Defrosting a chest freezer

Well, when I had a chest freezer I took the ice off as soon as it was loose and put it on the garden. Any water that ended up in the bottom was soaked up with towels.

I used to have one and used a dustpan and bucket to empty the water , think baling out a boat !
Bathtowels are good for mopping the last bits

I used old newspapers, but they left stains of the words of mine, but no worry, hidden by ice and full freezer in no time. Bath towels if you have a day to wash and dry them, or go to a tube station and get a stack of metros.

Haven't had a chest freezer for a long time but, when we did, we didn't defrost it to move. Kept in on high for 24 hours, didn't open it and the movers plugged it in at their depot. Agree with those who say old towels

I did what Nonnie did. Fortunately it was January but it had to be kept on the van overnight, but last thing on, first off, and no ill - effects.

I always defrost on a freezing morning and wrap the contents and put outside. When I had a 20 cu ft chest freezer (oh how I miss it!), I used to run a jug full of hot (not boiling) water around the inside rim so that it ran behind the ice. It would then fall off in sheets which could be lifted out in large chunks. Any water that remained in the base could be scooped out with a dustpan.

Mine took 3 days to defrost and dry out so please leave plenty of time, though hopefully yours is not as iced up as mine was!

I defrosted my chest freezer on Saturday. I scooped as much of the water out as possible with a dust pan and then used a floor cloth to sop up the remainder, squeezing the water out into a bowl before sopping up more.

Start (switching off and starting to unload contents) to finish (reloaded and switched on) took just over 2 hours. I always put a bowl of boiling water in the freezer to speed defrosting.

I scoop mine out with dustpan if needed but there is a small drainage hole too, covered with plastic plug, so a fair amount drains out while it's melting.

I discovered that drainage hole just before we finally got rid of it , I miss the chest freezer , so much more efficient than the stand up one

I switch mine off, empty, piling up the frozen stuff so it stays cold, then start scraping the loose ice/frost. I leave for a while, (half hour or so) then come back and scrape more. Soon the ice starts falling off in chunks. It usually takes an hour or so before all ice comes off. At this stage it's all still frozen in bottom of freezer. Then I scoop it up with a dustpan, into a basin, and remove. There's very little water, as I remove as ice. The small amount of water can be soaked up with a towel.

My freezer also has a small drainhole, covered with a plug, but I've never had to use.

I have never understood why freezers have the drain hole at the bottom. My freezer has one, but no space to put any kind of tray for the water to drain into and I really do not want it draining all over the floor and under the freezer that would have to be moved to clean up under it.

I've had mine for over two years and it has hardly any ice. I have large, heavyweight mesh bags, one each for meat, veg and ready-meals (mainly batch-cooked casseroles) and cakes and bread are in the baskets. When I need something I take out the bag and close the lid quickly. Then I can have a rummage, find what I want and dump the bag back in again. It's in the garage, so probably cooler and drier than in the house.

My chest freezer has a drain at the bottom and as it's in the garage it doesn't matter if it drains onto the floor but that said modern chest freezers are really light, my Bosch is anyway and that's at least 7 years old. so could you tip it up on one end and empty it. Other than that use a mop and bucket, keep ringing the mop out in the bucket, Job done.

You must leave it to sit for some hours after moving it without plugging in . I scrape up and off as much ice as I can and defrost with a hair dryer so not a lot of water just ice. Any water I use towels .

Wet/dry Vac......just sucks up the remaining water !

I've done my mother's chest freezer out a couple of times. It does have a drainage hole, but it is in a stupid place. As Farmor describes, you just have to be quick and get it out while it's still ice, then there's only a little bit to wipe up at the end.

I use a hair dryer on low to defrost. Lift out any chunks of ice then put a bath towel in the bottom to catch any drips HTH