When I used to do a lot of these for a building/renovation company, the approach our foreman recommended was to assume the drywall will need replacing anyway and just rip it out. That would let you remove that entire panel in 45 minutes, and then you can just pop a new piece of drywall in, which is another 15 minutes.
As you can see from your 45 minutes, the drywall is going to be ruined, so just bite the bullet - get in behind it and pull it all off. The use of a crow bar and hammer may help here.
If you are wanting to keep the tiles on the adjacent wall, make sure you have cut a gap in at the corner so you don't rip it out as well.
Also, make sure you have something over the drain, to avoid it becoming clogged (I know - sounds obvious, but people do forget)
Updated to incorporate comments
- Cement board and a vapour barrier are the only suitable backing for your tiles here. Drywall shouldn't have been in there to begin with.
- Watch out when hammering around plumbing, to avoid water leaks adding to your worries!
Sanding will leave irregular sworls all over the cabinets.
Blasting will leave that shiny metal with a matte finish.
Chemicals may or may not be rough on your lungs & hands & the carpet in the living room.
Although it falls under "chemicals", try brake fluid first. Really. It's very effective as a paint remover, and its fumes and dermal effects are negligible, and it doesn't evaporate off quickly like commercially-available paint strippers do. It'll still make a mess on that carpet, though, so do it outdoors.
Sanding... unless you WET-sand, which is unlikely (and dangerous) with an ordinary handheld sander but reasonable with a pneumatic sander... will go through abrasive disks (assuming disks) rapidly; the paint will tend to clog the abrasive long before the abrasive is effectively "worn out".
Blasting... goes through a LOT of blasting media (NEVER USE BEACH SAND!) in a hurry, and requires a pretty healthy compressor. NEVER use any "white" sand in a sandblaster - it WILL give you a case of silicosis, which is a permanent condition much like emphysema.
There ARE some "safe" non-brake-fluid paint strippers out there on the market - they're worth exploring. I know of none that will strip ALL paints, though - there are some paints that steadfastly resist any chemical stripper, forcing you to resort to mechanical means (or question your goals).
Best Answer
Remove all the food, then turn off or unplug the freezer, and prop the door open. This will allow it to warm up and all the ice will melt all by itself.
Every modern fridge/freezer I've ever seen (modern as in 1970s or newer) has a drain hole at the bottom of the compartment and a hose that runs to the drip pan that's behind the trim plate at the bottom of the fridge. Generally a good tug will remove the trim plate, though if yours doesn't come off easily you may want to look for screws.
Remove the trim plate and you'll see the drip pan under there for catching any drips that go down the drains in either compartment. Keep an eye on this catch pan to ensure it doesn't overflow. Soak the water out with some towels that you can ring out over the tub, or scoop it out with a small cup if there's enough room. It's possible that the water will evaporate out nearly as fast as it melts in if your room is warm enough.
Once all the ice is melted out, plug in/turn on the unit, let it get cold, put the food back in.