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  • Design & Features

  • Usability

  • Performance

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  • Temperature Performance

  • Freezing & Thawing

  • Storage Space

  • Design & Features
  • Usability
  • Performance
  • Bigger and Better
  • Temperature Performance
  • Freezing & Thawing
  • Storage Space

When you're storing that much food, you can't second-guess performance. Our tests showed that this Frigidaire has what it takes to prevent freezer burn.

The massive Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW freezer is incredibly wide, great for folks who like to store lots and lots of food.

This massive freezer is incredibly wide, great for folks who like to store lots and lots of food.

Design & Features

A standard design, just much wider

The FGCH25M8LW is, by all accounts, a freezer with a very standard aesthetic. Its got a white textured finish, a small handle with a door lock, and a dial on the left side near the bottom for controlling the temperature.

Inside, you’ll find a door light, an interior drain for manual defrosting, and the same wide-open spaces typical of chest freezers.

The design makes it pretty easy to keep clean on the outside, but we found it a legitimate challenge to reach spills at the bottom of the cavity. Defrosting could also be an issue if you don't keep up with it.

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Usability

Perks out of necessity

Most average-sized chest freezers come with one or two sliding buckets for storage; this Frigidaire comes with three.

The Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW's three vibrantly blue bins provide sliding storage for food kept at the top.

Three vibrantly blue bins provide sliding storage for food kept at the top.

It also boasts a set of five adjustable plastic “walls” that can be interconnected to divide up the cavernous interior. They’re easy to take out if you need more open areas, but they’re essential for folks who like to keep their food compartmentalized. Without those walls, this freezer's size could become a big hindrance unless you’re strong enough to lift and move items around.

The Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW's large interior can be divided up using these five adjustable plastic dividers.

The large interior can be divided up using these five adjustable plastic dividers.

As is the case with chest freezers, you’re not going to find any features here beyond basic cooling performance. It’s also a model that requires you to manually defrost it.

Performance

So cold!

This Frigidaire proved more than capable of chilling its massive interior. Exhibiting some of the coldest temperatures we’ve recorded, this machine never went above 0ºF. In fact, in went well below what we expected—it averaged about -8ºF—but there’s nothing wrong with extra chilling when it comes to your food.

A basic knob thermostat controls internal temperatures inside the Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW.

A basic knob thermostat controls internal temperatures.

Temperatures fluctuated a bit over time and space, but an average that low essentially negates any risk of freezer burn.

For in-depth performance information, please visit the Science Page

Bigger and Better

Big space, even better performance

If you’re looking for as much freezer space as possible, look no further than the 24.6 cubic foot Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW. It’s huge, has lots of extra tools to help organize your food, and can help minimize freezer burn by keeping temperatures low over time.

As long as you’re physically up to the challenge of moving items around inside this beast and don't mind manually defrosting it, the FGCH25M8LW should be more than roomy enough for deer hunters and bargain hunters alike. Speaking of deals, some retailers offer this model for as little as $600—a phenomenal bargain. Larger size doesn’t always mean better performance, but it certainly is the case for the Frigidaire Gallery FGCH25M8LW (MSRP $929). This massive chest freezer displayed some of the coldest temperatures we’ve recorded, making it an exceptional product for folks who like to freezer lots of food.

Temperature Performance

Chilling the pants off the competition

Without question, this Frigidaire was cold. With the controls set to the middle setting of 4, we tracked an average temperature of -8.1ºF. That’s exceptionally cold.

Nothing bad will happen to your food if it’s kept colder than 0ºF. In fact, temperatures that low will actually help stave off freezer burn. We measured an average degree shift of roughly ±1.2ºF, with an average gap of about 2.4ºF between any two points inside the freezer. It’s not the steadiest product on the market, but the brisk average temp keeps things from going even close to 0ºF—no thawing, no freezer burn.

Freezing & Thawing

Not winning any races

One downside to this model is how long it took for our room-temperature test materials to freeze. A full two hours was required to hit 32ºF, and that's definitely slower than average. That said, it only took just under 21 hours to reach 0ºF, which is pretty fast. While you may be tempted to freeze a wide variety of foods in the spacious interior, think twice about preserving sensitive cuts of meat or fish. They do better with a faster freeze, which your refrigerator may be able to provide.

As far as keeping cold air in, though, this freezer is excellent. After 36 hours without power—and without opening the door—internal temperatures had warmed up to just 27.8ºF, with everything still nice and frozen.

Storage Space

In Manhattan, this is a studio apartment

Size is very much the central selling point for this freezer. Taking into account the shelf on the left-hand side, we found that this machine actually provides about 23.48 usable cubic feet. We measured the internal space without the bins or dividers, as those are all optional organizational tools—though we highly recommend you use them.

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Meet the tester

Matthew Zahnzinger

Matthew Zahnzinger

Logistics Manager & Staff Writer

@ReviewedHome

Matthew is a native of Brockton, MA and a graduate of Northeastern, where he earned a degree in English and Theatre. He has also studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and spends most of his free time pursuing a performance career in the greater Boston area.

See all of Matthew Zahnzinger's reviews

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