Food not fully frozen - Ask Extension
I discovered that some bread I recently put in my chest freezer was not rock hard the way it usually is after a day in the freezer. But some cooked t...
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Food not fully frozen #814876
Asked October 21, 2022, 6:59 PM EDT
I discovered that some bread I recently put in my chest freezer was not rock hard the way it usually is after a day in the freezer. But some cooked tortellini lower in the freezer was rock hard. I’m a vegetarian so there are no meat, poultry, or fish products. The tortellini does contain cheese and I think egg in the dough. Other foods in the freezer: margarine, peas.
I don’t know how long the temperature has been above normal. Are any of these foods safe to eat? If not, is it safe to compost them? Thanks!
Multnomah County Oregon
Expert Response
If your freezer is running, put a thermometer in it and see how cold it is. If things stored on the bottom are rock hard then the temperature is probably not above 40 degrees so your food would be safe.
The foods that would be unsafe if it were above 40 degrees for more than 2-3 hours would be anything cooked which would include your peas since they were blanched before freezing. Fruits would be ok as would your bread and other baked goods.
Since the tortellini's are still frozen they would be safe to eat.
A good suggestion for you is to put a bag of ice cubes into your freezer or a container like a quart cottage cheese container filled with water and then freeze the water and put a quarter on top of the water. When something goes wrong with the freezer you can check the ice cubes. If they are still cubes all is ok. If they are melted then the freezer heated up and there are concerns. Same with the quarter on top of the frozen ice. If it is still on the top or just part way down you know the freezer is still pretty cold. Great little trick if we have power outages and then the electricity comes back on and you have no clue how warm the freezer got.
You might like to go to our OSU Food Preservation publication website and look under the food safety section for SP50-470, If your Freezer Stops. It outlines what is safe and what is not. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/mfp/publications
Hope that helps. Glad you caught that the freezer was not running properly before it all warmed up. Let me know if you have other questions.
Thanks for Using Ask Extension
Nellie Oehler
The foods that would be unsafe if it were above 40 degrees for more than 2-3 hours would be anything cooked which would include your peas since they were blanched before freezing. Fruits would be ok as would your bread and other baked goods.
Since the tortellini's are still frozen they would be safe to eat.
A good suggestion for you is to put a bag of ice cubes into your freezer or a container like a quart cottage cheese container filled with water and then freeze the water and put a quarter on top of the water. When something goes wrong with the freezer you can check the ice cubes. If they are still cubes all is ok. If they are melted then the freezer heated up and there are concerns. Same with the quarter on top of the frozen ice. If it is still on the top or just part way down you know the freezer is still pretty cold. Great little trick if we have power outages and then the electricity comes back on and you have no clue how warm the freezer got.
You might like to go to our OSU Food Preservation publication website and look under the food safety section for SP50-470, If your Freezer Stops. It outlines what is safe and what is not. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/mfp/publications
Hope that helps. Glad you caught that the freezer was not running properly before it all warmed up. Let me know if you have other questions.
Thanks for Using Ask Extension
Nellie Oehler
Many thanks, Nellie! And I love the quarter trick. I'm going to do that and let my friends know about it.
Here's a silly joke for you:
-What's the difference between a well-dressed bicyclist and poorly unicyclist?
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-It's just a matter of attire.
Katharine
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Pronouns: she/her/hers
Accessibility:
* To hear you in conversation, I need as little background noise as possible.
* My standing limit is 3-5 minutes (longer is painful); but brisk walking is great!
* To be accessible to others, I am fragrance-free, from laundry soap to hand lotion to shampoo.
That is great. thanks for the laugh
Nellie
Nellie
