On Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:41:56 -0700 (PDT), GMM
wrote:

We defrost quite a few freezers at work and the simple way to melt the
ice quickly is to direct and regular desk-type fan on it. This will
minimise the amount of time the contents are out of the freezer by a
significant amount. Frozen food in something well insulated should
keep cold for a good few hours.

A fan heater might be even better, though I've never tried it.

Use a steam wallpaper stripper without the wall-plate attachment. You
can do it in perhaps 15-20 minutes so that the freezer contents are
barely affected.

--
Frank Erskine