Food safety question: broken freezer!

amother

Fri, May 03 2013, 7:17 am

So yesterday we got a meat order: lots of chickens, ground meat etc. The chicken came defrosted which I wasn't too happy about... as it was frozen at some point before. The rest was frozen. Anyway we put them into our ancient freezer, and it started making a loud noise and the light came on saying it was cooling. I checked a couple of hours later and only the green light was on, so I assumed it was frozen. Anyway 24 hours later and I checked on the meat. The 2 bottom drawers of meat are not at all frozen, but very cold to the touch (bit colder than fridge temp).

So I'm trying to transfer the meat to another freezer, do you think it will be safe to use after that? This is maybe 400 shekels worth of chicken.... and another 200 shekels of ground meat... would be a shame to throw it out. Nothing smells at all...

Oh and as a side point, if anyone in Jerusalem is selling a working freezer... Wink

Anon. in case someone I ask for freezer space is on here Smile

StrongIma

Fri, May 03 2013, 7:23 am

I think so, since it didn't actually get warm - but make sure that you cook it thoroughly when you do use it - that it gets really hot through and through, so that any germs are killed - no par-broiling or frying.

Clarissa

Fri, May 03 2013, 8:48 am

I had a broken freezer last year and went online to see what needed to be tossed. In the end, I wound up throwing almost everything out because that's what the repairman suggested. I don't keep meat or fish of any kind in my freezer so that was a non-issue.

If I did have meat I might cook the defrosted meat if it was still very cold, but I wouldn't refreeze anything, because I've heard that's not safe.

StrongIma

Fri, May 03 2013, 9:20 am

Clarissa wrote:

I wouldn't refreeze anything, because I've heard that's not safe.

I've also heard this but dared to try anyhow, with no ill results (pun intended) - taking precautions as I outlined above.

Clarissa

Fri, May 03 2013, 9:26 am

If anybody attempts to cook meat that's been rescued from a broken freezer, so NOT serve to guests who might have a compromised immune system of any kind. That includes anybody dealing with chemo, cancer, HIV. What might cause a minor issue for most of us can be very dangerous for anybody whose immune system isn't strong.

StrongIma

Fri, May 03 2013, 9:30 am

Clarissa wrote:

that's entirely true and point well taken - when I do, it's only served to my immediate family.