13-AUG-18 Defrost Monday

[DiveMilw]

Today, I started defrosting our upright freezer.  It has needed to be defrosted for months and months and months.  I'm not close to being finished but the work is satisfying.  I have cleared away large portions of frost and ice.  It is a little unsettling because although I knew there was a lot of frost built up I hadn't realized how much frost there actually is.  I'd say that 50% of the space I thought was taken up by food is actually frost!   Between clearing away frost and tossing food which has been in the freezer for a number of years I'm making space and can see what meat we need to cook.   It is also a good way to work off some stress because I'm using a rubber mallet to loosen the hunks of frost and ice.  Once I get most of the freezer clear I'll start bringing up stuff to cook.  (I really started that bit today as I used up some ground turkey in the lunch I made.)  Then when the freezer is mostly empty I will put the remaining food in a cooler,  unplug the freezer and completely defrost and wash the entire thing.  

I feel like I've accomplished something today and need to keep the momentum going.  The hardest part is figuring out what to do with the food that needs to be thrown away.  I don't want to put it in the garbage bin outside yet because today was garbage collection day.  Whatever I put out there will fester in the summer temperatures all week and get really smelly.  As I was typing this I think I figured out a solution.  I will move all the old food to one shelf.  That way I can keep working on the rest and not have it scattered all over the freezer.  There wasn't room to do that before but I think there is now.  Progress!