[BigFoot]

I suffered a 12 hour power stoppage. I stayed out of the refrigerator and freezer the entire time. I've already tossed everything in the refrigerator, but I'm not sure what to do about the contents in my freezer compartment which are all refrozen by now. I'm more concerned about safety than loss of quality. I can always make stew with the steaks.

What's the consensus in situations like this?

[Mickey19]

When in doubt, throw it out.

[Mickey19]

Whan in doubt, throw it out.

[Suzanne]

If your freezer was mostly full, and you never opened it during the power outage, probably the contents never fully thawed and you don't have anything to worry about. Anyway, I wouldn't.

FWIW: When there was that big outage in most of the Northeast a couple of years ago, we were away. When we got home a few days later, everything was just fine, including in the fridge. And during our recent vacation, the power was again out, for an unknown period of time. I only knew because all my clocks and answering machine were crazy. Nothing happened to the food.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by BigFoot

I suffered a 12 hour power stoppage. I stayed out of the refrigerator and freezer the entire time. I've already tossed everything in the refrigerator, but I'm not sure what to do about the contents in my freezer compartment which are all refrozen by now. I'm more concerned about safety than loss of quality. I can always make stew with the steaks.

What's the consensus in situations like this?

Here in Florida we have this situation quite a bit. If in advance we know like a hurricane or something is approaching ,we load rolled newspaper and cardboard into fridge and freezer ,the less air and space inside the colder it will stay. Most things will be ok in fridge. Freezer will be fine. Try to use fridge items right away in particular dairy items. Try to keep doors closed during power loss. If defrosted, frozen goods can be put back in freezer PROVIDING they still have ice crystals. This occurs a lot in supermarkets as a lot of there frozen sits on aisle floors before being put in freezer.Before useing anything either tast or smell if in doubt throw away.

[BigFoot]

Thanks for the help, I pretty much followed your collective advice although I chickened out on the chicken and eggs and threw them out from the fridge because I have a neuritic fear of salmonella. I was murdered in 2004 by Jeanne, but Fay was easier to take this Tuesday and Wednesday. I was happy to throw out a couple of bucks worth of food in gratitude.