Anyone using a chest freezer/generator combo?

[Curtis Reed]

I’m trying something new this fall. Since I likely need more freezer space anyway (3 hunts this fall and I just split a beef) I bought a 10 cu ft chest freezer that I plan on taking to camp and using a generator to keep meat cool until I get home and leaving the coolers at home.  Is anyone else doing this and is it effective?

[CatfishKev]

You could pre chill it at home with some gallon jugs frozen and just use it as a giant cooler then add ice if you need to 

[catclaw]

I went on an elk hunt back in 2010ish, we camped by Big Lake and stayed about 20 days.  We had a big freezer with generator to keep food good.  Had 3 hunters,  3 guides and cook in camp. Worked out great. We had a full size commercial kitchen,  had range,  eating tent,  outside awnings, portable corrals. We ran the generator as needed. 

[Shane.A.Luke]

Very effective.  I bought a used chest freezer on CL and took it up on an extended Utah Book Cliffs archery deer hunt.  We were able to freeze the heads and ran the generator the whole way back to PHX.  We dropped the heads off in Camp Verde and had the taxi freeze dry treat the velvet and they are amazing compared to my other formaldehyde treated velvet racks I have.  The freeze keep any ice we had for the whole trip and we only ran it several hours each day until we killed.  Good luck this fall.

[dse]

If you are going to process in camp then run the generator enough each day to keep the meat frozen it will work great for extended trips. I don't like it to keep meat cool because it's more challenging to keep the meat dry.

[Chef]

Have been in camps where this was the norm.  Especially when hunting Mexico, where we froze hides to try and remove ticks.

[Curtis Reed]

I plan on just bone in quartering.  I have a walk in cooler at home, so Im not looking to freeze it…. When I get home I let it hang and dry age in cooler for 2 weeks.  Easier to hang in cooler when it’s kept in quarters 👍🏻

[Hucker]

A must!  Run it enough to keep meat cold, but not frozen until we can get it hung and processed correctly.  We keep our dry goods in it until we need the freezer.

CL freezer and Honda suitcase genset.

[Phil Carr]

These small freezers are less $ than  a high end ice chest and in someways better. I bought one from Costco that fit perfectly between the wheel wells and up against the cab of my Tacoma.

We used it on a 2 week hunt and only plugged it in when we were using the generator for other uses. We filled it half way with bags of ice and a few blocks. Placed our frozen food on top. 
Worked great and I use it at home for keeping some spare bags of ice on hand and extra space for food storage. 

[Curtis Reed]

Yeah the freezer brand new was less expensive than a large rotomolded cooler.  

[runningbird]

I did this years ago on a trip to Alaska.  Just a small chest freezer and a small generator.  I took my kids there for a trip, and we fished rivers all over.  We brought home lots of salmon and Brook trout.  worked out perfect.  

[wildwoody]

Done it many times works great.

[Code3]

Been using this method for a long time. Such a relief not to buy & juggle ice if/when you get the game. Then we are able to remain in camp for days after the take. When I’m not actively fermenting home brew, I utilize a temp controller (pic attached) with the chest freezer and a Honda EU2000i. I can set the freezer to any degrees, like 34F, to super chill the quartered meat without freezing it. Allowing me to debone the meat over several hours and not have to contend with deboning frozen meat. At home, this controller converts the chest freezer to an enormous refrigerator for house party food and kegs, so I’ve been told…