dogmom4 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Saturday morning my ds17 made sweet rolls and used our toaster oven. Because I didn't want him to heat up the house I told him to do it in the garage. Well, he unknowingly unplugged the chest freezer and didn't plug it back in. I just discovered it about an hour ago. So far I have tossed two gallon sized bags of bananas that were mush and one gallon size bag of the most beautiful strawberries that were also mushy. Also tossed were two boxes of ice cream. Here's my question....the freezer was still cold....I have a ton of meat...chicken, a whole turkey, etc. that is thawed but still cold as if it was in the refrigerator. Please tell me I can still use this if I process it quickly.... It is too hot to be canning but I can't just give up on this...and dh and I are supposed to be going away tomorrow afternoon for our anniversary..... Quote Link to comment
Virginia Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 Oh no, that is terrible. I have often heard that if meats still have a few ice crystals in them you can refreeze them-so would think you could can them, too. Also, have heard that if meat is bad it will smell worse and worse as it cooks. Maybe Violet will see this soon and help you out. Quote Link to comment
sassenach Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 the turkey should be fine if you put in the frig, to cut up and can tonight, Dogmom. Most folks here can up any accidentally or emergency off grid stuff if they have a good stove to use with the pressure canner right away. did you plug in the freezer again? I will leave the more solid meats questions to the folks who can more, as I am not sure if it can still just be refrozen or not. If the turkey stayed cold like in the frig, it should be ok to can up tonight. I hope Violet sees this post soon. Quote Link to comment
Violet Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Either can it all or cook and then refreeze. Unless it is ground meats. Often they should be tossed. Way too many surface areas so bacteria grows in it rapidly. Only use the foods that has plenty of ice crystals in them. The foods would have had to have been under 40 degrees to be safe. Toss casseroles, too. Quote Link to comment
dogmom4 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 I am so done. Ended up cooking two packages of chicken thighs/legs. Meat is shreded and in fridge for use the rest of the week. Boiled a whole chicken that I will can tomorrow morning for chicken soup. Canned six quarts of chicken and two pints of turkey backs. The turkey and two large packages were still frozen solid with no ice crystals so I will deal with them when I get back on Thursday. I think this was because I had a couple of gallons of frozen water on top of them. Composted 4 large Ziploc bags of bananas that were mush...one of which leaked on the bottom of the freezer. I didn't notice until it had started to refreeze . Chickens loved the large Ziploc bag of mushy strawberries. Dog and cats will be very happy for a while. I have two crockpots going with the four packages of chicken breasts/thighs that were at the top and had a slight smell. I also cooked up three packages of ground turkey that will be animal food because I'm not willing for us to get sick. Threw out two containers of ice cream because it was almost liquified... Altogether it could have been a disaster financially...but because I got the bananas and strawberries for free and the meat all was on sale I estimate I'm out about $40 worth of stuff. Don't know if I'll be able to replace it all for the same price tho. Two positives that have come out of this: My freezer and fridge are now clean! Ds17 helped me can and was a pretty quick learner. Lesson learned: I'm too dependent upon my freezer. It's very easy to get a good deal and toss it in the freezer. But, then its not a very good deal if something like this happens. I was thinking about how different I am now compared to six years ago when I became a member here. If this had happened back then I'd have probably thrown it all away and then sat down and cried. But, because of all I've learned here I really only threw away about $10 worth of stuff. Some was saved, some will be recycled through composting and some will reduce my animal feed bill by feeding the animals. I'm kind of surprised at how calm I got after the initial shock. I just started thinking about how others here would handle it. Once again I say thank out because you are the best! Quote Link to comment
Ambergris Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 You said "preparing for whatever comes" and sometimes what comes is a teenager. Quote Link to comment
Amishway Homesteaders Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 As to what to do when freezer fails (or get unplugged).................................. IF it is a fairly good one (good seal) Then the food in it SHOULD stay cold for a while (IF you don't keep opening it to SEE if the food is bad yet?) Your sounds like most of it should have still been frozen IF you had it more than 3/4 full (always add something even bags of ice to get it over the 3/4 mark) a Full Freezer will stay cold longer and it also is cheaper to run that way. Again it all depends on HOW long it was unplugged? Quote Link to comment
TurtleMama Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 From what I've heard, teenagers can be one of the worse "natural disasters".... I'm SO glad that you were able to get the positive out of this, Dogmom. Way to go on putting the knowledge that you have acquired to great use!!! Quote Link to comment
dogmom4 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Michael, it did have a good seal and was full. It was probably a good 48 hours and it was in the garage plus Saturday was 104° here. It probably stayed refrigerator cold because I had bottles of frozen water in it.. Turtlemama,I could've blown a gasket with my son but...he didn't do it on purpose....and there 's really nothing that could be done except move forward. Quote Link to comment
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