Defrosting the freezer

rosalie-lavender

I have a large chest freezer and I empty it out and put all the food together, anything like ice cream I put in a cool bag. I use boiling water in a bowl with the lid shut and keep replacing it, scraping off the ice with a plastic scraper. It defrosts in less than half an hour that way and the I clean it out and put all the still frozen food back in and put the fast freeze button on. I have never had a problem doing it this way.

My neighbour does hers in a similar way and puts an old quilt round it all for insulation while she defrosts it. Obviously try and put the food somewhere cool and nowhere near a radiator and in cool bags if possible. It is easier to defrost it if there is less in it though, it takes far less time to empty. I have also found the thicker the ice the easier it is to scrape off the ice because chunks come off together.

Seakay

I agree with rosalie-lavender, if you keep all the frozen food together it won't defrost by the time you have your freezer clear.
I put old towels or newspaper on the floor of an unheated room and leave everything in it's drawers (mine is an upright) which would be baskets in your case and put more towels over the top for insulation - blankets or duvets would do as well.

craftynutters

i always give mine a blast with a hairdryer on full heat can defrost a chest freezer in abour 15 mins just makesure you keep hairdryer above level of drips so blast from top.

timmmers

Whatever you do, don't use anything sharp to DF it by scraping. My old Mum did that and when it died the engineer said that we should have called CSI instead of him as it had obviously been stabbed to death.

A steam cleaner takes the ice off in minutes, otherwise a large pan of boiling water and close the lid will do it but you'll have to mop it out either way.

It is only a real problem if the door won't close fully...that's wasteful.

t

valk_scot

I take everything out, stack it tightly together and cover it with an old sleeping bag, then defrost the freezer as quickly as possible using the bowl of hot water trick and a layer of newspaper on the bottom to catch the drips. You'll find big slabs of ice loosen off very quickly and can be removed as lumps. I use a wooden scraper to knock the rest off, mop it out with kitchen towel and can have it up running again within an hour, max.

Bronnie

Wait for the first sub- zero cold snap of the winter!

greenbee

If you have any icepacks/freezer packs, make sure that they are all frozen before you start.

Pick a cold day

As others have said, you can put stuff in cold bags/boxes with ice packs, keep it all together and wrap in newspaper/duvets etc to insulate it and then defrost & clean as quickly as possible using either the steam or hairdryer methods.

If it is dirty, wipe with something mild (bicarb solution/washing up liquid/vinegar/lemon juice), but don't use anything strongly scented, disinfectant or bleach, as it may damage the surface and it will definitely taint the food.

Angelraesunshine

thanks they are some great ideas

tesco been now so i think i will wait till the end of novemeber now with less food and before the next monthly shop arrives will be colder then too then fingers crossed i think i should be able to get it done

at least i know what i should be doing now

Bongedone

I use tea light candles in by upright fridge/freezer to aid defrosting. Just did it this morning and it took 30 minutes. I put half the items in the fridge with the door shut and half in a cool bag.

patchwork_cat

Join us on the store cupboard challenge - this is exactly what I am doing and I reckon I have the staples for most meals until Xmas, too. Can't remember when I defrosted my freezer, so I am running it down and putting the extra money I save to one side for Xmas - hopefully I won't fill it quite so full and run it down regularly from now on -well one can but hope!