Mea Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 I've always used Z.....k Freezer Bags. Always. Just prefer them. Today, we defrosted the upright freezer, to rotate food stuffs and general fall clean-up. I ended up discarding several bags of both veggies and some meats because the freezer bags were "bulging". Now i was taught that cold air compresses...gets smaller, and i express as much air, when i seal, as possible. In fact one bag i had "expressed" about a week ago, and it was poofing out again. It certainly got tossed !!! Now, not All of the bags were doing this thing. Others, with the same date of packaging, the same type of contents, were fine. I find it had to think that we are this unique and firmly believe that others might have had this happen. Does Anyone have any ideas Why this happened ??? Thank You. Mea, who is begining to wonder why she has more questions...the longer she visits here? Link to comment
Virginia Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 When I first read through, I thought you were cleaning little furry animals (gerbel sp?), but I bet you were doing a general cleaning. I haven't had the swelling problem, so no help here. Link to comment
Mea Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 When I first read through, I thought you were cleaning little furry animals (gerbel sp?), but I bet you were doing a general cleaning. I haven't had the swelling problem, so no help here. Oh dear !!! !! Mea. (hopefully corrected) Link to comment
Canned Nerd Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 What is the temperature maintained by your freezer? Packages should not be "bulging" for any reason. Link to comment
bluegrassmom Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 Well, it doesn't sound like this is what's happening in your case, but I've always heard that a bulging package means that the item inside was frozen and then at some point thawed out and then refroze. Link to comment
Canned Nerd Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 A "frost free" freezer does exactly that, freezes and defrosts in cycles. If the drain is frozen (plugged) for example, or circulation is blocked, the cycling will not properly occur and could involve in improper warming, which is why I was asking the question about the freezer temperature. Link to comment
Mea Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 A "frost free" freezer does exactly that, freezes and defrosts in cycles. If the drain is frozen (plugged) for example, or circulation is blocked, the cycling will not properly occur and could involve in improper warming, which is why I was asking the question about the freezer temperature. This freezer is not a "frost free". When we purchased it, DH did not want that feature as it would cost more to run. What confuses me (amoung many other things,lol) is that there are bags that were placed in the freezer at the same times...same food product.....say green beans on August 12th. One bag might be poofy, the others perfectly fine. Strange things fascinate me ! Mea. Link to comment
ArmyOfFive4God Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 were your items cooled completely (and stirred occasionally while cooling) before being stored? Link to comment
Violet Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 Mea, That is the only time I see them "poof" is if they are not totally cooled when put into the freezer. Unless the food has thawed out, it is still safe. I really don't think you need to throw the food away. Everyone should keep a thermometer in their freezers. In case they do break down, you will know how cold the food is. If it is still below 40 degrees you could then still keep most of the food to eat. It would be fine to can it or eat it up in a couple days after putting in the fridge. I do know that sealed bags of chips poof up, too. I had some explode once after freezing them. Foods have to have expansion room when they go into the freezer. Link to comment
Mea Posted October 6, 2009 Author Share Posted October 6, 2009 Finally located a thermometer to place in the freezer. It reads almost spot on zero. yay ! The one bag in particular that really puzzled me, was a bag of ham pieces that had been in there since late Spring. It was put in there with as much air expressed as i could. A couple weeks ago i noticed it, with the bag puffed up with air while still in the freezer, expressed out as much air as i could, and put it back in the freezer. Then yesterday, while emptying the freezer for defrosting, i noticed that the bag was full of air Again. Really Weird !! I chucked it. Figured if it was doing somthing so strange... * i * was Not gonna eat it...Ever ! M. Link to comment
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