Freezer been switched off / door left open - will food be ok?

go_cat

gratefulforhelp wrote: »

OP My DH must have been round to yours...

Ooooer rumours :rotfl:

Glad

I'll move this to old style for you as I know there are similar threads already and you will get lots of good advice and help there

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email [EMAIL="abuse@moneysavingexpert.com"]abuse@moneysavingexpert.com[/EMAIL].

SailorSam

Ivrytwr3 wrote: »

went away on friday at 10am, come back sunday (today) at 3pm to find the MIL had kindly flicked off all our kitchen appliances for us; yes that included the fridge freezer

That would be your Ex MIL now would it.

kippers

My DH has left the freezer door open 3 times now and the kids have done this once too....each time everything had started to defrost...it is so frustrating!...i bought a freezer alarm but couldn't stop the b...dy thing from falling off the door so that was no use either!

Emma79

I've just found my tall freezer turned off by the wall. It has probably been that way for 72hrs.

I've got pizzas, icecreams etc that I know I have to throw, but what about the meats? Any ideas? They are soft, but have some ice crystals on them.

Your advice is appreciated!

mags50_2

i'm not going to be an awful lot of help I don't think....but...if it was me, I would cook the pizza's as they must still be cold and then re-freeze them in portion sizes...they would only take a few minutes to re-heat when you wanted to use them.

If you have mince, I would cook that as well and portion it up. You could still use it, just don't re-freeze it again when you have made recipes etc. with it. You'll have to eat it as you make it...that's why I suggest portioning it up.

This is what I would do PERSONALLY though. I can't say what other people would do.

I hope some-one comes along who knows more than I do!

Does your household insurance cover your freezer contents? Ours does and when this happened to me...I just had a mammoth cooking session and claimed for the stuff that I couldn't do anything with.

notjustlaura

I agree with mags50 - cook it, portion it, freeze it and then eat it but don't re-freeze after it's been defrosted the second time.

L

McKneff

Depends what your excess is really, Could you replace the food (only what you waste though) for the same amount of excess or even more, claim on it and your premiums could go up next time around.

Meat joints, cook it, slice it, freeze it in meal size portions

Mags50's advice is spot on, you could salvage a lot of it.

kinkyjinks

Emma79 wrote: »

I've just found my tall freezer turned off by the wall. It has probably been that way for 72hrs.

I've got pizzas, icecreams etc that I know I have to throw, but what about the meats? Any ideas? They are soft, but have some ice crystals on them.

Your advice is appreciated!

Like the other poster suggests, cook and refreeze the pizza. The general rule is to not freeze something in the same state, i.e. if mince is raw when it's frozen, then refreeze it cooked. I'd cook any meats that you can, but if it was me, I'd cook stuff like chicken, pork and any fish that there was in your freezer. Cooked prawns, I'd chuck. If I had any mince, beef joints or any other kind of meat (not chicken or pork though) that I would cook to a high enough temperature all the way through, in all honesty I would refreeze it. Same with sausages. It's against health and hygeine regulations but I'm still alive.

If you don't feel comfy refreezing anything, just cook it and freeze it in the cooked state. Lots of hard work but you'll have loads of easy meals in the freezer.

Pink.

Hi Emma,

You poor thing, it's an awful feeling when you discover a defrosted freezer isn't it?

If the (raw) meat is still cold (which it sounds like it is if it still has ice crystals) and looks and smells ok then I would be inclined to cook it and re-freeze it. But the final decision rests with you and whether or not you think it's worth the risk.

This previous thread may help:

Freezer been switched off / door left open - will food be ok?

I'll add your thread to it once you've had more replies to keep the advice together.

Pink