Freezer box failure - How long is safe for a re-freeze?

[sandbender]

Hello all.

I lost my electricity supply yesterday. My freezer box which is full of chicken curry, pork and veg mince and similar was still cold when the power came back on, although none of the items were 'icy-solid' they were certainly colder than the items in the fridge, which was also cold.

I read conflicting information about what I can re-freeze (if at all).

There is a lot of food here, can I refreeze it or is it banquet time tonight?

Thanks for looking.

 

[Perrari]

I have always thought it was up to 24 hrs as long as the freezer door was not opened, but if it has defrosted then maybe not. If you have meat in there that was raw when frozen, then that can be cooked & re frozen and re heated ONCE afterwards to be eaten.
Sounds like you will have chicken curry for dinner today though.

 

[mountainm]

Cook the raw meat, eat any cooked foods (or chuck them), chuck any diary, including ice cream (or eat it), veg and fruit can be re-frozen

 

[sandbender]

I better get some beer in I think.

 

[Perrari]

Sounds like a good plan !

I better get some beer in I think.

 

[Toddy]

It's not just a food hygiene thing; freeze /thaw/freeze/thaw dessicates meat, 'burns' it as they say. It alters it's texture enough that it becomes cheugh.

Cook the raw stuff, and refreeze as necessary.
Curry can be heated up in the micro and allowed to cool down slowly. The water will be reabsorbed that way, and then refrozen. It'll mush stuff like veggies but the meat in the sauce should be okay. It's got to be better than curry morning, noon and night for the next week

If your ice cream has defrosted, and has never been allowed to warm up past the temperature that you would keep milk, then make up a jelly from the cubes using half the amount of boiling water. Whisk or whizz it into the ice cream (lots of bubbles) and allow it to set. Makes a milky pudding and it freezes well in ice lolly moulds too

cheers,
Toddy

 

[xylaria]

I have eaten defrosted and refrozen stuff and lived. That is not garantee that you will, so if you cark it from bolulism you can haunt me. If they havent warmed up to the 4c of fridge temp I would chance a refreeze, on most precooked items. Raw prawns I would fling, raw chicken cook up and then freeze, other stuff depends, on common sense [or the lack of it in my case]. If meat juices have bled over everything i would fling the lot.

 

[robin wood]

As I understand it (and I have not done the advanced food hygiene qualifications though have talked a few with folk that have) The whole thing about avoiding refreezing is down to the problem of not knowing how long it has spent at 4 degrees (fridge) as against -18 (freezer). The products you are describing would be perfectly safe at 4 degrees for a few days, I am sure you would be happy eating the chicken curry after 2 days in the fridge. If it spends 2 nmonths at -18 then 24 hours at 4 then 2 months at -18 it is fine. The reason they say don't refreeze is that unless you lable or know exactly how long it has been out for then you could defrost and refreeze several times which would add up the time spent at 4 to potentially dangerous area.

That is all down to safety, as Toddy says there can also be deterioration in texture due to repeated thawing and freezing cycles but that is for you to decide if you are worried about it.

 

[santaman2000]

Straight of the USDA web-site: Refreezing
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F.

If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly.


Here's a link to the site www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp

 

[sandbender]

Thanks all.

It would seem that there is a great deal of paranoia about food that has thawed in a fridge, either accidentally or after having been purchased from a shop. As long is one uses ones head I think refreezing pre-cooked meals that had barely been at 1 or 2 degrees (C) for a few hours will be fine.

I had a huge meal of pork mince last night and the curries are now re-frozen and I'll eat them over the coming weeks.

I'll report back (or not) if there are any serious side effects.



Thanks again.

 

[robin wood]

Thanks all.

It would seem that there is a great deal of paranoia about food that has thawed in a fridge, either accidentally or after having been purchased from a shop. As long is one uses ones head I think refreezing pre-cooked meals that had barely been at 1 or 2 degrees (C) for a few hours will be fine.

I agree but the folk that give the official advice can not rely on folk using their head, nor remembering which of their meals have been refrozen nor how long they were at what temp in between times. From a food hygiene point of view what is important is the total amount of time it has spent at a temperature at which bacterial growth occurs.