Explosion in the freezer

Wine_of_the_World

I have done a very silly thing.

Yesterday I put a can of coke in the freezer to cool off. I forgot about it and went to bed. The can of coke froze and then exploded - forcing the freezer door open.

This morning I closed the freezer door (and cleaned up the mess). But some of the food at the front of the freezer had started to deforst. I'm not worried about the frozen veg and chips. But I do have some chicken legs (yum!). I know you are not supposed to refreeze chicken, but would a few hours of defrosting really make a big difference? They didnt defrost completely, so I didnt take them out. Do you think they would be ok if ate them in a few day's time?

Thanks - I just hate to see food going to waste!

ben500

Yes it would, I'd bin em if I was you, poultry and pork are not to be taking chances with.

Confuzzled

if you're worried about it just cook it all up at once then you can safely freeze the cooked chicken with no problems

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya, you have to be very carefull with chicken. What you should have done is fully defrost the half frozen chicken and cook today or tomorrow. Re freezing half frozen chicken is not good. I would now bin it and not take the risk of an upset tummy. Julie

thisismoneysaving

Sorry to hear about that.
But I wouldn't risk it either... Chicken is a funny thing.

cloughridge

It all depends on what you mean by partially defrosted. If the chicken was still very cold (ie colder than it would be in the fridge) bacteria will not have been able to multiply and it's still safe. If the chicken reached anything close to room temperature for a reasonable period of time then you probably shouldn't use it.

Refreezing is not an issue as long as the food as been kept at fridge temperature or below.

The following is a quote from a US gov website that sums it up nicely.

Refreezing
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through defrosting. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion.

If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly.

Wine_of_the_World

Thanks guys. I know the chicken was cold - colder than the fridge, but not frozen solid. So, I defrosed it. And ate it. I cooked it for one hour in the oven to be sure it was totally defrosted.

Thanks cloughridge - I did wonder what would be wrong with re-freezing it as I couldn't work out how the bacteria could multiply so quickly in such as short period of time given that it was still v.v cold.

I havent been ill or anything

cookiedough38

I would have happily cooked it and eaten it