Help, my freezer has just defrosted itself and there is probably about £70 of food in there!

[Overrun]

It is in a out house and the plug is in the house, and I think one of my little darlings must have switched it off... It has completely defrosted.
I am thinking that I must throw all the meat and fish out, what do you think? And what about other stuff, potato products, veg, fruit, pastry. I really can't bear to throw it all out, unless I really have to

How long ago was it switched off? ie did you go to it yesterday and it was on? If so I would get on a massive cooking spree and then freeze it again if it is just plain meat. ie cottage pies, fish pie, veggie lasagne. I would just refreeze the fruit and veg bags. Alternatively check to see if it is covered by your insurance.

you can refreeze fruit & veg and the meat is probaby okay to cook now and refreeze as it will have stayed chilled with the door shut IYSWIM

Thanks for that, I think it has been switched off for over 3 days, who knows how long, it has been a while since I got something from there.
I'm not sure about insurance, the fact that one of the children switched it off, as opposed to it gonking out?

Throw it all away - you can't take the chance esp if it has been a few days...

If it's still cold (under 5 degrees like fridge temperature) then put as much as you can in the fridge or cook up and re-freeze. If it's room temperature then it would be best to throw it away sadly.

Do you have contents insurance? Most policies have a clause re freezers that might be worth checking.

Um, I think it might qualify as fridge temp, food packages still felt pretty cold , but completely defrosted.
I will check my insurance, but wonder about whether it is worth it, but with home insurance does this mean that your claim is held against you like with car insurance when you lose your no claims bonus, if so, may not be worth it.

I came on here to search for messages related to this - I'm so glad we're not the only ones!

We went away last thursday night, got back late Sunday night only to realise the electric had run out. Checked and established it ran out on Friday night Didn't open the freezer (its in the shed, big one) until yesterday. Its still got lots of 'snow' as we call it and the bag of ice still has shaped ice in it - no sign of anything defrosting.

We thought the food would be OK based on the fact that the freezer wasn't opened at all until yesterday and that the ice is still shaped properly. Am I to assume that we're wrong now though?

if its all still frozen you are fine....

Purple lost princess, I know how you feel. I have decided to play it safe and thrown out meat and veg, but have kept other stuff.
Thanks for all suggestions

My electricity went when I was at my family home for one night and it took all day trying to get the electricity back on. I am worried about my food in my freezer as I have raw meat in their. I chuck fridge food out as most of it was out of date. I have ready meals in freezer I am not sure wether to throw food out or not.

Deffo claim on the insurance - no need to mention you suspicions as you don't know for sure. Tell them It's just stopped working
I had to claim, & didn't know how to calculate the cost of all the "here's-one-I-made-earlier" stuff. They gave an estimated cost of replacing stuff with ready-meals & I was quite happy with the result.