Deep Freezers / Chest Freezers

[Ambersky]

I have been saving to get one before bub comes.. then yesterday my washing machine went bang

[peanutter]

we're taking the plunge and getting one ...

where do people get their bulk meat from?

[Novella]

we sometimes get meat from a local butcher, DH's friends or his second cousin. Most butchers will do you a good deal. We pay or the cow by the kg which includes bones but not offal and depending on who we go through between $7-9kg. Someitmes we take the bones and give them to friends who's dogs actually eat the bones sometimes we ask the butcher to chuck them. Depending on the butcher we get various cuts, roasts, diced meat, mince, steaks and have also had the butcher include making crumbed schnitzels and sausages too

We often go 1/2's or 1/3 with family as we dont eat beef quickly enough to get a whole cow! Sometimes one of the guys at DH's work gets bulk chooks and as I said earlier my Dad gives us big boxes of fish

[Rivlas]

Google wholesale butchers as that gives you a starting point.

Pakenham has an outlet which has good prices. Also keep an eye out for chicken breasts as they can be $6.99 or cheaper on sale. Next door goes to a wholesale place and says the prices are really good. They eat alot of red meat so for them it is cheaper. They also get them to cut up any large peices as there are only two of them

One thing I did was I sat down and thought about the cuts of meat I used. With a slow cooker you can buy the cheaper cuts.

[Miss.September]

We got ours last time through a friend. Ask around - you'll find someone knows someone who can help.

Farmer's Markets are another good one. Often the stall holders are happy to put aside an entire lamb or 1/2 beef and more often than not they're organic.

[Miss.September]

Nay - I don't think it is because there is a tiny amount if build up on one side. We got it in November, it's been running non-stop since then and the ice build up wouldn't fill an ice cube tray.

[Netix]

With regards to defrosting, the upright I used to have had terrible seals, so would have to defrost twice a year (used to do it every Christmas; once in December, and once in June). The chest freezer isn't a frost free I don't think, and I have only defrosted it once (as in got bored, emptied its contents into cooler shopping bags, and chipped and scraped the built up ice off without so much as turning the freezer off) in about eight months... But it really didn't even need it!