Ack! My freezer was unplugged for a week!

[3prettyprincesses]

We're freezing it till the garbage man comes tomorrow morning. No way do I want defrosted, rotten meat smelling up my house!

DH finally understands that yes, it's a lot of money wasted but not worth getting any of us sick. He won't eat it either now because he knows there's a chance of it being rotten. We're off to Whole Foods today to replace some of it. I promised DH that I won't complain at all about the price of their meat either!

It is sickening to throw away so much! But I don't think I'll ever make the same mistake again with my Hoover Floormate!

Thanks!

 

[mickeysgal]

We came home from a week long vacation once and our side by side freezer door was not fully closed. Everthing had defrosted. I'm surprised the entire unit didn't burn out as it must have been running and running to keep the temperature down. We had the house watched by the neighbors and I believe that they may have used the freezer for a graduation party (I knew she was going to use the fridge side for misc items). They were/are close friends of ours and I never told her as I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but we lost the entire contents of the freezer as well. It hurts financially. However, on the bright side there were probably a lot of things that needed to be pitched anyway and there was no lasting damage to the fridge.

 

[FayeW]

Well, I think you made the wrong decision, but it's your money, so what do I know.

If it was cool to touch and some of the meet inside the freezer was still partially frozen, obviously the temperature inside was still cool enough for the meat to be safe to eat. At the very least, you could have salvaged the stuff that was still partly frozen, and cooked some of the other meat and frozen it again after cooking. No way would I have thrown out $900 worth of food without at least cooking some of it first.

With the temperature in the freezer before it was unplugged, and nobody opening it in the meantime it would have taken several days for the meat to even thaw (we've taken frozen meat in a COOLER on camping trips, and by the end of a 3 day weekend some of it was still frozen). Meat that is thawed is good in the fridge for another 2-3 days. You were only gone 7 days. The meat was fine.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Well, I think you made the wrong decision, but it's your money, so what do I know.

If it was cool to touch and some of the meet inside the freezer was still partially frozen, obviously the temperature inside was still cool enough for the meat to be safe to eat. At the very least, you could have salvaged the stuff that was still partly frozen, and cooked some of the other meat and frozen it again after cooking. No way would I have thrown out $900 worth of food without at least cooking some of it first.

With the temperature in the freezer before it was unplugged, and nobody opening it in the meantime it would have taken several days for the meat to even thaw (we've taken frozen meat in a COOLER on camping trips, and by the end of a 3 day weekend some of it was still frozen). Meat that is thawed is good in the fridge for another 2-3 days. You were only gone 7 days. The meat was fine.

Sure, it's possible the meat *might* be ok. Everything was defrosted though. I'm not gambling with food poisoning. I was severely sick in October with it, spent three days in the hospital and then it took another week till I felt better. Yes, it's a great deal of money, I know, but I don't want to guess that it's ok, especially with my kids. Into the trash it goes since there's no way of knowing for certain and I'm not going to test it by eating it.

 

[MickeySP]

Ok, you all are agreeing with me too! Whew! I just can't bring myself to eat it. I had severe food poisoning in October and I don't ever, ever want to go through THAT again! But DH is being stubborn and saying that he'll eat it then. Men .

My mom taught me to never refreeze meat either. What a waste though! We spent a lot of money on it but it's not worth us getting sick over.

Thanks everyone!!

This is so not true - you can refreeze meat. This is from USDA site on food sasfety.

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 thawing. .

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

Well, I think you made the wrong decision, but it's your money, so what do I know.

If it was cool to touch and some of the meet inside the freezer was still partially frozen, obviously the temperature inside was still cool enough for the meat to be safe to eat. At the very least, you could have salvaged the stuff that was still partly frozen, and cooked some of the other meat and frozen it again after cooking. No way would I have thrown out $900 worth of food without at least cooking some of it first.

With the temperature in the freezer before it was unplugged, and nobody opening it in the meantime it would have taken several days for the meat to even thaw (we've taken frozen meat in a COOLER on camping trips, and by the end of a 3 day weekend some of it was still frozen). Meat that is thawed is good in the fridge for another 2-3 days. You were only gone 7 days. The meat was fine.

ITA!!! As long as it was still cold it was okay.

 

[RabbitFood]

On the bright side--at least you didn't have to trash the freezer! (Happened in my family--the freezer stunk and was crawling with maggots. Totally disgusting.)

 

[3prettyprincesses]

This is so not true - you can refreeze meat. This is from USDA site on food sasfety.

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 thawing. .

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

ITA!!! As long as it was still cold it was okay.

Thanks for the information. The problem is that the meat was all defrosted and not very cold at all when I touched it. So the question is just how long was it like that? I have no way of knowing and seriously do not want to risk it. I have three kids and there's no way I'm going to do that. Even if one pack didn't make us sick, how do we know the next one might, you know? Too risky IMO. But thanks for your thoughts!

On the bright side--at least you didn't have to trash the freezer! (Happened in my family--the freezer stunk and was crawling with maggots. Totally disgusting.)

Ugh, that would've made me vomit! The only problem with all of our defrosted meat was that some of the juices ran and dripped everywhere. But maggots?!?! Oh honey, I'd have been ill if I'd seen that!

 

[chamonix]

My dad taught me to always keep thermometers inside my fridge and freezer. I can tell at a glance what the actual temperature is at any time. It's been a good investment (not that they're expensive) and saved my butt a few times (noticed thermometer showed fridge was getting too warm before it was warm enough for me to notice by touch/feel, so was able to fix it before everything went bad).

As to your meat dilemma, well, it's true that a good, packed chest freezer may have kept the meat cool enough to eat when you returned, but with your history of that horrible sounding recent bout of food poisoning, I think you made the right choice to throw it out. Why take any chances? That being said, if it was me and I could see the actual temp with a thermometer, I may have eaten it. You could also measure the actual temp of the meat by pushing a thermometer into some of the packages and determining if they were still in the safe range. I only buy organic meat, so believe me, I know how expensive that is to replace!

One last thing: take a sharpie and mark the freezer plug in some way!

 

[tvguy]

This is so not true - you can refreeze meat. This is from USDA site on food sasfety.

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 thawing. .

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




ITA!!! As long as it was still cold it was okay.

But it apparently WASN'T at the temperature the refrigerator would have kept it at, so refreezing wasn't an option.

 

[tvguy]

Now, before you restock, I would ask, do you really want 150 pounds of beef at one time in your freezer?
USDA suggests that you not keep beef frozen for more than 4 months. I guess it depends on how big your family is, and how often you eat beef, but we'd sure have a tough time eating 150 pounds of beef in 4 months.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

My dad taught me to always keep thermometers inside my fridge and freezer. I can tell at a glance what the actual temperature is at any time. It's been a good investment (not that they're expensive) and saved my butt a few times (noticed thermometer showed fridge was getting too warm before it was warm enough for me to notice by touch/feel, so was able to fix it before everything went bad).

As to your meat dilemma, well, it's true that a good, packed chest freezer may have kept the meat cool enough to eat when you returned, but with your history of that horrible sounding recent bout of food poisoning, I think you made the right choice to throw it out. Why take any chances? That being said, if it was me and I could see the actual temp with a thermometer, I may have eaten it. You could also measure the actual temp of the meat by pushing a thermometer into some of the packages and determining if they were still in the safe range. I only buy organic meat, so believe me, I know how expensive that is to replace!

One last thing: take a sharpie and mark the freezer plug in some way!

Oooh, lots of good tips here! Thanks! A thermometer is a fabulous idea. And marking that stupid plug with a sharpie, lol! Thanks for the advice.

But it apparently WASN'T at the temperature the refrigerator would have kept it at, so refreezing wasn't an option.

I wouldn't feel comfortable refreezing for the very reason you said. Agreed.

Now, before you restock, I would ask, do you really want 150 pounds of beef at one time in your freezer?
USDA suggests that you not keep beef frozen for more than 4 months. I guess it depends on how big your family is, and how often you eat beef, but we'd sure have a tough time eating 150 pounds of beef in 4 months.

We had the same amount before and it lasted six months. I was under the impression that meat properly frozen, can last up to a year?? It's a mix of steaks, roasts and ground beef though we tend to eat up the ground beef first.