Do i really have to bin everything?

[thunderbuddy]

DD has turned the freezer off probably thinking it was the toaster I presume. She noticed last night when she offered to make tea and noticed the veg burgers were a bit defrosted. She said nothing and put them on to cook.

So this afternoon I got home and found the entire chest freezer defrosted. Everything is fully defrosted some of it is warm mush.

Can I really not refreeze anything?
If it has been off since Monday night (I used chicken Monday night and it was still frozen) will any of it be safe to eat tonight?

Swears loudly

No you can't. Sorry. It needs to be chucked.

Presumably if it was turned off on Monday night then by Tuesday night things would be defrosted - ready to use today!
Are things still cold like they've been in the fridge or are they Luke warm!
Maybe cook everything and use over the next few days but be wary of chicken and fish.
I'd say the veggie stuff would be ok for sure.

I.mussed the last line - you can eat any of it in the next 24 hours though.

I'm afraid you'll have to bin it all.

Sorry. You have to throw everything.

I've been there, it's miserable.

Mark a large F on the freezer plug and take the opportunity to give it a good clean while defrosted.

If it was still cold I would have used some of it. But as some stuff is warm I'd throw it all away.

Its sad, but best to throw it all away. You cannot refreeze anything thats defrosted. Its a pain, but better to be safe.

You can cook stuff that needs cooking and then refreeze it. As long as it's been kept cool as Chocolate says, ie the equivalent of being in the fridge.

Anything that is cold, you can cook and refreeze, but the rest I would bin

I would cook defrosted meat and then freeze it again, any veg can go into soup and frozen, offer the 'eat now' to friends on Facebook.

cook it if it's cold and chuck it if it's warm that's what I would do.. same advice as chocolate

Any meat which was uncooked you can now cook and refreeze. the rest cook and eat till you burst tonight.

As above, i'd use up the meat in to make curry/chilli/spag bol etc then refreeze.

Anything that is cold, you can cook and refreeze, but the rest I would bin

Yep, me too. And I'm even not terribly observant with some food rules.

Yes any uncooked food can be cooked and re frozen.

Oh fuck OP. What are you going to do with that body you stashed in there?

Cook anything that you can refreeze or keep in the fridge for 2 days.

Yep cook everything which is cold still and if loads invite people for a buffet party tomorrow :) You can also refreeze things once cooked.

this happened to me, my toddler turned it off by accident. We had to chuck anything that couldn't be reheated and eaten that night, we had loads of batch cooking in there, totally gutting.

I would cook all the stuff you can. What has been cooked will be OK to be frozen again.
What you can't do is to freeze something, defrost it and then freeze it again.
Whatever you have today will be OK to eat.
I would do some massive chili, curry etc... TBH (easy to do and very good frozen)

Poor you. A delivery driver from Sainsburys told me that she used to work in a bakery and that any loaves of sliced bread can be safely refrozen, assuming they have not been cross-contaminated.

As everyone else said...but also tell your DD to mention something next time she notices the freezer is off!

I'd just refreeze it all, but I'm lax about this sort of thing. Don't bin stuff, batch cook whatever you can and then refrigerate in portions - if it's been defrosting for 24 hours in a cold environment then it'll be ready for cooking.

No you need to bin the lot. Does your insurance cover it - a lot do.

How old is DD? Why on earth didn't she tell you?