Forced to defrost my freezer!!

[HiccupHaddockHorrendous]

Shopping arrived yesterday. I tried to shove some of it into the freezer and the door wouldn't close!

It's taking so long to get the last of the ice melted. I am keeping everything crossed that my super-duper-coolbox is as efficient as I thought because it is packed tight with the contents of the freezer .

Is this another domestic chore that has never made it to my list but should have?

For future reference, how often should fridge freezers be defrosted?

about once a year should do unless you have left the door open.

If it needs it more often, then the door or seal is faulty.

If it is a "frost free," and the internal airducts get blocked, it may take more than 24 hours, and you have to continue until it totally stops dripping. If it happens again, the defrost heaters have probably failed and it needs repair or to be replaced.

While it is unplugged and defrosting, pull it away from the wall and clean out the dish at the back, which will be full of damp, mouldy fluff.

Thanks for the reply and advice!

Everything is back in now but I will investigate the dish at the back, one weekend soon

Fortunately, the coolbox kept everything frozen so it's all back where it should be.

I've had the fridge freezer approx 4 years and this is the first full defrost . I will make more effort to do it more often.

I'm planning on doing mine soon I'm quite looking forward to it. We've been living off the freezer and cupboards for a couple of weeks now to empty it and I'm sooo excited we're nearly there! I did throw a few bits away - ancient lamb joints - it said November on it - but I'm not sure which November - it definitely wasn't last November! The 2 year reduced cherry pie was nice - the 2 year sea bass - not so much - and that was still in date as bought as frozen. My mum and I had exactly the same complaint tonight - use by dates on stuff never have the year on so you're often left wondering... or is that just us!!

I'll defrost mine by putting a bowl of boiling water in it and having a damn good scrape and pick and not be tempted to use a hairdryer like I did on an old fridge's ice box This time I will clean the top too - covered in years of crap. Maybe the doors - covered in ancient notes!

Ooh. Dish? Never seen that. Do they all have one

I defrost my freezer a couple of times a year. I put towels at the bottom and pack them around the door. Then a washing up bowl on the bottom shelf, a big mixing bowl on the next one up.
Then i defrost from the top shelf with the hairdryer. Water drips down into the bowls and by the time the top shelf is done, the melt water has melted the ice from the shelves below. Quick clean out, food away and towels in the wash, takes half an hour

last time I had a non-frostfree, it had a tube or spout you fitted to the front centre at the bottom, the water ran out into a bowl placed there, so no need for towels.

the more often you defrost, the quicker it is as the ice is thinner.

Turn it off then blast the ice with a hair dryer to defrost the last bits.

I did mine today - ooh I did have a lovely time hacking off inches of ice - felt like Scott of the Antarctic - it does look lovely. Didn't need a hair dryer!

Can't remember the last time I did it [blush it was a good half hour before I could get the wire shelves out!

Defrost heaters? What new-fangled sorcery is this?

We empty it, unplug it, put the spout in the slot at the bottom aimed into a basin, and let loose with the hairdrier. Takes 15 minutes at most, including cleaning up the inevitable puddle on the floor.

I thought hacking lumps of was bad for it?

I don't have a slot at my bottom for a spout... unless it's in the instruction book