Step 2: Fill large bowls of steaming hot water and place on the shelves inside the freezer. Place a thick towel on the floor to catch drips.
Step 3: Wait.
Step 4: Once the ice is loosened use a plastic scraper to remove the built up ice. Never use a metal implement as this can puncture the walls releasing the CFC's.
Step 5: Once cleaned, with a cotton cloth liberally smear Glycerin all over your freezer walls. This makes a clean-up the next time a lot quicker. Ice won't stick to the walls so easily.
Step 6: Pop back all your foodstuffs back in the freezer. Close the door. Done!
While I was defrosting I counted all of my portions of meats and main meal type items and made a list to keep on my freezer. Now I just tick them off once I use a portion and that way I can see, at a glance what I have and haven't got when I next go shopping!
By Monique from Somerset, U.K.
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One thing Monique forgot to mention was to unplug the freezer before starting. Also, instead of glycerin, I spray cooking spray all around the side walls of my freezer. Then I take a paper towel and wipe it all around, taking up all the extra and making sure it gets on all the surfaces. The ice doesn't stick hardly at all anymore and it has to be defrosted much less often, usually only about 3 times a year.
I too take inventory of all the items in my freezer, it is amazing what was 'found' under all the other stuff I also went further and used plastic bins to hold different items and put a label to read-pork chops-chicken breast-chopped eat-steaks. They are the size of a shoe box. They hold a lot and you can stack them as needed
I like the itemizing idea, as I too forget what's in there, especially in my side-by-side which is a really awkward setup. Shelves are 16-1/2 deep by 8-1/2 wide. If I root around in there much, the stuff just falls out on the floor. You can't really stack in that, it doesn't have enough base.
Would like to find slide-out wire bins for containment to fit those shelves. Any ideas? For some reason I got the impression that the air circulates better with wire bins rather than solid ones. Anyone know? And why don't the manufacturers outfit these with slide-out bins? There's only one bin that comes with it and that is at the very bottom. Does anyone know if there are accessories like that to fit the other shelves?
Also has anyone come up with an easy system to keep track of what's in there other than just start from scratch - maybe like a grocery list to check things off or something? Maybe just the frozen food section of a grocery list, or what? Would like ideas. I'm not much into keeping up with something that is labor-intensive, or re-inventing the wheel.
Would appreciate any ideas.
Wondernana from Clovis, California
Oopsie-daisies! I forgot to write down to unplug the freezer. Well spotted, Cricketnc!
Monique :)
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I always had the same problem with cooking fish. The only thing that works for me (which may not be too practical in the cold weather, but nevertheless it works), is that I make sure I use my above-range vent hood on high, AND I put a 14" or 16" box fan in an opened window blowing OUT so that it exhausts the odor (not one of those tiny window fans - they're pretty worthless).
I did find narrow wire freezer bins in one of those catalogs I get in the mail; don't remember which one it was, tho. I got a couple different sizes. I sure appreciate them. I would NEVER get another side-by-side!
I love the idea of slowing build-up by a preventative swipe with oil or glycerin! Just in time, too; one of my weekend chores is to defrost the deep freeze. :)
I have accumulated lots of small basins which fit in my top freezer, two side by side on each shelf. I put frozen veggies in one, frozen meats in another, and so on, and miscellaneous stuff in the remaining space.
If you defrost the freezer in the winter and there is snow on the ground, put all the frozen food in the bath tub and cover it with snow.All the melt goes down the drain.Another way of doing a good defrost job is to use up as much or all the food from the freezer and refrig or put it in a spare refrigerator and shut the refrigerator off over night.Same thing if you have a power failure, put the food in the tub and cover it with snow if there is snow on the ground.No need for hot water or sitting around waiting for ice to melt.
Instead of wire baskets, I stocked up on the cloth type bags that my local grocery store was selling up at half price to make way for seasonal bags by the checkout. I bought six good sized bags in different colors and I stocked up my veggies in one color, pork, beef and chicken in three other colours and baked goods in the last two colors.
You'll never believe how many odd hot dog buns and hamburger buns I have! Those will be put to use for stuffing mix, breadcrumbs and delicious baked pudding.
The bags made it very easy to quickly pull out what I needed, and I didn't have an avalanche of packages sliding all around the dining room table! It'll make defrosting the freezer quick as well. I've done this for about a year now and the bags really are holding up so well.
I hope this helps you improve your storage issues! Blessings to everyone!
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