Defrosting the Freezer
I hate defrosting the freezer. I never seem to have enough coolers to put everything into, and it’s just a pain to do–especially when your fingers start to sieze up because the gloves you wear inevitably get soaked and then frigid. But, because some of your food is sitting out thawing, it’s imperative that you get through the process as quickly as possible so it can all go back in!
Anyone who lives around here knows that Pittsburgh has been going through a cold snap lately. I decided to take advantage of the weather to defrost my freezer at a more liesurely pace. I loaded the food all into boxes and lugged it out into the single-digit outdoors. Then, knowing that it was stored safely, I let the heat from the pots of boiling water do most of the work of clearing the coils. It helped that my basement floor drain is right next to the freezer, so I didn’t have to worry about where the melted ice would flow to.
because I had some extra time to consider the process, I realized that an inventory of what’s in the freezer would be invaluable to making sure I actually use up all of the stuff I’m preserving. So, I made a list as I returned it to the cooler, the meat cuts organized by source animal; plus a list of fruits, vegetables, and other products. Now, when I take something out or add something in, it’s easy to keep an accurate tally of what I have in stock.
If I were really on top of things, I’d type it all into a spreadsheet so that it’s easily updatable when many changes have been made. Maybe I will when lots of the items have been scratched off and revised. For the time being, though, even having a list seems like a huge leap forward, especially since I don’t have to prop the door open and plow through the inventory to figure out what I have and what I want to take out–I can do my browsing with the door closed and not have to worry about temperature fluctuations while I ponder my options.
January 24th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Am I alone . . . my freezer never needs defrosting. Maybe it is one of those new-fangled frost-free ones . . . hmmmm? I wouldn’t mind taking a freezer inventory though . . . who knows what kind of goodies I’ll find in there?
February 20th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I’ve been meaning to respond and tell you about the time we drove into your Aunt Clyde’s driveway and saw her out in the carport defrosting her freezer and sorting out the various packages in it. In North Carolina where people don’t have basements, the carport is a favorite place for a freezer. There she was in the hot sun with packages of frozen food all around her sorting through it and remarking that x (about 5 years previous) was a very good year and putting back the corn, lima beans, cowpeas, etc from that year. The best we could tell most of it was unrecognizable!
This week while on school vacation, I had the chance to look through one of my freezers and I found some 2 year old stew beef. I thawed it, cut off the worst of the freezer burn, and made some pretty good beef stew. I don’t recommend leaving it that long, but was determined not to throw it away.