Don Vandervort, Head Homeboy, has written more than 30 DIY home improvement books, been a segment host on HGTV, served as MSN.com's home improvement expert and written countless magazine articles.
Is the size of your refrigerator’s freezer compartment less than satisfactory? Are you tired of trying to cram everything into it, repackaging the frozen veggies, popsicles, and Grandma’s lasagna over and over again to fit everything in? Maybe it’s time to consider investing in a stand-alone freezer.
Stand-alone freezers are much more basic than refrigerators because you don’t ask them to do much more than just keep things frozen—a particularly easy task if you don’t need to access your freezer too often.
The Department of Agriculture recommends storing frozen foods at 0 degrees F. It also recommends you discard any foods that have reached temperatures above 40 degrees F. for more than two hours, as they are likely to have become spoiled.
As opposed to refrigerators, freezers have limited bells and whistles: no through-the-door water dispensers, no rapid-chill drawers nor high-tech multimedia gadgets. No matter if you plan to invest $200 or $800, the concept is the same—a freezer’s job is to keep foods frozen. There are two types of stand-alone freezers: chest (shown above) and upright.
