Freezer EMERGENCY! What can I keep/what should I toss?
I discovered this morning that the auxiliary freezer in the garage was left ajar (best guess — for 14 hours). All ice cream/popsicle type things were thawed completely. The thermometer inside said 32, but I don’t think it was all over….most of the bagged vegetables seem thawed and the packaging on the boxed frozen dinners are soggy. Lots of other miscellaneous items, too…
I’m afraid I’ll have to toss it all but I so hate to. What can I safely use over the next few days, assuming it thawed to refrigerator temperature (NOT room temperature)? What cannot be used at all? What can safely be refrozen?
– dinners and pizzas
– vegetables in plastic bags
– cookie dough
– baked beans and corn
– meat that has partially thawed on one edge but the rest is frozen solid
– boxes of popcorn shrimp and fish fillets (from grocery store)
Please, serious and knowledgeable answers only — preferably from someone who works in the grocery industry or has had this happen to them!
There is a list of what the USDA recommends that you toss out after a power outage (which would still apply in your case) on this website (scroll about halfway down):
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/keeping_food_Safe_during_an_emergency/index.asp
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