Moonhawk Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 It had 24+ fully ready dinners. Plus vegetables and chicken stock. That is all. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 No way! Is the stuff all thawed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 We have a butcher friend who says with meat as long as it didn’t go above 4degrees it’s ok to refreeze. I have no idea if that works for cooked food. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Ugh! I'm sorry. Now I know I'm more risky than some on this board (I thaw my meat on the countertop!) but unless raw meat is dripping blood or food feels warm/room temp to the touch, I've been known to close the freezer back up and let stuff refreeze (especially anything that is partially frozen. If stuff is fully frozen but still cool feeling, I'd do some massively batch cooking (and then stick it back in the freezer). You may not feel comfortable with that but I will say, despite "expert" advice telling me I'm doing it all wrong, we have never even once gotten food poisoning from anything I've made (restaurants are another matter altogether) 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) 25 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said: No way! Is the stuff all thawed? The chicken stocks are completely liquid. Anything to the front of the freezer (it's a stand up, not a chest) has at least completely squishy sides, some are still slightly frozen cores but easy bend/break without effort. Things in the back seem to be partially frozen but it's hit or miss. Nothing is fully frozen. The bacon on the door is floppy. Everything is cold to the touch but it's 100 degrees today, so basically anything not hot is cold to the touch, lol. (edit: I'm trying to say: I can't gauge if it's "fridge cold" or not. Just...vaguely cold.) 14 minutes ago, cjzimmer1 said: Ugh! I'm sorry. Now I know I'm more risky than some on this board (I thaw my meat on the countertop!) but unless raw meat is dripping blood or food feels warm/room temp to the touch, I've been known to close the freezer back up and let stuff refreeze (especially anything that is partially frozen. If stuff is fully frozen but still cool feeling, I'd do some massively batch cooking (and then stick it back in the freezer). You may not feel comfortable with that but I will say, despite "expert" advice telling me I'm doing it all wrong, we have never even once gotten food poisoning from anything I've made (restaurants are another matter altogether) I've closed the door. My initial reaction is today, tomorrow, and maybe Monday are all freezer packs, all meals. Most of my meals were meat-based (had been focusing on that intentionally since meat less reliable to find and more expensive), and since I don't know exactly how long it was open, other than at least overnight and probably until 3pm today, in 100+ weather, I'm not feeling very risky. Edited July 12, 2020 by Moonhawk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I’d refreeze the stuff that’s only squishy round the edges in a heart beat. But yeah if you can’t use the chicken stock in the next day or two that will probably have to go. So frustrating when you’ve done all the work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I have duct tape closing our freezer door right now. I believe I will go check on this before I head to bed tonight! Honestly, I do think some of it can be salvaged. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 4 minutes ago, Dreamergal said: Sorry about this. I read about freezer locks only here and bought it. Never knew something like that existed but I never thought we needed a chest freezer before this. Stored food especially now is better than money in the bank so it is upsetting. Can you make vegetable soup with the chicken broth and freeze ? I hope everything is salvageable. Yeah, I didn't know until a couple days ago that freezer alarms existed until one of the freezer threads mentioned it. I thought how cool, I should totally get one. LOL. Turns out it was more of a warning or omen than just a cool idea. In 10 minutes I'll take a sharpie out there and marking things as salvage or not. We'll see how bad it is. I only did a cursory check before I decided to just close it up and take a moment. And order a freezer alarm. lol Ah well. Worse things have happened to better people. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 When our freezer died and had to be replaced, DH bought one which has an alarm if it isn't sealed and has an visible temperature display on the exterior of the door. That's because we had to dump the contents of our freezer 3 times due to similar incidents. I'm really sorry because that it beyond frustrating. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 This is heartbreaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 Update: Stuff on the door needed to be either thrown out or cooked tonight, just depending on what part of the door. So I will be snacking on bacon tonight. Don't know what to think about the chicken stock. ~2 bacon packs left, 15 cups of chicken stock. 4 meals past saving. Front layer of food needs to be eaten within 24-48 hours probably. All still cold but completely thawed except for a couple on the bottom of the piles. Unfortunately due to how things were currently being rotated/eaten, this is the category for majority of the packs, 27 packs = ~14 meals Back layer is partially still frozen. But, all have squish on exposed areas and in for a couple inches. So I'll keep those but will probably just eat those over the next couple weeks instead of next couple months so I can just start over from scratch with uncompromised food and clean out the freezer before restocking. ~10 meals. This is workable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) Can you reboil the chicken stock to kill anything? Can you cook the bacon and then freeze it cooked? I don't know if you can maybe chop it up to use in recipes that would would with that? Maybe like breakfast casseroles, etc? Edited July 12, 2020 by calbear 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 8 hours ago, calbear said: Can you reboil the chicken stock to kill anything? Can you cook the bacon and then freeze it cooked? I don't know if you can maybe chop it up to use in recipes that would would with that? Maybe like breakfast casseroles, etc? That's just what I was going to ask. You could cook the bacon and then crumble it, and use it as bacon bits after that. (I guess that's basically your point!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I'm so sorry! This happened to us twice at our old house, once because the power to the freezer went out and once because it was left open. I cried and cried. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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