2

I am currently storing raw chicken sealed in plastic bags in my freezer.

I suspect that raw chicken juice may be on the outside of some of the bags, contaminating my freezer.

Is there a way to clean the area without having to thaw the entire freezer? What would you all recommend for cleaning a freezer after storing chicken in there?

Thanks!

Improve this question
4
  • I don't understand - did you actually put unpackaged, raw chicken in your freezer? If it was properly wrapped then what's the issue?
    – Aaronut
    May 18, 2014 at 19:29
  • 1
    I put the individual pieces of chicken in plastic bags, then in the freezer. However some of the chicken juices or whatever may have gotten on the outside of the bags during that, so I just want to make sure my freezer is clean.
    – Matt
    May 18, 2014 at 19:39
  • 1
    1. Never consider a refrigerator where the freezer and non-freezer compts. share the same door. 2. Buy a gallon of icecream. On finishing the icecream, use the cuboid plastic container to stack your fish/chicken. 3. Freeze a few juice bottles of water. Move your icecream boxes of chicken, frozen bottles and stuffs from freezer to non-freezer compartment. 4. Turn of power. Keep non-freezer door closed. 5. Clean freezer.
    – Cynthia
    May 19, 2014 at 4:07
  • @BlessedGeek this has the makings of an answer, my friend.
    – Preston
    May 25, 2014 at 4:03

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

It seems that your concern is just that the chicken will defrost before you can finish cleaning the freezer. It won't. Just put the chicken and anything else from the freezer that you want to save in the fridge. Wipe the inside of the empty freezer down with warm soapy water. You can also add bleach in the concentration of 1 TBS per gallon (16ml to 4 liters) to water to disinfect, at that concentration you don't need to rinse. The whole process should take less than 10 minutes. Wrap the chicken a bit better this time, and replace the contents of the freezer. Start to finish, it should only take 10 minutes or so. Even if you don't have room in the fridge, your freezer contents won't defrost on the counter if you hurry.

If you need to defrost, that's a different story. Your best bet then would be to borrow a friend's freezer or use a cooler. You can speed up the process of defrosting with rubbing alcohol. Since manual defrosting would require unplugging the unit, you'll want to move as quickly as you can to protect the contents of the refrigerator, if it's a single unit.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.