Manual defrost freezer burn

It is worth double checking when you are shopping to ensure that the unit is frost free, but the vast majority are.

This is a great feature for saving you time and effort! There are a few types of refrigerators and freezers that remain on the market that may be manual defrost, such as:. Mini fridges ma de for dorms and offices - usually below 10 cubic feet.

Some smaller apartment refrigerators - usually in the 10 to 14 cubic foot range. Many chest freezers and some upright freezer units. Uses more energy than manual defrosting - a frost free chest freezer will use up to twice as much electricity each year compared to a manual defrost model. Noisier operation since the freezer has to work harder to cool the interior after the defrost cycle.

Sources are mixed on whether automatic defrosting helps prevent freezer burn or encourages it - some argue that the temperature fluctuations caused by the defrost cycle throughout the day can cause freezer burn. Is freezer burn a real concern? It's not certain. The temperature changes in the interior of the freezer are very small, only a few degrees. The evaporator coils may be heated up from 0 degrees to 32 degrees during the auto defrost process, but that doesn't mean the freezer storage area is being heated that much.

As long as your food is wrapped properly and used up in a timely manner, you should be fine. The energy usage issue is more of a concern with chest or upright freezers than with refrigerators.

If you don't mind the once-a-year chore, they can be a great choice. Where I'm i think you have to wait for someone to will you a freezer. Senior Member. I have 2 upright Frigidaire manual defrost freezers. One is from the last few years. Both are full now but once I can consolidate into one, I'll defrost the other then move into it, and defrost the first.

Get meat! I had a single for a while - defrosting isn't bad. I'd make it part of my late summer pre-season routine. Unplug and open it up when it's warm outside and it sheds ice pretty fast. Meat stores are usually pretty low by then so it can all fit in a couple coolers for an hour or so. I had a chest freezer before and organization is so much better with the uprights. I would have to think you could by pass the defrost switch, and make it inoperable.

And I have a chest freezer also, and you are correct. Kenmore manual defrost, probably 20 years old. Frost free will freezer burn. Toss contents into a few coolers, wheel freezer outside when it's 90 deg.

Wheel back in a few hours later and fill it back up. Agross Senior Member. Joined Jan 25, Messages Location Michigan. I got one a few years ago from Sears. Got the biggest one they had and love it. Mine is a kenmore. If you don't have a wife and kids that "might not of shut the door all the way", you really don't have to defrost that often. I however have the wife and kids I just mentioned, and defrosted it last weekend.

Pretty easy. It was in the 20's here last weekend so just threw everything in the garage. Otherwise just throw the stuff in coolers. Brendan Senior Member. Temperature fluctuations and freezer burn with frost free freezers are a thing of the past and old freezers.

I run a 24x7 temp monitor and alarm, and my frost free doesn't get warmer than -2F and that's with occasional door opening. I have anew refrigerator and I really think the freezer in it is an improvement over my old. I have manual chest outside and I would never defrost that thing inside and they are definitely less messy than upright.

Last year we discovered that our dishwasher that was only 6 years old was leaking only because we found water dripping in our basement directly below the dishwasher. The floors were totally destroyed. Then three weeks ago, we again found water dripping in our basement directly below our refrigerator which was also only 6 years old instead.

Again, floors beyond destroyed. And still TBD on how the subfloor will look. But now we have to pull up all the damaged floor again…have our whole first level sanded and sealed so it matches and is even. I will never ever in a billion years put hardwood under appliances in a home. I am sure many others have had no issues but to have major damage twice within two years is just crazy. So defrosting on hardwood just sounds like a no go to me based on my recent experience and I am glad you are thoughtfully considering that as a concern.

Consider a chest freezer in the storage area. Mine was a manual one and I cleaned it out 1x year. The key to efficiency is to keep the freezer full. If I did not have enough food, I would fill up empty 2L soda bottles with water and freeze to fill. Having your freezer in the storage space would allow SO much more space for appliances and stocking up on canned items etc.

I agree with Golda… You need to label things well, keep a running list of what you have in there and rotate. We have a manual defrost freezer in the garage. Naturally, I also have a freezer with my fridge, so we use the garage freezer for meat storage and for extra things that I buy in bulk at Sams or Cosco.

I think you would be much happier with the freezer somewhere besides the new pantry. I would stick to your original plan! Get the pretty stainless steel one.

Freezer burn is caused by air in you storage bags. If you are vacuum sealing items there is little chance of freezer burn. You have a beautiful plan…I would not over think it!

However, if you go with manual, just outside your garage to house door would still be pretty convenient. I have a manual defrost freezer in my garage. I do walk out there to get meat for dinner etc…no biggie. I defrost once a year. I do it in early summer…take all out and let it defrost in the heat.

I am able to just let the water run out. Then i just wipe out. It is messy but does not take long. Outside is more convenient for this.

Right outside your door is no further than walking to pantry…do it! I have a manual defrost. It has been in my laundry room for years. I defrost it twice a year. As for watery mess, it depends on where the water comes out. Mine has a spout on front, an inch above the floor and that is not convenient. I put a baking sheet with raised edges under there when defrosting. Most of the ice falls off inside the freezer and I pick it up before the ice melts.

So there are no puddles on the floor, only splashes of water which I dry up right away. I put hot water in bowls inside the freezer meanwhile so the whole process takes less than 2 hours. An option for you to keep the freezer in the pantry is to remove the hardwood where the freezer will be and put tiles there instead. If it was my pantry, I would not put cabinets to the left of the freezer like you have taped in on the photo. I do a lot of canning, freezing and preserving our own food and we pack our two freezers full every year.

My husband hunts, so we also have plenty of venison in there. I have not had a problem with freezer burn. Our freezers are in the basement and I am 54 years old and so far, it is not a problem to go up and down a whole flight of steps, even carrying a cookie sheet loaded with boxes of fresh-off-the-ear sweetcorn or homemade applesauce, etc.

Plain and simple. And a lot of work. It was a chore that I had as a child and I remember my knuckles getting scraped up. I also use a vacuum sealer and have never had a problem with freezer burn. I would never even consider manual defrost — especially with wood floors. I remember the mess my Mom had defrosting her manual. I would definitely recommend placing the freezer in either the pantry or garage…why take up space in the breakfast room when you have options?

My bottom line would be auto-defrost and placed in pantry or garage probably pantry since I know you want to build a workshop in the garage. My husband is a hunter, so food stays in our freezer for long periods of time. But, it would be nice to have realistic figures? My vote is to keep it indoors. I take that back, your summers get really hot which is difficult for a freezer to work efficiently. My Manuel defrost freezer is in my basement.

I defrost about 1 x per year. But it is packed most of the time. Which cuts down on the need to defrost. I am not certain with this model but, mine has a place to attach a garden hose.

I run this to the drain in the floor and close the door. No leaks on the floor. Could you run a hose out of the garage? If you keep it in the pantry you could lay some plastic sheeting and an old towel for any possible drips.

What about putting the door from the pantry to the storage area, but making that door have shelves? I have never commented but have been a reader since you bought your house. I love your blog! She had a fairly new car, too. We had a fridge that sprung a leak in the freezer and it warped boards in our kitchen and it was a pain to replace!

We had to remove the fridge, take out the boards, etc etc. Keep up the inspiring work! I have a chest type freezer that is manual defrost. We need to upgrade and want an upright. Our kitchen is not large enough for this appliance so we keep it in the garage.

Not ideal but we make it work. I think in your case a self-defrost is a good idea and you might want to check into a rubber tray to put your freezer in, just in case. I think convenience vs color is your choice here. Make it easy on yourself for use. If you put it in the garage, will it be able to keep the interior cold enough during a hot summer in Texas? My house is 12 years old with modern type electrical wiring.

I live in Mississippi with degree days In summer. I tried having a freezer in the garage and on hot days the circuit kept turning off. An option to consider, you could purchase a drain pan — similar to those under water heaters — but made for washing machines and set the freezer on it. It has a drain pipe opening to which a hose can be attached to remove water from the pan. Will give you the freezer in the pantry and the floor will be safe. Stick to your original idea and go with auto defrost.

You will be glad to have it in the pantry. You will be fine! Convenience trumps in this case! One thing you are not considering: how easy it is to dump your frozen groceries in the freezer when you come home from the store. That could balance out how easy it is to get stuff out.

Mine is in the garage. Works for me. I always say that the romance with my self defrosting freezer is still going strong. My young coworkers look at me strangely.

A freezer in a hot garage is going to make it work harder as well. I would put a frost free one in my my pantry and wrap everything well. I love my vacuum sealer as well. And the point of removing all the food to defrost is well taken. Why add a lot of extra hoo-ha to your to do list?

It will be SO much more convenient to have your freezer in the pantry. Like I think you will love it. And this is a big convenience to me, one worth sacrificing!! Auto-defrost might be the way to go with hardwood. Going out on a limb here design wise but maybe a chest freezer in the pantry might be better for the configuration you have in mind. If you really do a lot of food storage, I think it would be easier to have some prep space right in the pantry.

Have you thought about putting the freezer on the right side of the pantry, so that the door opens to the wall? You could still leave a gap for a tall slide out cabinet.

I have an auto defrost freezer, works very good. If you are set on manual defrost could you place it on a drip pan like for a washing machine to help protect your floor? Yes, you ARE over-thinking this decision. Get an auto defrost for your pantry and be done with it. My upright is in my garage just outside the kitchen. Mine stays so dirty on the top and sides and front!! Would love to have it inside. Frost-free all the way!! I just pour a bit of hot tap water to loosen the ice on the sides.

Then I use a windshield scraper to dislodge the ice chunks. After gathering up the ice pieces that fall to the bottom, I just shop vac the small amount of water and finish wiping dry with a towel. I can never get it done without some water on the floor though. I just unload the freezer food into laundry baskets or boxes, whatever is handy. All that said, I would opt for an upright with automatic defrost and keep it in the garage. Might stub in some wiring for outlets now in the pantry storage room in cases you change your mind.

Could even frame in a door and then cover it up. If you change mind can just pull off drywall and add door. My freezer has been in the garage for 24 years, and I walk through our family room and down two steps. Easy, even if I access it several times a day or once a month now that our kids are grown. Shelf space is a precious commodity. In our garage, I found that adding only one step to change the rise, and widening steps to 12 inches made my garage errands a nonissue-if one has the space to do so.

Rotate the freezer 90 degrees so you open the garage from your breakfast room entry, turn right and you are facing the door of the freezer to open it, rather than facing freezer door toward the vast expanse of your garage. It also alleviates opening the freezer door toward a car or other items in garage. If you vacuum seal several pkgs at a time, they transport nicely in a plastic carry bin for one quick trip and a freezer worthy bin can be used on your freezer shelf to sort and stay organized.

I agree with so many others here. I would put it in garage and I would also do manual defrost. Our chest freezer is in garage right outside kitchen door, and I only defrost it once a year.

I just use from kitchen freezer until it empty it, then load up from garage freezer. A chest freezer or "deep freezer " isn't always convenient for keeping inside the house, but it is quite common to keep one out in the garage. A freezer without self-defrost is known as a manual defrost freezer. In fact, most though again, not all chest freezers have a manual defrost.

Defrosting a freezer manually is a hands-on, time-consuming and tedious task. The walls of ice not only take up valuable real estate in your freezer but they also make it more difficult for your freezer to work efficiently. By contrast, a manual defrost does not contain automatic heating elements. While this reduces overall energy use, it requires the owner to defrost the coils manually.

This is because as frost builds up on the coils, airflow is restricted and the coils will not cool as efficiently. If you have a frost free fridge freezer and are hearing whirring or scraping noises , this usually indicates a build up of ice around one of the fans.

If this is the case, you'll also notice your fridge isn't as cool as it ought to be. You could have a faulty fan motor. Total No Frost fridge freezer do not require the defrosting of the freezer section and is able to limit the formation of mildew or odours inside the refrigerator. This is thanks to a system of a single motor, a single evaporator, a ventilation device and to the air treatment that blocks the formation of frost.

It is considered to be better than regular freezing in allowing the food to preserve its freshness, texture and nutritional qualities. Today, however, the term " deep freezer " refers to a type of freezer that's opened like a chest , as opposed to an upright freezer on top of the refrigerator.

No matter what type of freezer you own, it's recommended that you defrost it approximately once a year or when layers of ice become more than a quarter of an inch thick. Please don't forget to unplug your freezer before you start defrosting it.