We had nearly a quarter of a beef, several frozen pizzas, a whole chicken, and a pork tenderloin in the freezer. At the time I discovered the freezer had quit, enough time had lapsed that all the meat was totally thawed and was cool but not cold. When you discover that the freezer is not working, it is important to determine why it is no longer working. Some of our callers find that the freezer was accidently unplugged, or a fuse has blown, or someone has left the freezer door open.
It is not uncommon during an ice storm to have the power off for several days. It the problem can be fixed—plugging the freezer cord back into the outlet, or tripping the circuit breaker, check to see if the freezer contents are still completely frozen or partially frozen.
If the contents have at least some ice crystals remaining it will be safe to refreeze the item. Ice cream would be an exception to that rule as the thawed ice cream will refreeze with much larger crystals resulting in a food that would not be enjoyable. If the freezer outage is due to a power outage you will want to do what you can to keep all the food from thawing.
When callers have this problem, we have a few questions that we typically ask. If the outage is not expected to be more than hours, the freezer can be covered with a blanket or bags of ice can be added to help keep the temperature down inside the freezer. Avoid opening the freezer to keep it cold inside longer. If a longer outage is expected, the caller can take the food to a meet locker if available, or purchase some dry ice to keep the contents cold for a longer period.
Here is some advice from the National Center for Home Food Preservation on what to do with thawed foods. Some thawed foods can be re-frozen. However, the texture will not be as good. Other foods may need to be discarded. All of the food in my freezer was totally thawed and beginning to not have a very pleasant aroma. If the new one lasts as long as my old one, I should not have to replace it.
I love to quilt, sew, cook, and bake. I spent many years gardening, canning, and preserving food for my family when my children were at home. More Posts - Website. Hi Shelley, thank you for contacting AnswerLine. It would seem that your freezer is not freezing efficiently. I would keep a close eye on it.
Sometimes when a freezer behaves in this manner, it is the first warning that something more serious is about to happen. Other times, it is a simple matter of defrosting the freezer to remove the build up of frost or ice on the inside coils or cleaning the dirty outside coils to resolve the issue; either reduce the overall cooling capacity of the freezer. More serious issues are fans evaporator and condenser which circulate the air throughout the freezer or the start relay which powers the compressor; these issues need to be resolved promptly.
Are you noticing that the freezer is running all of the time or that there are clicking noises? Freezer running all the time might mean that it is one of the fans that is not working properly. Related Information Title. URL Name. Related Articles Is it safe to refreeze food that has thawed? How long can meat and poultry remain in the refrigerator, once thawed? How long can a thawed turkey remain in the refrigerator after thawing?
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How long can you store eggs in the refrigerator? A freezer can only refreeze a small amount of food at a time. Refreezing smaller amounts of food ensures that the food refroze safely and with the smallest amount of added ice crystals forming. In making decisions about refreezing foods, always consider safety first. Then consider the loss of quality.
With some foods, the loss of quality may be so great that it's not worth refreezing them. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Home Food, health and nutrition Food safety Preserving and preparing Refreezing food.
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