How to organize and DEFROST A CHEST FREEZER (like a pro!)

Рет қаралды 39,321

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 65

@autumndawn711 Жыл бұрын

I use the drawers out of the cheap plastic organizer dressers. You often see them at Walmart. They fit right in my freezer and the depth is perfect so I can stand quart bags upright. It has made it so much easier to find and use things.

@lydiah7184 Жыл бұрын

Printing the freezer list immediately! Thank you, Crystal! You’re my favorite homesteader.

@wholefedhomestead Жыл бұрын

Aww thanks! 🥰🥰

@c.c.c.9403 10 ай бұрын

❤❤❤❤thank you so very much wounderful short cuts for s2 70 year-old handicap adults and our freezer. We are having our first steer coming bk next week so I definitely need to defrost and organize. God bless you 🙏🏼 ❤️ thank you.

@tammym110 Жыл бұрын

I love the banana box idea. Great video and so timely. Our freezer is 14 months old and it needs to be defrosted

@wholefedhomestead Жыл бұрын

Thanks! They are such perfect boxes for this! 😊😅

@janinedaly8919 Ай бұрын

OMGTHANK YOU!!!!!! I have got 2 massive freezers (1000Litres or 265 Gallons) I have always needed a hammer and scraper, I found your video and used a fan and it took me less than 30 mins per freezer!!!!! I now have two fully organised freezers which are now super organised and my ready made and cooked meals are in one and the meats veggies fruits and more are in the other one.

@wholefedhomestead Ай бұрын

Love to hear this!! 🥰

@lindas.8036 6 ай бұрын

I have a small chest freezer, that I love. It was inexpensive and works so well. But it is problematic for organization. I have tried everything, literally. I finally settled on colored, reusable grocery bags, usually made out of a non-tear, durable fabric. I have a schedule taped to the front, and everything is color coordinated. I.E., chicken - red; beef - yellow; pork - green, etc. The bags are easy to fill and move around, and they conform to the space available. I still have to move a few on occasion to get to what I want--why is it ALWAYS on the bottom--but it is easy! I can see at a glance where the bag I want is, and the strong bag handles make it easy to move them out and around. Works better than anything I have tried. I would LOVE to have a totally organized system, and I have seen some that have sliding drawers, etc. but it is just not in my budget. My system works a treat! Thank you for the videos. I always enjoy them.

@lindas.8036 6 ай бұрын

Also, repackaging and vacuum sealing meats and breads (freeze the breads first so they don't squash when vac sealed), makes everything safe from freezer burn and last longer! Vac Sealing is the best thing since sliced bread!

@vivienspark Жыл бұрын

Thanks Crystal, will definitely print the inventory list, it's something I've been trying to figure out for a while. I already have your book, I refer to it all the time. I'm so motivated now! Now just need to Tom Sawyer my husband 😂

@wholefedhomestead 11 ай бұрын

Haha! And thanks so much! 🥰

@Gardenbythebeach 3 ай бұрын

I love you 🫶. I’m going to be defrosting my chest freezer soon and reorganising it and the tip about using banana boxes is pure gold so thanks 🙏 from South Australia 🇦🇺. Love Lyn

@nancyschwartz7692 2 ай бұрын

If you don't have boxes and/or have a smaller freezer, you can also use paper grocery bags. They can tear over time with the dampness. But they do tend to last quite a while. Especially if you double or triple them up. You can also use a sharpie to write on the outside of the bag. If they tear, no worries, just stick the torn bag into the recycle and replace with another free paper bag. I've also used a blow dryer to help speed up defrosting the freezer. Just stand there and blast it. Takes just a few minutes to really get going. Super fast. I also like to organize the freezer with older stuff on top. Makes it easy to systematically use up the older items first.

@wholefedhomestead 2 ай бұрын

You should never ever thaw a freezer with any type of heat! It can damage the walls.

@dandmpug Ай бұрын

This is gonna be so helpful when I clean out our chest freezer soon. Thanks for sharing the free checklists and printable directions. So appreciated!

@ShanahIgriega 7 ай бұрын

Boxes and Sensors are genius!

@eramosat 14 күн бұрын

I get to farm-sit at the home of a friend soon, who has 2 completely full, completely unorganzied chast freezers containing sooooooooo much! I will be using your basic ideas to help her make the most out of her farm's significant bounty....who knows what treasures might get found! Banana boxes. Noted. Handles. Noted. Maybe an inventory chart...chicken, beef, pork, other meats, nuts, berries, flours are all categories I know to be taking up real-estate, as well as pies, and bread, and sooo many other things. Always an adventure to root through them!

@wholefedhomestead 9 күн бұрын

What a wonderful gift to organize someone's freezers!!

@eramosat 9 күн бұрын

@@wholefedhomestead well, if it were true, it would be awesome...but I made a pass through the first one...and I know I made it worse. There was a lot in there...and the banana boxes I got, well, they stack 3 high. So, with the added box restrictions, less fit in than before, and the boxes definitely restricted access, and there was still significant leftovers spilling....and I shoved it in. 😞 Within the next 2.5 weeks...I 'll try to do better...I hope it remains a gift! I do have an idea of one freeer's inventory...but I doubt anyone could make that same inventory "sing". Lol.

@jenwych 10 ай бұрын

I'm so happy to have found your page! I know I'll get a lot of hate for this but of all of the home steaders I have tried to follow they were bible beaters with a ton of kids. It's nice to see a couple who is child free and home steaders!

@wholefedhomestead 9 ай бұрын

💗💗

@attygarland6909 7 күн бұрын

20 cubic feet ??? Where did you find one that large?

@wholefedhomestead 3 күн бұрын

Just at the Home Depot 😊

@gettingoutofthebasement8597 Жыл бұрын

Mine needs to be defrosted, but more than that organized. What's in my freezer? Peaches? Chicken? No idea, there's an entire deer laying on top just loosey-goosey! Putting this on my to-do for the weekend :)

@wholefedhomestead Жыл бұрын

😂😂

@tooshieg2059 Ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing. I'm more concerned about freezer temps when the power goes off - so a wifi unit is not for me but a battery unit with alarm. I also like an ice-cube indicator. Put an ice cube into a ziplock baggie and tape it someplace easy to see when you open the door. If the cube has thawed you know your food is suspect. I started doing this after I came home from vaca. I knew the power had been off a few days and had no idea if the freezer had thawed. The power also came back on while I was away so everything was frozen - but - did it thaw? I looked at the ice-cube indicate to see it was still in it's cube form so I knew my food was fine.

@fiji16g8 Ай бұрын

Don't they make frost free chest freezers

@DelereneFerguson-qb9cb 5 ай бұрын

Great idea! Most definitely I will be using your method. Thank you

@nosilverharbinger 9 ай бұрын

You mentioned the ice building up around the door area of the freezer compartment at 00:52. Yes, ice can build up there and prevent the door from seating properly. Another culprit for this is that ice builds up in the freezer door itself that will warp the door over time and damage the insulation from over compression. To avoid this what I do every time I defrost a chest freezer is take it outside with the door open and let the door drain out. Depending on how much ice is in there the process can take hours. Just expect it to take way longer than to remove the ice and water from the freezer compartment. It also makes a serious watery mess, so that’s why I take it outside. On a side note, cleaning out the compressor area is a great thing to do while defrosting. It will also extend the life of the appliance, and if the freezer is kept in an area like a garage where bugs get in spiders love to lay their eggs there among other things.

@lisatucker7269 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the great ideas! 😊

@hidaelmi4545 4 ай бұрын

Thank you so much 😊

@KatWrangler Ай бұрын

Very helpful!!❤

@ParkerFaith 22 күн бұрын

Have you seen the plastic veg crates for the freezer......not sure if that's workable for you, I've utilized for growing fruits and veg

@johnreydelatorre3450 10 ай бұрын

More organization vids ❤

@bethevans85 11 ай бұрын

I need to do our freezers and for some reason I thought they would need to be off for days for a defrost! Now I'm excited to get our freezers done. We have 3 uprights and 1 chest. Should the uprights be done the same as the chest freezers?

@wholefedhomestead 11 ай бұрын

Yes- unless the uprights are self defrosting… then they likely don’t even need it.

@attygarland6909 7 күн бұрын

I thought the whole idea of "frost free" (assuming this freezer is one) is that you don't have any ice build up on the inside. ? You don't have this issue with the freezer part of a modern refrigerator.

@wholefedhomestead 7 күн бұрын

This is not frost free (no chest freezers are, only stand up types).

@attygarland6909 6 күн бұрын

@@wholefedhomestead First I heard of that .. ? In fact, I'm getting rid of my stand up FOR a chest freezer b/c of that very issue. Giant ice buildup, icecicles, etc. I have probably lost 1/2 the interior space b/c of all the ice. 😠 It does NOT have a circulation fan (it's like 40+ years old, btw, made by one of the major manuf. that has since gone out of biz). So are you saying yours doesn't have one either? Hopefully the Hisense I'm thinking of getting (7.0 c.f.) has one.

@wholefedhomestead 3 күн бұрын

I have a stand up freezer that is "frost free." There are pros and cons to each type. I think most of the modern standups are self-defrosting or frost free, but make sure you double check if that's what you're wanting.

@camillesabey 4 күн бұрын

How do I see your links for book and freezer alarms?

@wholefedhomestead 3 күн бұрын

It's in the video description below the video. You might have to tap "...more"

@asgardian6638 8 ай бұрын

Why dont use anything with heat like warm water or hair dryer? When searching fastest ways to defrost i saw people using pots of boiling water (just put the pots on a towel) then close the lid to cause the ice to melt quickly. I also thought about using my heat gun (not too close) because i may even be able to do that without removing the food and letting all the cold air out. Im just trying to find info if this could damage the freezer where im aiming the heat gun.

@wholefedhomestead 8 ай бұрын

It is never recommended to use heat. Going from very cold to hot can warp, crack, or otherwise damage the freezer walls.

@asgardian6638 8 ай бұрын

@@wholefedhomestead Thanks

@vatkifromcali 10 ай бұрын

Doesn't the ice make the cardboard week. I could see me lifting out the box and the bottom falling out

@wholefedhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Nope- but we are careful to use sturdy boxes. Some boxes we’ve had in use for 5+ years!

@marcosmoced1 6 ай бұрын

Good stuff love it.

@AdrianoFabbri-b4l 3 ай бұрын

What size freezer is this

@wholefedhomestead 3 ай бұрын

I think it's around 22 cubic feet

@bevstegeman Жыл бұрын

I want to defrost my chest freezer. There is a closed box full of canning jars with I-don't-know-what-it-is frozen to the side and bottom of the freezer. I'm sure I don't want what's inside, other than the jars themselves. How do I get this out of the freezer?

@wholefedhomestead Жыл бұрын

You probably need to let the freezer warm and thaw for a bit longer to let the box release naturally (sounds like maybe some of the jars broke?).

@ceciliapreziose3783 10 ай бұрын

EXCELLENT

@paulawhite2882 Жыл бұрын

I think your book is worth owning! I don't like to have a lot of books on hand and I generally check them out from the library first to see if I like them. Yours is one of them+ Freezers.....I don't think there is a perfect one. Upright, chest. I look at your chest and think, I don't want to have to pull out boxes to get to.....I have an upright, and it still seems unorganized and a little annoying to get into, even though I try to organize it. You make great and informative videos. I like how you voice over, if that is what you call+

@wholefedhomestead 11 ай бұрын

Appreciate that, thank you! 💗