My freezer was open overnight, is my food still good to eat?
Asked by
brettvdb (
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)
September 24th, 2009
Last night my freezer didn’t close all the way – it was open an inch or two – and I didn’t notice and went to bed. This morning when I looked inside most of the ice had melted and was in a puddle on the floor. I have steak, chicken, shrimp, and a lot of other stuff in there – will all of this still be fine to eat?
By the way: It all felt cold, and the stuff in drawers were still frozen.
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12 Answers
Is the food still cool? If so sure.
I can’t say from food items that you have; I’m pure vegetarian.
Do these food items smell bad?
Anything that has defrosted needs to be cooked in the next day or so. Don’t refreeze anything that isn’t still frozen, unless you do so after you cook it.
From the USDA website you CAN re-freeze meat that has been thawed. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#14
My biggest concern would be how ‘warm’ did the meat get and how old was it when you put it in the freezer?
Sometimes if I’ve over-bought or didn’t plan my week properly, I’ll have chicken in the fridge till nearly the “sell by” date… to make sure it dosen’t go bad, I’ll freeze it. Something like that, I would cook as soon as possible and not take the chance of re-freezing it.
“Anything that has defrosted needs to be cooked in the next day or so.”
Yea! BBQ at brettvdb’s house.
Okay so most of the stuff is still mainly frozen, especially in the center and on the side that was at the back of the freezer. Is this considered defrosted?
I would say technically yes, but since it’s still ‘icy’ you can safely refreeze it… (the quality won’t be as great, but if there’s lots of meat there, and you’re not able to cook it all immediately, then go ahead and refreeze)
Suggestion if you do refreeze, re-wrap everythign well. (to avoid freezer burn)
If it was open only a couple of inches, that’s really not enough to have anything defrost. Especially if things still feel cold/frozen. I, personally, wouldn’t be afraid of it.
Nothing to worry about really except your electricity bill and your carbon footprint.
depends if it was just slightly ajar or wide open. slightly ajar is equivalent to an unexpected brief power outage and the food slightly thawed, but not all the way. you can still salvage that. “wide open” is like a long power outage and the most durable food is salvageable, but poultry and delicate perishables may be ruined.
if meat, milk, butter or veggie is still cool to touch, you have a running chance to cook with it immediately or chunk it in the trash for a costly loss. it’s your call.
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