Saturday, March 28, 2009

Thawing out

The sun is shining these days, and I am getting more motivated to do things I have been putting off for a while. (I still have a cold, so I do not always follow through, but the motivation is there.)

A few years ago, I bought a freezer for the basement. I love it. For a while I was better at putting food into it than I was at taking it out, but that is no longer the case. However, time and incidents such as leaving the lid up a crack meant that there was frost accumulating on the inside of the freezer. Today I defrosted the freezer. Wanda was kind enough to help me (although I have to admit that it probably would have been more entertaining to watch me trying to reach the bottom of the freezer myself).

It was pretty easy. I took all of the food out and put it in the fridge freezer or in a cooler. I then unplugged the freezer and put a pan of hot water in it to help things melt. The next step was to go out and run errands. By the time I got back, the frost had fallen off of the sides. I took out the pan of water as well as the pieces of frost. The freezer has a drain hole on the bottom, and the next step was to undo the inside and the outside plugs. I then started wiping up the bottom. (This is when Wanda "volunteered" to help me.) Once it was all dry, we propped open the lid and went for lunch. When we got back, it was time for one final drying of the freezer. Then we replaced the food and plugged it back in. Hopefully it won’t need to be done again for a while.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you for qualifying that "volunteered" bit.

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  2. This seems very ambitious. I'm so lazy and scared to own a house - where I might have responsibilities like this!

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  3. Our freezer is upright, so there's no reaching in when I'm defrosting it. It's still a pain to do.

    A couple of years ago, Son #3 had a big group of friends in and out of the house. They knew which food in the freezer was fair game, and would go in and help themselves. However, the freezer's door needs a good hip check to make sure it's closed properly. A few times someone wouldn't close it correctly, and I'd come downstairs to find everything covered in frost (a few times even partially thawed).

    I informed the group that anyone who left the freezer door open would have to HELP me defrost it!

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