Is everything in my freezer ruined now?

Question

My 4 year old was playing with the temp. control knobs yesterday i assume around 5pm. he turned the freezer one as low as it would go so it was practically turned off. i noticed everything seemed warm around 9pm but didnt check. the next morning around 9am everything was thawed out. the hamburger meat, chicken, bologna, and frozen dinners etc. i turned it back on and everything is now frooze back again.

but is it ok to eat? i remember my mom telling me to never freeze meat - unthaw it - refreeze it - unthaw it and eat it. how true is that? and is it still good to eat?

thank you!

Answer 1

Sorry, it's unsafe now. For future reference, if you immediately cook meat that was accidentally thawed, before it reaches room temperature, then you can refreeze the cooked meat. But raw, thawed and refrozen, will produce unsafe levels of bacteria when you thaw it again.

Answer 2

When in doubt, throw it out.. Thawing and refreezing most food items will make them in edible.. Not every item though would be bad for you health wise, but taste wise would be nasty. TV dinners and any IQF frozen product is frozen rapidly to prevent ice crystals from forming in the protiens of the meat. If you thaw then re-freeze these items, you would end up with ice crystals in the meat products, which of course would also change the consistancy of the meat as well. You do run the risk also of with the water that would accumulate in a thawed product to accelerate the growth of bacteria in the food, making it unsafe to eat. Would have to say if you re-froze everything, to be safe would throw it out. Not worth taking the risk.

Answer 3

Food Safety During an Emergency

When the power goes out for more than a few minutes, you need to know what to do to be sure that your food remains safe.
Perishable food should not be kept above 40 F for more than two hours.
Otherwise, the food may begin to spoil and bacterial growth will start.
Here are some food safety tips to remember during an emergency:
Leave the freezer door shut.
Your food will remain safe for up to 48 hours, though it depends on how full your freezer is.
The more frozen food, the longer it will last.
Keep your refrigerator door shut too.
Food in the fridge will be safe for at least two hours if you don't open and close the doors.
Make sure you have two or three so that you have plenty of room for food and ice.
Stash bags of ice cubes in your freezer.
If the electricity is out for more than three or four hours, transfer your refrigerated food into the coolers and pack them with lots of ice.
Keep different sizes of plastic containers with tight-fitting lids on hand.
You don't want to put your uncooked meats next to your cooked foods or raw produce in the coolers.
So, keep food separated with individual containers.
Buy single servings because you may be unable to refrigerate leftovers.

hope this helps. good luck.

Answer 4

I think frozen dinners could probably still be re frozen and eaten later on........ but it's true that the taste might not be the same.

It has happened to me some times that I just forget to turn my fridge back on when I'm trying to get rid of the frost in the freezer or we have a looong power outage and everything gets unfrozen. I've still used fish that I've re-frozen but yeah, doesn't taste as good. Meat and chicken...... I'd get rid of it (or cook it RIGHT NOW!).

Answer 5

Was everything still cold? If it was, you could eat it now, but I agree with mom that once meat has been unfrozen it needs to be used ASAP. Even the less-dangerous items--like TV dinners are going to have a thick layer of freezer frost on them. To me, that ruins the flavor. I'd toss it.

TX Mom
not an expert

Answer 6

Yes, I would just dump everything, then clean the freezer section, let recool for 24/48 hours and restock.

Answer 7

I would have a big dinner party tonight. Other than that, it's all chunkable.