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15 Adar 5759 - March 3, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family
Baalebusta Betterment
by Chaya Roizy Vorhand, Home Management Expert

I like to clean my freezer right after Purim. I have a fifteen-year-old- fashioned model, the kind that makes tons of ice. It should be defrosted every month or two, but the truth is, it's such a time consuming job and it makes such a watery mess that I keep pushing it off. I was wondering if you have any shortcuts here.

Sure do! I have a freezer like that too, and believe it or not, defrosting it is one of my favorite jobs. Here's a method that can get an average size freezer defrosted in less than an hour, from start to finish, and with minimum mess.

The trick is to defrost the ice using heat from steam, instead of hot water. Here's how.

* First boil up a kettle of water. While you're waiting for it to boil, unplug the freezer (very important) and unload everything inside.

* Place your food directly into large clean boxes or shallow laundry baskets. (You can line them with disposable tablecloths or bags first.) Baskets keep the confusion contained in one place. In addition, if all the foods are crowded together, they'll stay frozen longer.

* On a very hot day, you can cover the boxes with a towel to insulate the food even better. If you have foods that defrost quickly and will become useless, like ice cream or a month's supply of ice cubes, and you don't have easy access to another freezer, you can put these items into your refrigerator. They'll stay more or less frozen for the time it takes to defrost the freezer and to put everything back. If you want to be really sure they'll stay frozen, insulate them by wrapping them in a towel or several loosely layered plastic bags.

Now comes the fun part.

* Gently scrape off as much loose frost and snow from the walls as you can. Use a smooth, flexile spatula (not metal) for this purpose so you don't nick the lining of the freezer. You can scrape off whole areas at one time. The kind without the rubber blade is the cheapest and works the best. Remove the blade if that's the only kind of dustpan you could find.

* Using your dustpan as a snow shovel, deposit all this frost in a pail or the nearest sink. ((This is a project that's especially enjoyable on a hot summer day. You might even find yourself negotiating for the privilege, when the kids discover they can shovel snow in Israel.) If your hands are particularly sensitive to cold, wear gloves. Rubber gloves or even your regular winter ones are perfect. That white stuff in the freezer is snow, after all.

By this time, the water in the kettle should be boiling.

* You'll need two large shallow containers for the next step. Baking pans are just right. Place one of them upside down on the freezer floor. Place the second one on top of the first and carefully empty the kettle of steaming hot water into it. Close the freezer door.

* Wait a few minutes, while the steam warms and loosens the ice from the walls of the freezer. When the water cools off somewhat and isn't effective any more, empty it out into the sink.

* Using your scraper/dustpan as a chisel, now, carefully pry away any ice that sticks to the walls and ceiling. Challenge yourself and see if you can remove the ice in large chunks. Shovel all these into the sink, too.

If there was a very big ice buildup before you started, you might need to go over all these steps a second time. Fill a pan with steaming water, wait till it softens the ice etc. If only a few small stubborn spots of ice remain, you can melt them off with the direct heat of a blow dryer. (Just take care: electricity and water don't mix! Wear shoes as a safety precaution. [Note: You could remove one shelf and insert the entire electric kettle into the freezer, without the cover, and let it steam away. THIS IS NOT SAFE, but is extremely effective. You don't need more than 3 minutes of steaming, or a second try after you've finished the first scraping.])

* A certain amount of ice will probably have dissolved into water by now and is sitting on the floor of the freeer. You naturally shovel most of this water into the sink, too. If you have the kind of refrigerator that comes with a special drawer under the freeer to catch the melting ice and water, you can empty that out now. You'll be delighted to see that there's not much water sloshing around in there.

You're nearing the end now.

* Using an old, thick towel, dry off the ceiling and walls of the freezer so they don't get frosty as soon as the freezer is turned on again. Then mop up the little bit of water that's left on the bottom of the freezer. A small towel should do it all.

* While you're into the cleaning mode, do one more thing, it only takes a minute. If you have a combination freezer- refrigerator with the freezer on top, check the rubber frame (gasket) on the refrigerator door. Often, bread and cake crumbs collect here. Give a quick swipe with an old toothbrush and brush them out. You don't have to do a Pesach- perfect job all year round. Just removing the visible crumbs goes a long way to giving your refrigerator a very clean, baalebusta look.

Put everything back into the freezer. It shouldn't take much time if most of the food is already grouped into baskets (see back issue).

You're all done! You have to admit it was fun. With practice, you'll be able to clean the freezer and put everything back so quickly, it'll take almost less time to do it than to read about it.

One more thing, remember to plug the freezer back in.

Chaya Roizy Vorhand will be glad to answer your questions at 02-6510025 between 9-10 p.m.

 

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