Help! freezer door left open for 6 hours, should I bin everything?

[Sophie9090]

I’ve binned the meat, but I’ve batched cooked so much food for my 1 year old, it either contains, vegetables, lentils, vegan cheese, puff pastry, potatoes. None of it was soft, however the puree chicken curry had started too, I could slightly push down on it (I’ve obviously binned that) but the lentil shepherds pie etc still felt hard.

it’s hours and hours of cooking in the freezer so I really don’t want to bin it but if it’s dangerous I obviously don’t want to risk it.

what would you do??

thanks

Even the ice cubes hadn’t defrosted

I wouldn't throw anything away personally

Was it fully open or just ajar? If it’s all solid or almost solid I would definitely use it again. If the ice is still
solid surely it will be fine. Was the meat soft?

Not would I, unless it had obviously defrosted.

I've made this mistake - I wouldn't bin anything, especially if it wasn't defrosted.

I wouldn’t throw anything away, even if you’re not willing to risk giving it to your baby I would think it’ll be fine for adult consumption.

If it is still frozen it’ll be fine

I'd chuck the curry and keep the rest. You could have cooked the meat and frozen it cooked. What a total pain last time I did this we had just done the monthly shop 😢

The only thing i would even think about is meat - but thats cos i dont eat it so dont know the rules. Wouldnt throw anything else

If things weren't actually defrosted then why would you throw them away. If ice cream had melted I'd throw that away

Why on earth would you bin the meat? Was it fully defrosted? Had it gone rotten? Covered in maggots? If not just whack it in the fridge until you can cook it. If its a lot then start batching then refreeze...Bolognese, chili, cottage our for mince. Thai and various Indian Curries, sweet and sour, chicken and mushroom pie filling for chicken. Etc

I'd just refreeze as is though to be honest. Absolute waste.

I have had this happen twice and judged it on ice cubes and bread. They are usually the first to defrost but it obviously depends on their location within too! I've only ever thrown minimal out and we've never had ill effects.

I’m only worried as it’s for my son, I would definitely eat it. It’s just strange as the curry had started to defrost but other stuff was hard. And the door was just slightly open

Bin the vegan cheese though. That stuff is wrong.

For future ref put a tub or bottle of water in the freezer and when it’s frozen put a coin on top and return to the freezer.
if the coin has ever sunk to the bottom then you know your freezer has defrosted at some point but may have frozen up again.
eg. Power cut whilst on holiday.

Chuck anything that's soft if your dc is eating it
Anything else I'd keep including the meat if it was still frozen. Heck, it's takes days to defrost anything in my fridge so in a freezer with the door ajar it would take even longer.

I wouldn't bin vegetables, just refreeze and they'll be fine.

DH left our freezer door slightly open overnight the other night and the thought of chucking anything never even entered our minds.

We had this whilst living in a tropical country. DH and I ate all the baby purree on jacket potatoes… I hate waste. However, if it’s still solid and in a cooler part of the world I think you will probably be ok.

sorry though - it’s soul destroying when you have spent ages cooking.

Why did you chuck out the meat??

It doesn't sound like it was even defrosted. Even if there is an abundance that you can't use how, cook it and refreeze.