Not sure I should tell you this Tom, but the industrial sized freezers in the warehouses where frozen food is kept also automatically defrost, the ones in the shops probably do as well😨 

24 minutes ago, Tizer said:

Not sure I should tell you this Tom, but the industrial sized freezers in the warehouses where frozen food is kept also automatically defrost, the ones in the shops probably do as well😨 

I also have personal experience of freezers in Home Bargains, yep, auto defrost, and a built in alarm if it goes out of a pre set range, where the Store Manager can get called out at 3am if it goes t*ts up LOL

24 minutes ago, Tizer said:

Not sure I should tell you this Tom, but the industrial sized freezers in the warehouses where frozen food is kept also automatically defrost, the ones in the shops probably do as well😨 

And the majority of the shelf filling staff couldn't give a sh*t about food safety, let alone the delivery pickers...  Sadly, I have worked in a supermarket, it didn't help my food concerns at all! 😮 

It's not so much about the auto-defrost function itself, it's about the safe temperatures and times, which don't seem to be readily available for people to view for some reason.  I can't even find any legal/FSA guidelines on acceptable temps & times for autodefrost appliances.  What's odd is that my Mum had an auto-defrost fridge freezer when I lived at home, and I don't ever remember it not feeling cold or all the boxes in the freezer being soft and soggy.  I can only assume it must have been designed or programmed differently in some way...  

This is probably as close as you get to an answer but with no times and confirms what I already knew, freezing or refrigerating food does not kill bacteria or prevent toxins being produced,  it just slows it down a lot   

Chilling | Food Standards Agency

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9 minutes ago, Tizer said:

This is probably as close as you get to an answer but with no times and confirms what I already knew, freezing or refrigerating food does not kill bacteria or prevent toxins being produced,  it just slows it down a lot   

Chilling | Food Standards Agency

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Yeah exactly...and the auto defrost is causing my fridge to sit in the 'danger zone' above 8c for an hour or so every other day.  I just don't see that that can be right...  It doesn't even get that warm after putting the shopping away.

I guess it might not be so bad with a full fridge as the contents hold onto the cold.  But I don't have much in there.  I need a big freezer but the only way to get that is with a big fridge too.  Plenty the other way round (small freezer, big fridge) but not the way I need it.  I'm considering putting some cool blocks on the top shelf to retain the cold better, but not sure how successful that would be.

19 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

...I'm considering putting some cool blocks on the top shelf to retain the cold better, but not sure how successful that would be.

mmm... 'cool block', may work, you never know...LOL

 

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

Yeah exactly...and the auto defrost is causing my fridge to sit in the 'danger zone' above 8c for an hour or so every other day.  I just don't see that that can be right...  It doesn't even get that warm after putting the shopping away.

I guess it might not be so bad with a full fridge as the contents hold onto the cold.  But I don't have much in there.  I need a big freezer but the only way to get that is with a big fridge too.  Plenty the other way round (small freezer, big fridge) but not the way I need it.  I'm considering putting some cool blocks on the top shelf to retain the cold better, but not sure how successful that would be.

Every other day does seem a bit much. The cool blocks sounds like a good idea, I've even heard of people putting grass (the green stuff, not the illegal stuff) in their freezers to take up excess space and make them work more efficiently. 

9 minutes ago, Tizer said:

I've even heard of people putting grass in their freezers to take up excess space and make them work more efficiently. 

I'm assuming hygienically sealed in plastic bags, proper real grass contain lots of planet saving creepy crawleys LOL

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

I'm assuming hygienically sealed in plastic bags, proper real grass contain lots of planet saving creepy crawleys LOL

Yeah, sealed in bags and kept there to take up space until the freezer was full.

When I was young, like most kids I used to eat loads of wild raspberries and brambles straight from the bushes and still do sometimes when I'm out (this is raspberry season). I doesn't bear thinking about how many insects I've consumed without knowing about it.   

9 minutes ago, Tizer said:

When I was young, like most kids I used to eat loads of wild raspberries and brambles straight from the bushes and still do sometimes when I'm out

I too did this, though this snowflake generation wouldn't unless there was a 'use by date' stamped on the bush LOL

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

I too did this, though this snowflake generation wouldn't unless there was a 'use by date' stamped on the bush LOL

I used to hoard KFC hand wipes to use surreptitiously if I was ever forced to eat out anywhere...but I can't speak for the rest of my generation. 

 

11 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I used to hoard KFC hand wipes to use surreptitiously if I was ever forced to eat out anywhere...but I can't speak for the rest of my generation. 

 

Me too, but they stopped giving them out in NI over a decade ago LOL

1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Me too, but they stopped giving them out in NI over a decade ago LOL

Lol, now I wonder if they still do them over here! 🤔

Haven't eaten a restaurant since 2009 myself!

3 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Lol, now I wonder if they still do them over here! 🤔

Haven't eaten a restaurant since 2009 myself!

We'll just have to wait for a teenager to join in the conversation 🤣