Additional freezer?

Once a year we pick up our 1/2 of steer from family farm and then camp one or two weeks with rest of family, usually late summer, temps 80-100 and boondock middle of nowhere. At first we were careful and worried and concerned about freezer temps. Every time we stopped we would fire up Honda generator. Then stumbled across one of these, which takes the guessing of what the freezer are. https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00986A2-Refrigerator-Wireless-Thermometer/dp/B004QJVU78

Turns out we didn't need to be concerned as we were. Our Home depot $180.00 chest freezer has 2 lights. One is if has power and the other is if freezer is working to get colder. We usually dig out frozen food of what we need in the morning and leave shut as much as possible. I think that's the key, don't open and close door all day long. Get out what you need and keep lid closed mush as possible. Which means keeping grandkids pop cycles in RV freezer, not in big freezer.

Getting the freezer in and out of bed of pick up is my biggest hassle.

Not sure about if money is worth it or not if we were hauling it around all the time.

:):)I just know my wife likes her "grass feed" beef. Not to mention if her "more healthy for you grass feed farm beef" was raised in a field basically 300 feet jet airplanes coming and going 24/7. I guess the steam I see when cooking it is used jet exhaust:)

The wireless temp gauge comes in handy being able drive down road and know what temp freezer is.

Also if you're out in the woods don't be surprised forest people or game wardens pay you extra attention. Seems to be topic of discussion.

Tal/IL wrote:
This guy was set up across from us at the Grand American last year. I don't remember what state he was from, but he had quite the camp kitchen set up outside.

Is that a water heater perched on top of the fridge?

westend wrote:

If you don't travel but a few miles, you could either invert 120V off the truck or make a dash for it before temps rose in the freezer. Using an insulative blanket or box would greatly aid in slowing heat transfer.

I studied insulating the "modern" chest freezers, and apparently it's not recommended. Rather than an external cooling fins, which become clogged over time with debris, the new units have the fins sealed into the walls of the unit, and radiate their heat through the skin. Insulating these walls would trap the heat, and cause the device to malfunction or operate with terrible efficiency.

Do you have first hand experience with a chest freezer thawing quickly without power? I've had my home upright freezer go nearly two days without power and nothing thawed out... it could have made it longer, but power was restored.

If you have a bigger battery bank in the trailer and maybe some solar (or running a generator), you could have a 12V freezer or a 120V freezer w/inverter to meet your freezer needs. A 12V freezer will be higher in initial outlay but operate with less power.

If you don't travel but a few miles, you could either invert 120V off the truck or make a dash for it before temps rose in the freezer. Using an insulative blanket or box would greatly aid in slowing heat transfer.

Here come the Clampetts! :E

This guy was set up across from us at the Grand American last year. I don't remember what state he was from, but he had quite the camp kitchen set up outside.

We used to do that when we had the travel trailer and would go to the beach for a week. It stayed frozen for the day's drive and we would plug in time we arrived. I actually had my two sons lift it out of the truck and we put it on boards under the awning. This was one of the smaller chest freezers, about 24x36. Where we always beach camped was at Hunting Island or out at St. Joseph's Peninsula, both were long hauls to the grocery store. Having the freezer meant we could take a week's worth of food for all meals, keep ice cream, bagged ice and could also freeze containers to put in the cooler for the day on the beach.
We usually drove 350 miles maximum starting at 700am and off the road before 400pm, so it stayed cold even in June. We did have several frozen milk jugs of water inside to help hold the cold, you could also drop in a chunk if dry ice if you are where it is real hot.
We would run a cord under the trailer into the campground pedestal, giving the 30 amps to the trailer for a/c and the freezer fed from the 20 amp circuit.