How many times have you started prepping dinner, took some meat out of the freezer, only to realize it has been freezer burnt? This is an inconvenience to say the least. No one want to throw away food seeing how expensive it is these days. Stocking up when things are on sale, or when your favorite produce is in season can save you and your family money, being able to freeze extra food to preserve it and give it a longer life until it’s time for it to be eaten is a necessity to all. Freezer burn damages the taste, smell and look of food. So why is your freezer freezer burning food now? There are a few factors that can go into determining why your freezer is doing this. Today we will discuss how to defrost your freezer, along with how to prevent freezer burn in the future.
How to Defrost Your Freezer
Older freezers don’t come equipped with self-defrost features like newer high-efficiency freezers to. So occasionally we have to do it manually. Allowing frost to build up in your freezer will stop it come working efficiently and will compromise the integrity of your food. If It looks like Alaska in January in your freezer, it’s time for a good cleaning. Transfer all the food from your freezer into a cooler or spare freezer. If you don’t have either of these things, plan ahead and eat up what you can before you begin this process. You will need some towels to catch the water and ice before it gets all over your floor. Place the towels at the bottom of the freezer and on the floor below the freezer. A plastic spatula can be used to assist you in removing some of the ice chunks too. NEVER use a knife or other shard object to remove frost as it can damage the freezer’s inner wall. Unplug your freezer and open the door. Next, there is more than one way to perform this next step, we will start with the simplest. You can allow the freezer to defrost naturally by leaving your freezer unplugged and the door open for the night. Remember this will cause the ice to melt creating water so there will be some clean up, be sure to have plenty of towels down to absorb the moisture. The next way to defrost your freezer would be to place a pot of hot, boiled water into the freezer. After the pot has cooled just enough to not cause damage to a towel, place it at the bottom of the freezer on the towels you placed down and allow the steam to rise for a few minutes. The steam will aid in loosening the built-up frost for easier removal, you can then begin to scrape the frost off with the plastic spatula. If needed, reheat the water every 20 mins or so to keep the steam going. Shake the ice chunks off the towel into the sink as often as needed so you don’t make a mess.
How to Prevent Freezer Burn
Freezer burn happens when a freezer dries out food. Moisture escapes from food when the freezer’s temperature is inconsistent. To minimize freezer burn, set your freezer’s temperature to 0 Degrees Fahrenheit and always give food a chance to chill in the refrigerator before freezing it. Double wrap the foods you are going to freeze and place them into an airtight, freezer safe container. Freeze small batches of unfrozen food at a time and try to keep the door closed as much as possible so the cold won’t escape. Keeping your fridge about 75% stocked at all times will help to regulate the temperature and aid in freezing other foods quickly. Try not to leave food in your freezer for longer than 9 months. Food left in the freezer for too long will become freezer burnt.
Freezer Appliance Repairs & More in CEDAR PARK, AUSTIN, ROUND ROCK, GEORGETOWN, FRISCO, ALLEN, PLANO, DALLAS & SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
If you are still having issues with freezer burnt foods after you’ve followed these steps, you may have a faulty temperature gauge or other component that needs replacing. Call us today to schedule a freezer or other appliance inspection and needed repairs!
