I had a chest freezer full of meat get unplugged and stink up pretty bad. The freezer still works fine, but I can't get the smell out. It would make a great bait freezer for anyone that stores a lot of bait when shad get hard to catch. I'd keep it for that purpose, but I don't have enough room in the garage. Let me know if anyone is interested in having it - I feel bad just throwing away a working freezer.

Also let me know if anyone else has thoughts of who could use it. There may be other applications other than bait, I just have fish brain.

Let it air out a couple of days then fill with water and bleach. Smell should be gone

Andd follow the bleach with a towel soaked in Vanilla Done this to 2 freezers and worked great.

Thanks, fellas. I'll give this a try. Especially considering how hard it appears to be to get a new freezer.

I’ve been using OdoBan, big box home stores, with very good results. An overnight soak really freshens up my 20y.o. cooler, I’m spite of the poor treatment I give it—as in it gets washed maybe a couple times a year. I also soaked a couple of old (literally antique by now) Plano tackle boxes that reeked of dead bait. Took care of the smell and I can use them again. They’d been stinking and unusable since the early 90’s.
Having used Clorox, I think the OdoBan works better. I use it when cleaning my house carpets too (kid, dogs and cats everywhere).

How much do you dilute the OdoBan?

those things you hang on the inside of a tolet bowl. throw one inside the freezer shut the door for a few . no more stink....

OdoBan has their recommendations on the jug. For my cooler (20 qt.) I’ll fill it with water and throw more or less a cup of the juice in it and let it sit overnight.

Simple solution at very little cost wash the freezer out with dish soap and water, rinse. While it is still damp wad up 4-5 full sheets of newspaper to about tennis or baseball size. Put them inside and after a couple of days it will be just fine. Works for coolers also.