove bought in 1996, still worked OK but the reality of buying new stuff meant we paid a large cash down payment them waited for nearly 7 months to get the new stuff. If you're not real picky you might run onto something, but mostly you'll wait for the size and model in a certain finish. We bought from a small family owned furniture/appliance store and matched Lowe's pricing plus delivered AND!!! they set it up-meaning they attached the handles and such which would get thru our doors. Lowes charges even though we are only 25k from their store and they charge again to move your old stuff on the porch where we sold ours from.
Chest freezers have been unpopular for many, many years.

 I'm certain you can buy freezer baskets.

[21incher]

We were looking for the same thing. So far the closest I have come is this one ad HD https://www.homedepot.com/p/Samsung-11-cu-ft-Frost-Free-Convertible-Upright-Freezer-in-Stainless-Steel-RZ11M7074SA/314024339
I wish there was a larger model but I may have to just keep a chest running for bigger items and get this.

[Sedgehammer]

@21incher That's a bit pricey for the size isn't it , but thanks. HD use to have a hamilton beach that amazon still has for around $600 HD price . Amazon wants $900 Amazon Freezer

@kantuckid yeah , thought of baskets , but if not the exact size , lot's space lost . Plus I have younger kids and older in laws that do help a lot . Then my wife isn't all that big either , so wrestling with a basket that's not on a roll out , not likely a good outcome

@ianab No, I think it's more of a country thing . They can be bought all over the world it seems  , but here . Definitely on the bottom of the chest . Luckily our butcher freeze wraps and paper wraps all the frozen meats and things even 4 years old are still good . We have gone to your country's hogs ( kunekune ) now , so will be butchering our own starting in 2024 and when smaller than the 250 pounders we usually do . They can get the bulk of their diet from grass/legumes , so a lot cheaper to raise

[kantuckid]

Our "basket" is a drawer style basket made into the bottom of the upright freezer. Appliances have gone nuts with technology. We avoided many a GE range model as they called for WIFI to be in use. Just go hungry if the webs turned off or if somebody in the family doesn't know our WIFI PW. 
Many seniors have bought stoves then have them picked back up for that single reason. The items are also chintzy, weak handles and plastic the breaks all to easily.  One guy I know locally says they recently went through 3 new fridges before one stayed alive long enough to keep.  

[luap]

We bought a new refridgerator with single large door on top and freezer on bottom ,pull, out drawers  on freezer no digital crontrols. we also bought a large freeze dryer so no more canning or freezing any thing except mea t, although you can do meat , my favorite so far is freeze dried strawberries we bought a harvest right from utah but i see tractor supply sells them now, just not the large size.

[thecfarm]

When I first met the wife, she had a chest freezer. It was a hunt and destroy mission to find anything in there.  :(
I brought a bunch of plastic containers, kinda like milk crates, to put stuff into. 
What a difference.
No more moving almost every item to find a bag of veggies or that steak.

[doc henderson]

we have a chest and an upright.  both over 25 years old.  same issue, my wife will buy fresh at the store, and we have 100s of pounds of meat to eat.  sounds like organization is the key.  might even consider an inventory and scratch things off as used, for us, but you still have to find it.  If my wife cooked every day, we would prob be reminded of all the stuff.  but the whole family works now, wo she gets and idea at work and brings home what she wants.

[kantuckid]

I find a freeze drier to be a poor method for our garden vittles. We fill ours with beans, okra, sweet corn, and much much more. Mostly we only can maters and jams as we like frozen best. 

Maybe a good thing too as canning lids are golden now. Widemouth Ball is $6 a dozen! Begs an answer as to why?

 I can eat leather britches dried beans but honestly never would by choice. Dried apples is quite another thing but my drier isn't a freeze drier it's just homemade.
When I worked in a supermarket most frozen foods were sold from chest style freezers and most commercial freezers such as a school kitchen were all chest types which are very functional, just harder to keep foods at easy access. 

On dry, powdered foods- 
I am seriously tired of the ad for "Balance of Nature" branded dried, powdered fruits and veggies, especially the recent one where the city guy says he's liking it because "you cannot find fresh in stores these days". Mostly we DVR stuff but not always. 
He must shop somewhere else than us? Thats the one store food area that's got plenty compared to lots of other items, like pasta and so on. The day I'll pay $40 for a dry powered small bottle of plant material is never gonna come! 
 

[beenthere]

Our upright Coldspot freezer bought used from a neighbor lady January 1962. Still freezing our food for 60 years. 
All shelves with some pocket shelves on the door. 
Still pulls a vacuum on the door seal.

Have a small chest size for non-veggie storage (venison landjaegers, venison bologna, brats, beef burgers) in milk crates that fit perfectly. 

[21incher]

@21incher That's a bit pricey for the size isn't it , but thanks. HD use to have a hamilton beach that amazon still has for around $600 HD price . Amazon wants $900 Amazon Freezer

I don't  think so. It's  energy star, self defrosting,  and convertible between fridge and freezer. Low wattage so I can run it off the small solar system in my barn during power failures.  Mine is supposed to  be delivered Wednesday to replace one of our chests and we plan on ordering a second  one to replace the power hog beer fridge in the basement in the fall. The drawers will  be used as a cold storage for our favorite apples and things like carrots and beets from the garden. With the warmer winters it's  hard to keep the root cellar cool enough for longer storage of certain items. I will soon se if they are any good and if the temp is as even top to bottom as they claim.

[Ianab]

Appliances have gone nuts with technology. We avoided many a GE range model as they called for WIFI to be in use. Just go hungry if the webs turned off or if somebody in the family doesn't know our WIFI PW.

There is a bit of "technology for the sake of technology" in the appliance area. Now I can actually see how a tablet computer on the fridge could be useful, as an electronic calendar / shopping list and recipe book. But nothing to do with the operation of the fridge. Built into the fridge will just mean it's obsolete in 5 years time. 

Or house has a "Mission Control" look already, but my fridge and light switches don't need an internet connection. 

There is also that balance between price and quality. You don't need to buy a Rolls Royce, but if you shop only on price you get a Yugo. Better to shop in the Toyota price / quality bracket. Same goes for appliances. There is some Yugo  grade stuff out there. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   One disadvantage of the upright freezer is cold air falls out every time you open the door while with a chest type it stays in place better. I try to keep ours filled with jugs of ice water if there is any empty space. I can always remove the ice if I need the extra space but if there were an outage I have a bigger reservoir of cold stored in the freezer and I could remove ice and put in the fridge to help. Since I have a Generac back up genset that comes on automatically this is almost never an issue.

   I agree boxing the frozen goods is the way to go to improve access and rotate the frozen foods in there that tend to get lost in the bottom of a big freezer. Ours is 25 cubic ft IIRC.

[DWyatt]

The frozen jugs of water is a brilliant idea! Something I hadn't considered

[kantuckid]

Honestly, it's an old idea and handy for picnics, homemade ice cream and my gallon water jug I tote when I work, which melts as fast as I can drink it lately. 
I favor Milo's Tea jugs as they are a thicker plastic than a milk jug. Fill to the shoulder curve on the jug...
Years ago, chest freezers were the norm in homes, commercial kitchens and stores. Handiness made uprights a popular change but like Howard said they'll never work as well as a chest. 
Looking back: In my grocery store days there were very few frozen foods as now. Mostly boxes of veggies and a few fruits. Quality wasn't as now either. 
"TV dinners" (came in four types- ham, beef, fish, chicken) were about it on prepared meals unlike now with an entire aisle or several full of those lazy meals stuff. Seafoods were meager compared to now, lots less Asian caught stuff and far less bake & eat seafoods.  
 Much more canned frozen juices than now days.
We just changed to a two door, French doors fridge with a bottom pull out freezer- takes some getting used to! Sort of reminds me of a chest freezer but requires bending over even more! It has sliding trays up top which chest types don't have unless they've improved?
  

[Sedgehammer]

we do the same with freezing water and use it for coolers when we travel or just are bringing food and drinks somewhere like a family picnic . The jugs work well for the 'ice' storage when power is lost . We don't do that as much now , as if the power goes out , the generator comes on

[doc henderson]

we freeze bottles of water for the cooler and then drink them when they melt in addition to other cans or bottles included in the cooler, so we do not get dehydrated.  I like cool water, but ambient temp is good when I am working outside. I keep a half dozen under the back seat.  I use a wide mouth Nalgene outside.  It is also good if you can plan ahead, to refrigerate all items going in the cooler (like drinks} or you lose half the ice in the first hour.

[WV Sawmiller]

   When I freeze a jug/2 litter pop bottle of water, I fill it then just before I tighten the lid I squeeze some of the water out to allow for expansion space.

I don't remember who (I think it was Jeff) posted another tip for a freezer is to freeze a cup of water then put a coin or washer on top and leave it in the freezer. If you have a power outage and find the coin/washer at the bottom of the cup you know the food in the freezer thawed and refroze and is unsafe to eat. If it is on top it did not thaw. If part way down you know there was some partial thawing and the food may be okay to use but you may want to use caution such as cooking more thoroughly and such. This is especially helpful if the freezer is at a cabin or remote, sometimes unattended location.

EDIT/ADD-ON: Another tip when you are traveling is to freeze small bottles of water in the hotel fridge if there is one or have the hotel or camp office freeze them for you if it is at more remote places. Put them in your cooler to keep food and drinks cool and have cold drinking water on the trip. We did this in Africa, Mongolia, South America, etc. when traveling where there was often no room fridge and ice was scarce but the office or kitchen invariably had some sort of freezer available.