The all new using what you have from your Freezer, Cupboard or Shed (Barn)

wumph

I had last small frozen chick breast last night, have bought pack of those chicken tender type things and have roasted all in AF in herbs and then chopped some and shredded others so they take up less room and are handy as they in portion sizes. I had recd a voucher for 2 months free delivery from my s/m so have stocked up with bleach/toilet rolls/disinfectant etc, Xmas booze and tinned goods, only need min £25 which is good for me as only me.  Bought heavy and bulky stuff especially when on special. Managed to get couple of bottles of Baileys and Tia Maria and finished one, am now working on coffee liqeur,  dont drink wine and seldom spirits. Only bought for Xmas 

Cherryfudge

I've now inventoried three of the four drawers of the freezer and found a bit of space.

Out: ice cream that had partly defrosted. Red cabbage, frozen cherry tomatoes and sausages, eaten. Also finished the instant mash from stores but need to replace that. I'm encouraged that traces of the last clear out remained. Perhaps I'm slowly winning?

Cherryfudge

Today we used up some of the cooked chicken and ham from the freezer in a pie but there's enough ham left to make another something or other.

I realised I have loads of eggs so lunch was cheese omelette with some oddments of spinach, peas and sundried tomatoes. Good choice, though I say so myself, and only another dozen eggs to use up!

Frugalistamama

I need to use up some stir fry vegetables today so I think I'll make an Asian style soup with those.  I've used up some of my mince and put in a tin of beans to use up and some old seasoning to get rid of it. So I'm back on it.  

YorksLass

In: A half and half loaf, 6 wholemeal breakfast muffins, 2 parsley & herb dusted lemon sole fillets, 2 tubs h/m beef balti.

Out: Nothing today but I'll have to start running it down as the freezer is on the blink - again.  I thought I'd got it sorted but obviously not.  It will probably take a couple of weeks so that will give me time to look for a new one, smaller this time I think. 

Newly_retired

Hello. I am new to this Board but it seems the right place for some advice. Yesterday I accidentally left the door of my upright freezer not fully shut for 4 -6 hours. I came in at 10pm and opened it to get some bread to toast and realised what had happened. I shut the door and have not yet reopened it.

My question is, can I safely eat everything? I know one should not normally refreeze most things.

It contained:
bread packed in packs of four slices, rolls,
fish in various forms including fish fingers, home made fish pie and uncooked salmon,
meat: raw pork slices, sausages, cooked mince as in HM bolognese sauce, HM cottage pie,  bought lasagne
veg, chips and two individually wrapped ice creams and some fruit purée.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Frugalistamama

Cooked up the stir-fry veg with some soy sauce, garlic and ginger. Finished a pack of rice so that will be my work lunch for a few days with some cooked turkey from the freezer. For dinner tonight I finished a bag of pasta with some mince beef I made yesterday and cooked up some floppy kale and carrots for a side. 

@Newly_retired that is so annoying I do that quite a lot. There's someone on here, I can't remember who, who knows a lot about this so I'll leave the response to them. They really helped me last time. But I would say if it happens again look immediately at the food to see what has started to defrost and take out anything that you would be worried about and let it fully defrost. Cook it all up and put it back in the freezer cooked.  I would personally eat the bread stuff and anything cooked I would just make sure it's piping piping hot when you reheat. Also the things nearest the top would be most defrosted I would think, the stuff underneath would probably be ok. But that's just my opinion! 

Cherryfudge

Hi @Newly_retired, we had a not dissimilar situation the other day with a 12 hour power cut, though the door was shut. The only thing I threw out was the ice cream which showed signs of having melted. However, the only meat was far in and very solidly frozen.

My advice, based on what I remember of food hygiene training a few years ago, is that only bread-type products are re-freezeable, but it depends whether other things had defrosted. Do the liquid levels look as though they have melted then refrozen on a level sympathetic with the angle on which they were stored? So if the cottage pie went in and was frozen flat, but was taken out and replaced at an angle, and when you next get it out you find it looks to have been frozen at that angle, that shows it's been defrosted - if you see what I mean?

It also makes a difference how tightly thing were packed: over 4-6 hours with the door only slightly open, I would imagine things at the back or under lots of other things will have stayed frozen.

Veg and chips are unlikely to have become dangerous but they might be a bit spoiled and have lots of frost attached.

The main ones to be wary of are proteins though raw protein can be cooked thoroughly and refrozen - but only if you're sure it wasn't partly or wholly defrosted.

Cherryfudge

@Newly_retired, I ought to add that some people are more vulnerable than others - the very young, people with lower immunity, older people... so if in doubt, be careful! However, much of the time the door was open, if it was only a bit open, the food will have been more protected than not and the freezer will have been working harder to keep things cold.

Frugalistamama

I got some breaded chicken breast out of the freezer for dinner. I made some rice and put in some spices I want to use up and a half tin of beans. Served up with some broccoli. It was very nice.