chest freezer meltdown!

[janey99]

I hope some people here have some ideas.

We were having electrical work done on our house, and our basement chest freezer was accidentally turned off for a while and everything defrosted down to "going bad." In there was huge frozen blocks of tuna and striped bass from fishing trips and venison .

I refroze it and cleaned it by prying the frozen blocks of disgustingness and melt out, and swabbed the whole thing down with bleach. Then I left it air for a few days and turned it back on with baking soda inside.

At first it seemed OK, but now there is a distinct smell of bad fish when you open it.

I was thinking of swabbing the inside down with Nature's Miracle, but I'm totally open to suggestions if some other technique worked for others.

Worst case, it might be a write-off if I can't get the stink out.

Help??

Jane

 

[LuvOrlando]

Mythbusters had an episode where they created the best smell busting concoction possible, but it was home-made, not available in product form. I'll see if I can find it.

I think this is it and it also works for skunks:

Peroxide - Bottle
Baking Soda - 2 oz.
Dish washing liquid - squirt

 

[cabanafrau]

Try wiping down w/ lemon juice, popping a few pans of cut up lemons inside.

 

[tiggger1]

try either activated charcoal for fish tanks or ground coffee. both with absorb the smell. just put either in a bowl and place it in the freeze and shut door. Replace it with a new bowl every 24 hours until the smell is gone.

 

[janey99]

Thanks everyone - I will try all of them! My mom just arrived and she said try wadded up newspaper to fill the inside, let sit for a day or two, and then keep it up until the smell is gone.

LuvOrlando - do you swab down the inside with your mixture and then rinse? Do you let it sit?

Thanks!

Jane

 

[ilovejack02]

Ahhh brings back the stinky smells of Katrina and Gustav aftermath for me. My hubby is also a fisherman and after the hurricanes hit our back porch freezer was a scary place to be near .

Leaving charcoal in it and cleaning with vinegar worked for me.

I have since learned when hurricane season is heading towards Aug and September , throw a party and eat everything in the freezer lol. He can fish and hunt more come October. We also bought a really big generator last year , which means of course we wont need it for several years since we spent a ton on it but that is ok with me , hurricanes stay away !

 

[LuvOrlando]

I think letting it sit would be the way to go, but I don't remember for how long. I would empty out the whole thing and let it run with the stuff in it so the mix reaches the filters. I'd also expect to do it more than once if necessary even though I think they only did it once on the episode. Mythbusters used it for a bathroom not a freezer but I would suspect that if it works it would work on anything.

I hope it works for you, good luck!