I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers. Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes. Then
came the problem of reloading. DH puts stuff down there and does not
remember that it is there. But if you say something about it, "he's
going to eat it." Sure.

I had some plastic boxes and originally tried to put like things in
the same box. Lasted until DH took some things down to put in the
freezer. Ended up getting some additional boxes and right now I have
things pretty well sorted.

Right now the strawberries are beginning to turn pink. Wonder what I
can take out to make room for the berries. Lots of strawberry jam is
one the schedule.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

"The Cook" wrote

I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers.

We have an upright freezer and I bought wire baskets to hold the food. We
just yank them out when it's time to defrost, then put them back afterwards.

Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes.

That's how DH does it, too - gets rid of the frost quickly, doesn't it! (I
still don't want a self-defrosting freezer.)

Then
came the problem of reloading. DH puts stuff down there and does not
remember that it is there. But if you say something about it, "he's
going to eat it." Sure.

I had some plastic boxes and originally tried to put like things in
the same box. Lasted until DH took some things down to put in the
freezer. Ended up getting some additional boxes and right now I have
things pretty well sorted.

Hah. I had a good system until DH decided he would help me and be the
loader. Now everything's mixed up and we both have to search. Worse, new
purchases are piled on top of old purchases. The last steak we had was one
I found and was dated 2004!! It was fine, though, honest.

Right now the strawberries are beginning to turn pink. Wonder what I
can take out to make room for the berries. Lots of strawberry jam is
one the schedule.
--
Susan N.

"limey" wrote in message
...

"The Cook" wrote

I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers.

We have an upright freezer and I bought wire baskets to hold the food. We
just yank them out when it's time to defrost, then put them back
afterwards.

Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes.

That's how DH does it, too - gets rid of the frost quickly, doesn't it!
(I still don't want a self-defrosting freezer.)

Then
came the problem of reloading. DH puts stuff down there and does not
remember that it is there. But if you say something about it, "he's
going to eat it." Sure.

I had some plastic boxes and originally tried to put like things in
the same box. Lasted until DH took some things down to put in the
freezer. Ended up getting some additional boxes and right now I have
things pretty well sorted.

Hah. I had a good system until DH decided he would help me and be the
loader. Now everything's mixed up and we both have to search. Worse, new
purchases are piled on top of old purchases. The last steak we had was
one I found and was dated 2004!! It was fine, though, honest.

Right now the strawberries are beginning to turn pink. Wonder what I
can take out to make room for the berries. Lots of strawberry jam is
one the schedule.
--
Susan N.

I am ashamed to admit, that I've lived in this house for over 25 years and
have not defrosted the freezer once. There is such a big block of ice on all
four corners. On the upside, my space is shrinking so I know that my buying
is limited.

Oh well......

Elaine

The Cook wrote:
I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers. Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes.

Another way to speed up defrosting, use one or two desk fans running on
high, blowing into the freezer. The freezer will defrost in 30-60
minutes. I also place the food in large coolers.

Rusty

"elaine" wrote

I am ashamed to admit, that I've lived in this house for over 25 years and
have not defrosted the freezer once. There is such a big block of ice on
all four corners. On the upside, my space is shrinking so I know that my
buying is limited.

Oh well......

Elaine

Well, those famous baskets that I was just bragging about get totally frozen
in and cannot be loosened if we don't defrost occasionally, so we're forced
into it, Elaine.

Dora

On 23 Apr 2006 14:14:05 -0700, Rusty wrote:


The Cook wrote:
I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers. Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes.

Another way to speed up defrosting, use one or two desk fans running on
high, blowing into the freezer. The freezer will defrost in 30-60
minutes. I also place the food in large coolers.

Great tip Rusty!

--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

Has anyone suggested using a blow dryer. I know that seems silly,
but it does work great and quite rapidly.


"sf" wrote in message
...
On 23 Apr 2006 14:14:05 -0700, Rusty wrote:


The Cook wrote:
I have been dreading this for several weeks but it turned out not to
be such a pain after all. Put all the food into 4 large coolers.
Then
DH got the dolly and rolled the freezer (upright) out of the garage
and hosed it down. The frost was all off in about 30 minutes.

Another way to speed up defrosting, use one or two desk fans running on
high, blowing into the freezer. The freezer will defrost in 30-60
minutes. I also place the food in large coolers.

Great tip Rusty!

--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:46:56 GMT, Bill-NWG wrote:

Has anyone suggested using a blow dryer. I know that seems silly,
but it does work great and quite rapidly.


I've seen that tip in the past for use on freezers that are
incorporated into refrigerators. I know how long it takes to blow dry
my hair, so I'd hate to think about how long it would take to blow dry
a full sized freezer!

LOL! My arm aches just thinking about it.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

It takes significantly less energy for hot heat to start the thawing process
than to completely dry, though.

"sf" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:46:56 GMT, Bill-NWG wrote:

Has anyone suggested using a blow dryer. I know that seems silly,
but it does work great and quite rapidly.


I've seen that tip in the past for use on freezers that are
incorporated into refrigerators. I know how long it takes to blow dry
my hair, so I'd hate to think about how long it would take to blow dry
a full sized freezer!

LOL! My arm aches just thinking about it.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 03:55:49 GMT, Bill-NWG wrote:

It takes significantly less energy for hot heat to start the thawing process
than to completely dry, though.


Yes, I understand... you just need to loosen the ice enough to pry it
off, but my mind couldn't get past the image of blow drying an upright
freezer. I'm still laughing.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

In message "limey" wrote:

"elaine" wrote

I am ashamed to admit, that I've lived in this house for over 25 years
and have not defrosted the freezer once. There is such a big block of
ice on all four corners. Elaine

Well, those famous baskets that I was just bragging about get totally
frozen in and cannot be loosened if we don't defrost occasionally, so
we're forced into it. Elaine.

Dora

You're embarrassing me now ;-) We have 3 freezers; a horizontal one and an
upright in the garage (part of the house) and a fridge-freezer in the
kitchen. I defrost both twice a year. The reason being that I return to
England twice a year and return with 20lb+ of favourite stuff unobtainable or
too expensive in Europe. On each return I have to freeze the food and
re-organise the shelves. It only takes a couple of hours each time and that's
well worth having a regular turnover of food.

The upright is easy. I remove the 4 solid baskets and cover them with
newspaper. Loose stuff from the 3 quick freezing shelves goes into plastic
boxes after sorting. I stick a bowlful of boiling water on the bottom shelf,
close the door and replace the bowl once.

The horizontal one is even easier to sort. It came with 4 wire baskets so I
bought another 8. Now I place 4 on the base. Four more sit on these and the
final 4 have brackets which let them hang from the lip of the freezer so air
can circulate. Now I just yank them out and stack them onto a workboard which
sits on the trailer. Each shelf came with a plastic tab so I've labelled them
A1, A2, A3, B1...so it's easy to pop them back into the right place each
time. I've even used the computer to generate a simple stock chart for each
freezer so I can keep an up to date log of the contents. It's fun but then I
do most of the cooking. Now that's not so orderly ;-)

Cheers

Don

sf wrote:
On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 02:46:56 GMT, Bill-NWG wrote:

Has anyone suggested using a blow dryer. I know that seems silly,
but it does work great and quite rapidly.


I've seen that tip in the past for use on freezers that are
incorporated into refrigerators. I know how long it takes to blow dry
my hair, so I'd hate to think about how long it would take to blow dry
a full sized freezer!

LOL! My arm aches just thinking about it.


My husband tried this once with the door nearly closed. It
melted/warped some of the interior plastic trim.

I can defrost our garage freezer when it's very bad in about an hour.
I use two kettles of boiling water set on the shelves, with back-up
kettles heating on the stove. When the first are cooled, I replace them
and usually two rounds works quite well.

gloria p

LOL

"sf" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 03:55:49 GMT, Bill-NWG wrote:

It takes significantly less energy for hot heat to start the thawing
process
than to completely dry, though.


Yes, I understand... you just need to loosen the ice enough to pry it
off, but my mind couldn't get past the image of blow drying an upright
freezer. I'm still laughing.
--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.