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

Skint_Catt

Thanks, when I got home I found it was the old freezer that had died (small drawers) so I was able to cram most things into the new one. I might lose a few home-made sauces if I can't use them in the next few days, but better than a freezer full of fish and meat!

C xx

whizzing

I found my freezer door open. My best guess is it was open for 4 hours. A tub of ice cream was half defrosted. I threw out some mince as it was off I thought. Surely I can keep things like icecubes and lemon slices. I think I should throw out the meat. What about things like fish fingers, frozen roast potatoes and vegetables? There is also portions of spagetti bolognaise. Should I throw that out? Now or on defrosting?

madnotstupid

If any of your stuff is still frozen - I'd say it was ok.

As far as meat goes if you cook it you can refreeze it, bacteria is killed off at I think 82 degrees so as long as you bring it to boiling point it can be re-frozen. I'd say that goes for your bolognaise - if you boil it up you'd be able to freeze it again.

I'd throw the ice cream if I were you - (or make milkshakes!) basically any if it you could use today / tomorrow will be fine. Any things you would use without cooking are more dodgy cos you won't kill off the bacteria in them that will have multiplied on defrosting and refreezing.

[Deleted User]

We just discovered that our freezer has been slowly defrosting. We dont know how long for though but it has had some power still going through. Hubby saw that the plug wasnt in properly. We recon it could be like this possibly most of the day and its late at night now. The freezer was fine yesterday.
The door was only opened for a few seconds at dinner. There is still a lot of ice inside but the sausauges i have chucked coz they were complety soft but we have a bag of chicken legs and they arnt completly thawed ( still pritty hard but not as much as they would normally be ) i really am not sure what to do with these. Should i chuck them? I know it can be dangerous but as its been most likely for the day and still iced inside not sure. The rest was just vegs which was fine and yorkies which are soft ( it was our xmas food too )

greenbee

Personally if most of the contents was still frozen, then I'd assume that the stuff had only just defrosted, and I'd cook and eat it. If you know it was all OK this time yesterday, then they've only really been defrosting for as long as you'd normally have them out to defrost anyway (and I do sometimes take stuff out to defrost it and then not get round to cooking it quite as soon as I'd planned )

csarina

We have a chest freezer in the garage, how long do you think it will stay frozen for if the power is disconnected withou me having to cook everything??????? I have a reason for asking this question. Will explain later.

Agapanthus

I seem to remember from long ago some 'official' advice that a large chest freezer could last twenty four hours - especially if you cover it with old blankets, duvets etc. In the current weather in a garage it could well last even longer!

This page seems helpful:

http://www.espares.co.uk/news/a/423/a-full-freezer-can-keep-for-two-days-without-.html

tanith

I'd say at least 24hrs as long as its not opened..

SallyForth_2

Also, if it's full, it may last longer as it's a larger block of frozen stuff. If you see what I mean.

kippers

I've read somewhere that it's 24 hours too