Freezer manual vs self-defrosting
A friend is moving out of town and is trying to unload a self-defrosting upright freezer. I have been thinking about getting a freezer for long-term storage to use for fresh poultry, fruit, and cooked soups. I always heard that manual defrost freezers preserved food better for longer periods. Please report back on your experiences with manual vs self-defrosting models. Thank you.
debastarr
Jun 28, 2007 09:34AM
How old is it? The older ones just turned on the defrost for a fixed time cycle whenever the freeze temp sensor detected the frost layer. Newer ones use a variable defrost cycle and do much better for long term stablity
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I've used both manual and frost free freezers over the years and would never, ever deal with another manual defrost unit given a choice. The hassle of dealing with defrost water/ice chunks with a manual defrost is something that I just don't enjoy. Any issue with "better food preservation" has more to do with how items are protected for storage than which type of freezer you use. Either type works just fine if the food is well packaged. I use a vacuum packer (foodsaver) for anything I plan to store long term and have had very good luck with professionally butcher wrapped items as well.
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