How often do you defrost your freezer or fridge/freezer

[TheOlderIGetTheStayerIHome]

I’ve been struggling to close the doors/drawers on the shelves in my iced up fridge freezer for a while because of ice build up.
We have a small chest freezer also, but that has no room for the fridge freezer stuff to fit in whilst I defrost it, and the fridge freezer always takes forever to defrost/chip ice off, because of the set up and the wire shelves.
I have just emptied the chest freezer and bashed the ice build up off, scooped it out and rearranged all the food. I know when I last did them both, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who leaves this job far too long, but I was curious how often others actually do theirs.

I have the same set up as you, did the chest freezer at the weekend, not sure when I’ll get to the fridge freezer. I aim for every six months but never stick to it.

And to add- I think the seals need replaced on both and that’s another thing I never get around to even though I know it would be better to just get on with it.

My freezer is frost-free, so doesn’t need defrosting.

If you have an old-fashioned freezer you need to keep an eye on ice build up and defrost if it’s about 1 cm thick. It’s much easier and quicker to defrost than waiting till it’s blocked up with ice.

How energy efficient is your freezer - maybe it’s time to replace it?

I’ve never done this. I always choose frost free 😁

About every two or three years with the big chest freezer. The other one doesn't ice up.

I spend about two months using up everything in the chest freezer then defrost it during summer.

Or I wait for a cold snap in midwinter and pull everything out onto the patio while I put hot water bottles in the freezer to quickly defrost it.

Think if that happens you need a new freezer?

mine is frost free now but in the past ive used two hairdryers to speed it up

Annually and in the winter because it encourages me to eat stuff up and if there is stuff I can't clear in time then it's cold enough to put outside.

Hairdryer

My chest freezer in the garage is 6 years old , I’ve done it once ! But tbh it’s not that iced up , as I often chip at it with a spoon 🤣 .

As and when. I have an under-counter freezer independent from the fridge.
Definitely once a year, possibly more than once a year but not more than twice. I have some big styrofoam coolers to hold the frozen things and I time defrosting for the end of the shopping week so there's less inside it.
The fridge is self defrosting but I did have to unblock the drain this summer for the first time in 5+ years.

About once every couple of years.

More often if someone has left it open and it has frozen up not looking at you ds, at all

My freezers are frost free now but this used to be one of my favourite jobs. Yes I’m a saddo! Used a hairdryer and a butter knife. So satisfying when big chunks fall off 🤭

I do ours about once a year, usually in winter — I pile everything into cool bags and leave them outside while I work, which saves the whole 'where do I put the food' panic. The trick that changed my life is putting a couple of pans of just-boiled water on the shelves and shutting the door; the steam loosens the ice in about 20 minutes and it comes off in sheets rather than needing to chip at it. I'd second the poster who mentioned door seals — if yours is icing up constantly, the seal is usually the culprit, and replacements are cheap and easy to fit on most models.

About once a year, when it’s freezing outside, to put the stuff in cool boxes in the shed.

Once a year, it’s so very annoying

DH would never even think to do it, even if the ice was preventing the doors closing etc

So, defrosting the freezer is on my long list of jobs to do! (Pink and Blue ones, as my friend refers to them!)

I do use pans of boiling hot water to defrost the fridge freezer, the chest freezer is far, far easier to do, and doesn’t need the water. It’s the kind of thing I do when I have the motivation to do it, rather than waiting for winter to help keep the food chilled, but I love that idea! If at any point in the future the urge takes me to do the rotten job in winter, I will definitely use that tip!

I was under the impression that frost free gave you less freezer space, so that’s why we just got the regular type.

it’s been around 2 years 😬 since I last did them (tbf DH did them the previous couple of times), both on the same day, we must have eaten the supplies down to the bare minimum, but I do a lot of batch cooking now as I work full time, so it’s not so easy as they are both always rammed.

I do it when I'm struggling to close the drawers or when I can't find enough space in drawers due to too much ice.

I make a pile of the food and insulate with towels while I defrost the freezer.

Using a hairdryer is a great way to speed up the job. Much better than damaging things by trying to chip bits of ice off.

I usually have a good clear out just before Christmas and do it then. The indoor fridge freezer doesn't take that long. I've got a special screwdriver bought I st for using in the freezer

Every 3 months or so, ours tends to build up quickly with ice in the freezer despite being relatively new!

The fridge freezer i have was the one belonging to the previous owner of my house, although it was quite new when I moved in.
Six years on and for the last 12 months hardly being able to open one of the drawers for the accumulated ice build up I decided to bite the bullet and defrost it. And the defrosting was so easy I was really annoyed with myself for not doing it earlier. So pleased to not to have to fight with the freezer every time I want something out of it.
I 'll never leave it that long again.

I do a stock take on new years day, and move all the stuff I want to use up into the upstairs freezer, and whilst I have it all out I remove as much built up ice as I can and get everything sorted out. Good time to make jams out of remaining fruit, to cook down and strain tomatoes to make passata and stuff. New years day is good as I can put the bags of stuff outside so it doesnt melt whilst I do the ice removal.

Although it did build up this summer and I took great pleasure in deicing in 40 degree temps one day, because we were using so many ice cubes they were making more ice bits which clogged up the drawers.

Never? I didn't even know you could buy the ones that need defrosting any more.

The last time I did it was about 12 years ago in a rented place where the fridge freezer was about 20 years old and drove me mad but we didn't have the funds to replace it and the landlord didn't want to as it worked fine (this is fair enough, I realise!)

2015 apparently we bought our current fridge freezer, and it's never needed doing.

I had forgotten this was a job that ever needed doing tbh, we’ve had a frost free one for the last 2 times we’ve bought a fridge freezer (almost 20 years now).
If you have a frosty freezer, how long have you had it? Why is it still an option to buy one that frosts up?

Frost free