What a SMELLY DAY! I started off Saturday morning with a good breakfast with Brazilian coffee, biscuits, and jam. Then went to download a new photo software program I just bought. Well, the program was taking forever to load, so I rambled out to the garage to try and track down this smell that was floating around the past few days. I started sniffing as I was heading to the other side of the garage, near my freezer that was full of deer meat, red deer hind meat, shrimp, and a slab of pork ribs. As I got closer to the freezer, the smell got stronger, and the flies were all over the freezer.

OH NO....! !! Yep....you guessed it....the freezer was unplugged and ALL that meat had spoiled! Friends, that smell was worse than any road kill on any hot road in Texas! The flies were dive-bombing the freezer like German Stukas, the cloud of stench was all over me...gagging me....and then suddenly....I knew....someone was gonna have to clean it up....and that someone was.....ME!

So....knowing nothing was gonna rid of the stench and of that rotten meat....I started loading about 200 lbs. of that putrid meat into the garbage bags...I had no idea how long it had been in that putrid condition....days....weeks...but bubbles were coming out of the packages! Finally, after loading all that commercialized "road kill" in the garbage can, I took the can out to the street to let the neighborhood get a whiff of that costly delicacy! (by the way, garbage pick up is not till Monday! And it has been over 105 degrees the past 7 days!)

Then I turned my attention to the freezer....it had about 4" of bloody water in the bottom plus the stench. I wheeled it out to the curb, got my pressure sprayer out, and proceeded to wash it out - with everything I could mix together!

The freezer is still sitting outside with the lid up....hopefully, airing out. I have taken a shower because that stench was sticking with me, and I've washed my hands at least a dozen times, since....but I swear, I can still smell that stench of that rotten meat.

I bet I'll still smell it in bed tonight...! May need a couple of bottles of after shave on the bedside tonight!

Sorry to hear that!!! I've had the same thing happen to me and it sucks big time!!!

i woulda drug that freezer outside, pour'd diesel on it and set it on fire.

that is gross

Good thing you had a pressure washer. That smell will gag a magot..

Sorry for your loss. You might try the product below to get rid of the smell in the freezer. You might find it at a boat or RV dealer. It is supposed to kill odors fast. I'm curious to see if it works. For less than $10 retail it is worth a shot.

Starbrite Catalog

Good luck.

sorry for your loss and that smells really bad my nose was gagging from what your story was saying

Baking Soda & Charcoal (not matchlight ha ha) after you get it clean! Bleach it real good! Arm & Hammer makes a product called fridge & freezer. Spread the charcoal briquets on the bottom and put open baking soda boxes on top. May take several boxes and a few days.

Guess how I know this works (at least it did for me)? Gives ya a whole new meaning to the term "gag a maggot" doesn't it?

Good luck, Sorry 'bout tha meat!

Fill it with water and a couple gallons of vinegar.

Last time that happened to me I duct taped the seals up and hauled it to the dump. You my friend are a brave man to ever have opened that door!

x2 I'd rather buy a new freezer than go through that again

LOL not a bad idea. Sorry you lost all that meat. Thank god deer season is just around the corner and you can fill it up again.

Metal bucket, 1 sheet of newspaper, 1 match.
Crumple up the paper pretty tight put in metal bucket, put on bottom of freezer.
Light with match close lid. Let it burn it'self out open the lid after overnight. Clean the smoke up with clorox clean up plug it back in. Ready fo4 the new deer....Pat

Really?

Happened to my dads freezer once, I had deer meat stored in it as well. What I did was plug it back in and refreeze the horrid mess and remove it while frozen. Made it somewhat easier. I called and carried the bags to a mesquite sanitation forman who took it and burned it in the incinerator.
Then took the freezer to the carwash and cleaned it out, and I still use that freezer to this day.
Place a lot of crumpled up newspapers in it as well to help absorb some of the odors.

Thanks for all the suggestions...got some good ideas! My neighbor came home this afternoon, and was looking around outside her house, under her shed, garbage cans....I asked what she was looking for. She said ..."smells like something died around here!"....I started laughing and told her what happened!

Best thing that's worked so far has been SCRUB BUBBLES...a bathroom cleaner!

Might try a bunch of cut up onions in pans of water. The painters recommended that for paint fumes and it worked really well.

That STINKS man lol! Same thing happened to me once during the dog days of summer. I had my deep freeze packed with venison, fish & shrimp, & (8) 25-30lb bbq pigs split in half ready for the pit. I was out of town for a while during which my freezer got unplugged. When I got home & opened the door I about gagged, as I approached the freezer I knew what had happened. THAT WAS NASTY, & was somehow full of maggets too, (was inside the house). I lived in an upstairs apartment with a really jacked up set of stairs to manouver. I was alone, but somehow managed to get that thing out of the house & down the stairs without spilling it. It was a pretty new freezer but I did think about chunking the whole thing. But....once outside I managed to get all of it out, (holding my breath each time I went in). I sprayed it out good with a water hose & then filled it up & let it soak in soapy bleachwater for a while, then scrubbed it out good & let it air dry. Still using the same freezer today, bleach works wonders but not a job for anyone with a weak stomach lol! Urgh!

Yikes. Thats a bad situation.

Not good. I take a peak in my garage every night to make sure the little orange light on my freezer is on.
Ive had mine off for a day and start to thaw but luckily we caught it in time. Still a mess to clean up though.

Get one of those freezer alarms that goes off if temperature inside goes up. Sorry for your loss.

You Mr. Dickey are a brave man!!! Been there...I hauled mine to the dump. NO WAY was I opening that thing. Got a new freezer and I look at the light on it several times a day..

That would really suck to be the trash guy,Mom was right about getting a good education.

That sucks, sorry to hear

Last time that happened to me, after swearing up a blue streak, I plugged it back in to re-freeze everything and waited till Saturday to unload it. Helped with the smell quit a bit. Then I unplugged it to let the bloody mess thaw some in the bottom. Took an ice pick to it later and took all the bloody water out in big chunks. Easiest way I ever cleaned 1 out.Then sat inside with bleach and water to remove last of the foul odor.