Freezer left wide open all night?

[mmmmkakshch]

My daughter got an ice cream last night about half 7. Freezer left open. I was doing the washing upstairs. I didnt come back down.

Came down at half 6. Wide open. Freezer warm. Food not fully defrosted but soft. Some ice on some of the food.

I've shut the door and am going to leave it.
Im a single mum. I cant afford to replace any of this..I did a massive restock last week. Am we going to get sick? Its a mixture of frozen food, chips waffles nuggets etc, meat, ice cream
I really shouted at my child and thats also making me feel horrid. But thats all our food for the month and the idea of throwing it away makes me feel even worse.

I wouldn’t throw it all away - it’s at least been kept cold overnight. The stuff nearest the front I’d cook today - it can be refrozen safely once cooked. I wouldn’t worry about veg or chips to be honest.

I wouldn't throw either. I would cook the meat bits for longer though.

Hope your ok ❤️😊

Veg and chips all fine.

Good advice to cook the meat and refreeze.

Not sure about the ice cream....

Ouch. We had similar not so long ago, my son left the door just ajar. He’s only 4 so not really his fault, he didn’t realise, but I really had to take a few deep breaths before saying anything!
Excellent suggestion to cook the meats today, and freeze thereafter.

In my experience (and I've done this many times) I've generally had a quick feel of things, chucked anything remotely warm or squidgy then shut the door for a day or so and all's fine.
Bread/chips ect will be fine defrosted and refrozen but warm sausages would need to be chucked.
Also my new freezer is better at this issue as it has elements on each shelf so even if the doors open the majority of stuff is fine and still frozen.

Yes I should have definitely taken a deep breath. Everything is on such a tight budget and the meals are planned almost military strict. And the thought of losing it all makes me feel sick..
I feel horrible for shouting. Thank you for the advice. Ive shut it and im going to leave it shut for a few hours and recheck. Ill take some meat out and cook it and just rearrange the days of the meals

You need to check the meat now, or you won’t be able to tell what is too soft and therefore not a good idea to eat anymore. Food poisoning over Christmas wouldn’t be fun.

Could you get a freezer alarm? Ours has a built in one. It’s a really annoying noise but it goes mad if it’s open for longer than two minutes, so it’s a good back up if anyone goes in and I don’t know.

Go and give DD a cuddle too; then do your review. Throw anything like warm sausages or squidgy meat, as someone else said, cook any other meat, then leave the freezer closed for a day or so to let everything else refreeze. Hopefully you’ll save most of it x

You are not the first mum to have shouted and overreacted, and you won't be the last 🤗.

Talk to your daughter, explain and apologise.

It's ok - we have all done it.

any meat which has defrosted needs to be taken out and put in the fridge; you then have 24-48 hours to cook it and refreeze and it will be fine. But like others have said, I wouldn't leave it in the freezer without checking it's not still frozen as then you just won't know. Particularly chicken and pork. Like others have said, don't worry in the slightest about chips and veg.

THE ICECREAM IS NOT SAFE! BIN IT.

Try and cook then refreeze the meat. That will be safe.

Don't worry about the veg, but make sure everything is well cooked when you serve it.

I wouldn't eat the icecream unless it's at the back and still frozen but a bit softened but if it's something your daughter eats I would explain that there is no icecream as a consequence of the freezer being left open