So over the last week I have been using a back-up chest freezer in the shed while awaiting our new freezer which arrived today. So I went in to the shed to get my food out ready to put back in to the new freezer. I noticed a smell of southern fried chicken when I opened the shed door, and I then noticed a large carrier bag of food had been left out on the table next to the freezer, this is sometimes done briefly when trying to get lower in the freezer, but of course the bag is meant to go back in before I leave the shed, it was all soft and defrosted. I put all the food from the main freezer in large carrier bags in the chest freezer as it was only there temporary so was easier to transport. The problem is I don't know how long the bag had been left out.
It is probably 2 days ago as I went in there to get some ice packs out, so must have just forgot to put the bag back in the freezer, as all the food is in various carriers. Lots of things like chicken steaks, fish fingers/cakes, chicken nuggets, etc. I believe it is all pre-cooked type food that just needs heating up in the oven. Some of the food, like chicken steaks, are in sealed plastic type boxes as they have not been opened yet.
Will the oven cook out all the bacteria if any grew ? How risky is it ? Fish doesn't smell off, but then it is just fish cakes and fingers, not raw fish. If it was just a couple of packs of food I would chuck it, but it was a big carrier bag full of unopened food worth around £25 in total, maybe more. Seems such a waste.
What would you do ? How long left out in a shed to defrost would you find it too long ? I guess at least it was a shed temperature and not indoors warmth. At the moment I have put it all in the fridge to work out what to do.