A Great Disappointment --- bummer

[fasteddie]

I bought a 7 cu ft. chest freezer about 3 years ago strictly for my venison . Last night I went down to get some backstraps to marinade . All the meat in there had started to thaw . The freezer had crapped out . I moved the meat to an old Gibson freezer that we have had for over 40 years that still works super .

Not sure how good meat is if you "re-freeze" it . The meat was still cold . Apparently they don't make things that last anymore ! I didn't buy an extended warranty as it seems you pay for something 2-3 times that way .

I sent a letter off to the company that I purchased it from . Will have to wait and see what kind of response I get ( if any ) .

[bubba]

That sucks Ed.  They sure do not make thing to last any more. 

[RTF]

Wow that really sucks. You now got me worried as I too bought a new one 3 years ago from Lowes. Had another freezer go last year.

[G-Man]

bummer.... it shouldn't be to bad, most meat you buy at wegaman/tops is brought into nys frozen (no slaugherhouses in wny anymore except for a few small ones) and then thawed, cut, sold, then you take it home and refreeze it so its about the same...

[NYDeer]

I don't know about refreezing..  Or,  Sound like a great time to fire up the smoker & make some Jerky..

[fasteddie]

I cooked up about 5 pounds of burger , marinated some backstraps ( we had some tonight) and my wife put a roast in the slow cooker .

I sent an e-mail to Sears and got a response and was told what i expected to hear from them . A friend , who does HVAC work checked it over and said "don't spend any money on it , it will cost as much or more to have someone come and repair it". I was checking out some of the Reviews on chest freezers as well as uprights and was surprised about the complaints that many of them don't last past 3 years . That's disgusting .I should be thankful for the 40 year old Gibson Freezer !

[Fantail]

Quite unfortunate. Sounds like a dehydrator will be workin over time.

[nycoyotehounds..BUB]

You can refreeze venison.

[WNYBuckHunter]

As long as it didnt get warm, you should be fine. I had the same thing happen 5 or 6 years ago, and like you, caught it in time before anything got above refrigerator temps. I refroze everything and it was fine.

Those smaller chest freezers are pretty spotty with their quality. Some last a long time, and others die quick. They dont make them like they used to, thats for sure.

[landtracdeerhunter]

My large upright freezer give up a couple weeks ago. It was purchased new in 1983 . Lost about 10 lbs of venison, ( it was beyond the jerky stage).  Now, will be in the market for a new one. You have me thinking.  Is the failure rate of an upright less than for a chest freezer?

[Dave]

Bought a small chest freezer on creigs list about 3 yrs ago. Had it up state and then brought it home it's in my garage and works fine. The old ones that last 25 years use much more electricity than the newer ones. Paid $100 and have no problems, chest are more energy efficient than the upright ones.But harder to fine things.

Dave

[SteveB]

There are alarms available for freezers. Had one fail a few years ago (while gone for a week) with 30lbs of venison, a bunch of chicken, and some beef liver. Got home to an oder - opened the door to the room where it was and knew immediately what happened. Then for some reason just had to lift the lid. 20 minutes later the barfing stopped and I was able to call someone to take it away.

[fasteddie]

Saw a 7 cu ft General electric freezer at Home depot for $219 . I looked up the reviews on the computer and most were Excellent 4+ and 5's . Anyway , they had an ad in the paper today and the store has them for $179 so I bought one and i'm having it delivered Wednesday at no charge . I also bought the 4 year extended warranty for $99 that starts after the original warranty runs out .

I also picked up a couple of Crop damage Permits this afternoon .

[WNYBuckHunter]

Nice Eddie!

[Geno C]

i have re froze deer meat before with any issues... i have 3 freezers that we use for all our stuff one is a big stand up commercial freezer and i have a section just for that. i have heard some stories of guys freezers going out and when they go down to pull some meat it smells horrendous in the freezer. Atleast you caught yours in time where you meat did not spoil!