I did the dreaded task of defrosting and cleaning my freezer yesterday. I don’t think we have ever done that since we bought it three years ago. So the freezer was way over due for a cleaning. DEEP Cleaning. I would love to share with you how to defrost a freezer the easy way.
How to Defrost a Freezer the Easy Way
The Best Way to Defrost a Freezer
1. Unplug or turn off your freezer first. Then empty the contents of your freezer into coolers to keep all your items cold. It took around five coolers for this stand up freezer. If you don’t have enough borrow some from your friends for this project.
2. Place a super absorbent towel on the bottom of your freezer. This will catch any falling ice and water drips and makes for super easy clean up. You will need a few of these, if you have let your freezer go like we have!
3. Grab a small bucket you can collect ice into. If you have a freezer like ours, you don’t want to damage the shelves. The shelves are what keeps the food cold. Use a plastic spatula or spoon to gently scrape the shelves to loosen the ice. Place the bucket underneath to catch the ice.
4. REPEAT. A lot. Until all the ice has melted or has fallen on your towel.
5. With a vinegar and water or mild soapy water solution and wash down all the shelves, door and bottom of your freezer. Don’t forget the seal. The seal keeps all that cold air in. Check to make sure the seal is still in good shape, if not you may need to replace it.
6. Now you should have a sparkly clean freezer! Let’s fill it up again. Take a little time and organize your freezer when you are putting the items back. Here is a list of how I organized all my items from top to bottom:
- Ground meat and breads
- Sausage on the left and soup stocks
- Cooked meat and cooked vegetables
- Drawer: Things that can be grilled, steaks, turkey, goose
- Door: Fruits, vegetables, purees, chicken, cooked crawfish
You may only see a few pictures in this post, but this was around a three hour process to do all of this. It was so worth it too. I now know how much food I have and what I need to buy to make it through the rest of the year. If you want to fill your freezer with fresh veggies read How to Freeze Vegetables article.
I didn’t know we had so much cooked meat in our freezer. If you want a good freezer casserole try making my Awesome Sausage Casserole. I won’t have to cook for a while now! And that’s my plan for summer…
When was the last time you cleaned your freezer?
I didn’t do my freezer forever and I swore to be better about it and I try to do it every three months so that it is easier!! The other thing that is helpful is to pour warm water over the shelf or use a sponge with hot water on it to speed up the process (or sometimes just leaving a boiling water pan in the bottom). Mine is super overdue again but I have so much stuff in the freezer. We have been working on eating through it all so that I can do it next month. Crossing my fingers!!! Congrats on the clean freezer!!!
Thanks Alison. These are great really great tips for next time! I will have to try them and see if it helps. Hopefully it won’t be again in three years. lol