Just discovered freezer door was left open - do I have to throw everything out

[ellehcim]

Loads of stuff seems partially defrosted. Do I have to chuck it all (can't possibly use it all before it goes off) or can it be refrozen if its only partially defrosted?

Loads of fish and meat plus vegetables ice cream and lollies

Can any of it (meat and fish) be cooked and then refrozen?

aha - didn't think of that. You are sharp sharpmolarbear!

even better idea, do you fancy ice cream? can you send some (choc please) round?

have a big cooking session today with the fish and meat and veg and freeze the meals
bin the rest

Use your senses to determine whether a food can
safely be refrozen. Examine the food closely. Are the
contents:

--thawed and at room temperature? Throw them out!
--thawed but at refrigerator temperature?
--partially frozen?
--frozen solid?.

Does the food have:
--an off odor?
--a color change?
--apparent mold or bacteria growing on the surface?

The general rule of thumb is if a food is safe to
eat, it is safe to refreeze. Foods which are still
partially frozen or have thawed but are still cold to the
touch (40 degrees or lower) can safely be refrozen.
Eating quality may be slightly affected. Mark those
packages which have thawed and been refrozen, and use
them as soon as possible.

found this thought might help

Message withdrawn

Tbh I'd cook what you can and re-freeze once cooked.

I wouldn't re-freeze anything if it's been partially defrosted. It's just not worth the risk.

I had this recently. Whacked it onto fast freeze setting and hoped for the best. Haven't had any problems apart from lollies and icecream lost shape and texture.

Happened to us too recently. Did exactly the same as Emsmum - realise now a really bad thing to do but weve had absolutely no ill effects whatsoever.

thanks everyone. Have just been through it all. Have some very limp fishfingers which will eat for lunch and the icecream is now cream so will have to go. Found some frozen babyfood which I made when DS1 was a baby (now 2.8) so needed to go anyway!

Will do a bit of cooking this afternoon with some mince, chicken and salmon fillets and then risk it on the rest.