If the box or bag in the freezer is full of ice, you should throw it away immediately. JUHA JAAKKONEN
Now is a good time to go through the forgotten “treasures” in the freezer.
Freezing weather and weekend free time are a good combination if you’re thinking about defrosting the freezer.
Marta advises to defrost the freezer at the latest when the frost layer is thicker than half a centimeter.
A good tip is to put the device on the freezing connection well in advance of defrosting, this way the frozen foods are colder and withstand the defrosting phase better.
Several freezer boxes or bags can easily get buried in the freezer, the contents of which are no longer recognizable. The cold fact is that food does not last forever even in the freezer.
These foods should no longer be stored in the freezer
1. Opened freezer bag
An opened bag of French fries in the freezer. This is probably a familiar sight in many freezers. Hand to heart: do you ever cook with them? The contents of the bag may have already been exposed to “frostbite”, i.e. ice has accumulated on their surface and the contents start to taste like the freezer.
2. Ice cubes
If there are plastic ice cube trays on the freezer shelves, but you don’t remember when you filled them or used them last time, you should throw the ice cubes away.
3. Old berries
The frozen berries themselves can be kept in the freezer for up to a year, depending on how they were frozen.
You can eat frozen berries that are even two years old, if they haven’t thawed in between. The harder the skin on the berry, the longer they last.
If the berries are dried and look like raisins, they should not be eaten anymore.
4. Fatty meat or fish
Especially when it comes to meat and fish, you should be careful. The fattier the meat or fish, the shorter time it stays in the freezer.
According to the Marttas, mincemeat only lasts one to two months in the freezer. The shelf life of the fish is not much longer, because according to Martto, the fish can be kept in the freezer for 1–3 months.
Poultry meat can be stored in the freezer for 3–6 months, just like pork. Beef and lamb can be stored in the freezer for 8–10 months.
5. Alcohol
Even if you want to enjoy ice-cold schnapps, don’t store alcohol in the freezer. Beer or sparkling wine that has been put in the freezer can sometimes be forgotten in the freezer. Then you might be in for a nasty surprise.
Tips for defrosting the freezer
1. Switch off the freezer. If it is a refrigerator-freezer, the refrigerator is also switched off. The refrigerator door should not be opened to keep it cool during defrosting.
2. Remove the baskets from the freezer or put the frozen items in, for example, cardboard boxes or coolers lined with newspapers. Cover the baskets with blankets or newspapers. In winter, you can take the frozen food outside, for example to the balcony.
3. During emptying, make an inventory of the frozen products and sort them into their own groups.
4. Leave the freezer door or lid open. You can speed up the melting of ice by putting a container of warm water in the freezer. The melting can also be accelerated by collecting the sheets of ice before they melt into water. Be careful not to break walls or cooling pipes.
5. Wipe the inside of the freezer with a cleaning cloth moistened with dishwashing liquid. Wash loose parts. Also wipe the outside and the back of the freezer.
6. Let the freezer dry and ventilate.
7. Connect the freezer to the freezing connection. Put the frozen food back in the freezer. The freezer setting is returned to storage switching when the freezer’s internal temperature is -18 degrees.
Melting tips: Martas