Did I lose everything in my freezer?

[theTastyCat]

Dearest Brethrens - I am in desperate need of your help!

Long story short: went on vacation a week and a half ago and shut off the heat/ac before I left. Got back and noticed a little bit of weird brownish goo on the floor in the kitchen. Opened the freezer and discovered that something was terribly wrong. Turns out the door wasn't all the way shut. A small amount of brown goo was on the bottom of the freezer, but there was no "trail" out the door...so it may just be a coincidence...but likely not.

I have 8 pork butts, 6 steaks, 6 chicken breasts, 12 pork steaks, and a 3-pack of spares in there. I was very happy to see that everything was still frozen solid except one butt that was mostly thawed, but still had a frozen corner, and one butt which had just the edge of one corner thawed.

Needless to say, my heart sank...but the more I think about this, it might be OK.

Heat/AC was off, but it was around 60 in the house except for one day it got up to 68. Today it was 60 inside.

Soooo...IF the brief warm spell wasn't enough to thaw and refreeze, it seems like the still-frozen stuff should be OK. My plan for the two thawed ones is to open the thawdest one tomorrow and if it doesn't smell bad, smoke it. I have two days off of work, and I'd be willing to risk eating it to confirm whether all that money in the rest of the freezer is gone or not!! I'd probably make sausage with the other. They're both in the fridge right now.

SO, dear brethrens - I implore a few questions from your wisdom.

1. Is it lunacy to believe that the still-frozen ones may be OK?
2. Would a sniff-test be of any use on the mostly-thawed one?
3. If so, what should I do with it - keep it in the fridge until morning, then immerse it in cold water to finish thawing? Maybe I should put it in cold water tonight so it's ready to go first thing?

The other thing worth mentioning is that I've never done a butt before. I know they take a long time, but I don't know what they are supposed to smell like. I will say the "aroma" upon opening my first cryo of spares was one of utter revulsion...so I am clearly still a noob at heart!

Many, many thanks for reading all of this - you guys are the very best and I appreciate any help!!!

PS - worst part is I had a fridge/freezer thermometer JUST FEET from the freezer, but didn't have the AAA batteries I needed so it just sat there and watched it all happen

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Check for temp on all pieces.
Throw out anything partially thawed/above 32*.

The 64,000 dollar question - IF there was a thaw/refreeze - there may be contaminated/unsafe meats.


[Have thrown out chicken failing to drop below 40* in a portable cooler.]

 

[theTastyCat]

OK - the mostly frozen one read 32, and the mostly thawed one read 35 at the corner farthest away from where it's still frozen. Is that one toast?

 

[food4thot]

Tough call. Personally, I would pitch everything within 6" of the door and sort through stuff toward the back checking for evidence of any thaw

 

[BBQ Bandit]

OK - the mostly frozen one read 32, and the mostly thawed one read 35 at the corner farthest away from where it's still frozen. Is that one toast?

I'd toss it. Not worth the risk.
Do you want to deal with the possible medical/financial consequences?

Normally takes me 5 days to thaw a butt from -02* (2* below zero) to 35* (fridge).

 

[theTastyCat]

You all speak wisdom. What can I look for for signs of thaw?

Thanks again, guys.

 

[BBQ Bandit]

The unspoken aspect - is your thermo probe reflect accurate and reliable results?

 

[theTastyCat]

Yeah, it's a Thermopop, and I test it every now and then in ice water - hasn't wavered yet!

 

[BBQ Bandit]

Yeah, it's a Thermopop, and I test it every now and then in ice water - hasn't wavered yet!

Smart decision.

 

[food4thot]

You all speak wisdom. What can I look for for signs of thaw?

Thanks again, guys.

Basically, extra frost inside the packaging. If things are in clear wrap you can see it. If in freezer wrap, feel around the edges for crunchy spots.

 

[mike-cleveland]

Where did the ooze come from? If it came from the freezer you need to remove everything and thaw and clean. Whatever is left could be okay but you would need to clean the outside and put quickly in another cooler. The freezer would need to be cleaned after thawing to ensure all bacteria is clear if it came from that freezer.

 

[flyingbassman5]

While I'm not gonna say all your meat is okay, I am gonna vote and say you did not have a full thaw and refreeze. My basic HVAC knowledge says had a full thaw occurred (above 40*F at ANY point in time) your freezer would have likely frozen up its refrigerant coils from working to hard to keep the freezer at 0*F. Especially if you were gone for a week and a half. Usually if the door is left open enough to cause harm, it's a matter of hours, not days that frozen coils would occure. Had the coils froze up, you'd be out everything and would've had a huge mess to clean up when you got home.

Just my $.02. Personally I still wouldn't gamble. A few hundred in groceries tossed out is much cheaper than a few thousand in medical bills..

 

[snapper-G]

Never thaw meat overnight in cool water. The safest way to thaw is under refrigeration. As for the the freezer items. If you found things that were still solid or well frosted, they should be OK. We had an issue with a walk in at work where over a couple of months we apparently had several thaws and re-freezes (as it was discovered later) and had a lot of meats turn moldy. Now this kind of nightmare takes a while. Over a couple day period as you describe, I'll go with the HVAC guy and say that you didn't have a thaw and refreezes cycle, just one thaw and, as I said before, if the items are still somewhat solid or well frosted things should be OK. IMHO.

 

[Cayman1]

Put a stick of butter in the freezer as an indicator of loss of cold. If the butter is melted and then refrozen you will know the power has been off. Also, if butter is melted, I'd probably pitch everything in freezer.

 

[Bluebyyou]

As for the the freezer items. If you found things that were still solid or well frosted, they should be OK.

I would disagree with this somewhat. :fear:
If you were only away from your home for only a day or two at best, I would agree with you. However, if you find yourself away from home for several days, it is possible that the power goes out, everything defrosts and then power returns, refreezes everything and when you get home, it all look ok. Obviously, there are a huge amount of variables in this type of situation but this leads me to the following statement from Cayman.

Put a stick of butter in the freezer as an indicator of loss of cold. If the butter is melted and then refrozen you will know the power has been off. Also, if butter is melted, I'd probably pitch everything in freezer.

Similarly, I keep a couple of cubes of ice in a ZipLock bag in my freezer at all times. (just so that I dont forget to do it everytime I go away)
If the power is out long enough that the ice melts, then I know I cannot count on that food being safe. If that happens and the power returns well before I get home, the food will be frozen again but I will also have a deformed frozen ice cube in the baggie. Just my $.02.

 

[snapper-G]

Put a stick of butter in the freezer as an indicator of loss of cold. If the butter is melted and then refrozen you will know the power has been off. Also, if butter is melted, I'd probably pitch everything in freezer.

This makes a ton of sense!

 

[1buckie]

There's the the power went out & the plug fell out, but this is what happened in this particular case:

"Turns out the door wasn't all the way shut."

The ice cubes & butter are a good idea for those above situations, but would stuff necessarily thaw & re-freeze if the door is just cracked open a bit?


Wondering?

 

[Happy Hapgood]

The fridge probably ran 24/7 with the door open. I too say chunk the partially frozen butt and the rest should be good given the info you supplied.

 

[TuscaloosaQ]

i have had the same happen i cleaned the freezer re-froze and am 54 years old today going strong..... we cut our deer in the winter thaw out..... and grind burger and freeze again..... never had a problem..... just do the sniff check before using.....

 

[theTastyCat]

Thank you all so much for all this input! Similar to the butter trick, a friend of mine half-drinks a bottle of water, then leaves it on its side in the freezer until frozen, then stands it up. Telltale every time! And so will my handy thermometer WITH BATTERIES.

After thoughtfully considering everything in this thread, I tossed the one that was mostly thawed, but made my first batch of sausage with the one that was almost totally frozen. MY SWEET RISEN LORD JESUS, THAT WAS GOOD SAUSAGE. The best I've ever had, hands-down! Hot Italian, straight out of "Home Production of Quality Meats" by the Marianskis. Made the second batch sweet, and was so bored by it that I thew all the cayenne in and made the whole thing hot the 10mm coarse grind really gave it a different texture! But one that I can certainly get used to.

So 8 hours after first taste I continue to live! And mightily so...after my first bite, I literally said "I don't care if this does kill me......this is amazing."

I did sniff mightily when opening the cryo, and it actually sort of smelled good in that super-weird, this-really-doesn't-feel-right, raw-pork kind of way.......what is happening to me.........

In a way, this was a good thing - I rearranged the freezer so THE STUPID DOOR SHUTS EVERY TIME, and it was just the kick in the arse I needed to bite the bullet and make my first batch of sausage.

So thanks again for all the help; I appreciate the cautious side of the spectrum very much. Happy Easter!