Freezer food all to waste? :(

[FizzyPop31]

I'm really upset.. single parent and money is tight at the moment...

I just had an instinct to look in my under stairs cupboard. Realised my freezer was turned off at plug!!!

So not sure whether that food will be any good :(
Absolutely gutted if all my food in there is no good just done shopping.

Opened turkey that was still hard so don’t think it has thawed much :( fish also still hard but not sure what to do :(

All kids food, fish fingers etc still in there :(

Have turned back on but no idea if it's ok to eat now and feel gutted may be a whole freezer full of food to waste.

For reference ice poles partially melted but partially frozen :(

If it all still feels frozen then it hasn’t been turned off for long and the food will be fine.

You only need to bin it if it defrosted AND sat there warm for hours / days at a time.

If the food is hard and cold then turn your freezer back on and keep it all. If it is defrosting but still feels cold to the touch you might be able to cook off some things (such as raw meat) and then re-freeze.

Actually, just re-read the bit about ice poles (ice lollies I’m guessing?). If they’re still partially frozen then it is all definitely fine. Don’t stress 😄

Yes you know ice poles.. lil ice poles in plastic wrapping you have to cut open at the top..
I have little one one at about 6pm and thought they seemed a lil defrosted then and that it were strange. Some juice coming out of them so not totally frozen.

Opened up the turkey fillets they are still very hard and cold can't feel any soft flesh.. also some frozen fish feels a lil soft on the breadcrumbs but still very hard and cold ;(
Don't know what to do.

Honestly I'd just switch it back on and pretend it hadn't happened if it's still mostly frozen! I have done this and it's been fine, like you I can't afford to waste food.

I wouldn't worry at all - I've left our freezer door open for a while before and things defrosted much more than that and I still just shut the door and everything was fine! Generally, if the door is shut, it stays pretty cold for a while.

Sounds likely you've caught it before it's defrosted, switch it back on and see what happens

Check any ice cream and if that's soft throw it out.

The freezer would have stayed cold for hours with the door shut so if foods are still hard and cold then I wouldn't throw it away

It will be fine. As long as meat / fish hasn't been sitting there room temp, you won't have a problem.

The worst scenario is that some of the items aren't as palatable as normal, for example bread crumbs mushy, but none of it will be dangerous.

How did it get turned off?

Could you estimate roughly when it may have been turned off? If it was switched off at the plug someone must have been in the cupboard and knocked it. Can you recall anyone going in there? That might reassure you it hasn’t been off for too long

I agree with PP. If meat felt hard and the ice pops were mostly solid it’ll be fine. Maybe put some thick tape over the plug so it can’t happen again!

I worked for a national electricity supplier assisting people with power cuts and your food is fine for 24hrs with the freezer door closed

Sounds fine to me and I work in food safety.

Ice pops defrost really quickly. Like in fifteen minutes at room temperature. So if they're not defrosted it should be fine. Does your freezer have a thermometer? Do you? You could double check with that but frozen food is good for several hours in a switched off freezer as long as it's closed.

Throw away ice poles and ice cream that is soft. The rest should be fine as long as you haven't repeatedly open and closed the door, freezers are designed to stay cold without electricity for several hours.

Based on your analysis, the food should be refreezable

If it was me I would honestly switch it back on and pretend it never happened.

It will be ok!
As per the above advice, so long as the door was shut and food was still mainly frozen enough to be hard, carry on as usual.

Put tape over the switch to prevent further switch off!

Brilliant idea re the duct tape!!!

My mum's freezer packed up due to a power surge after a power cut, we kept the freezer closed & ordered a new one to be delivered the next day, we lost nothing from the food in the freezer.

Thank you all so so much!! Such a great help and relief. Really don't want to have to restock my whole freezer!!!

I'm tempted to restock kids foods like chicken nuggets etc just in case but can risk it for myself.

How old are your children and are you all in good health? If I was feeding a baby or someone in poor health/very elderly, I’d be more cautious, but for my family, in the circumstances you describe I’m another one who would just turn the plug back on and pretend it hadn’t happened (and I have done this a couple of times). It sounds as though it hadnt been off for long and freezers are designed to stay cold for a while if there’s a power cut, so I’m sure it will be fine.

I had a long power cut a few years ago (workmen helpfully cut through the power lines whilst digging the road outside ) and I checked with the electric company who said that a freezer that's turned off with the door closed should be fine for about 24 hours. And sure enough my food was all fine after hours of the power being off.

Your food is totally fine, don't chuck it.