Freezer failure, what's safe?

[Junegoddess]

So... one of my freezers died on Thanksgiving. Fun, fun, fun. It was dying before that, but I didn't catch the signs.

Anyway, luckily we had chosen to keep our old chest freezer when we bought the upright, and luckily it wasn't all the way full. And luckily we have a really big cooler, too. So, I only lost about $100-worth of stuff outright. Now, however, I'm wondering about the stuff I put in the cooler. We dumped a lot of ice on it (about 60 pounds of ice!) and the cooler is one that is supposed to keep things cold a really long time... and it has. At least half the ice is still frozen, two days later. But the food isn't. At least, not all of it. I'm sure it's at least refrigerator temp in there, but I'm not sure exactly what the temperature is or has been.

Do I have to cook everything that's in there, and then possibly re-freeze? Or can I re-freeze without cooking? What are the safety guidelines? I'm not really concerned with loss of texture or moisture or whatever... that's small potatoes. I just don't want to lose another $200-300 in food.

I'm really glad I hadn't started much of my big cooking for after the baby is here. But now I really need to get busy!! (And, yeah, I could use some of the cooler meat for that...)

[cristeen]

If you have something you can do with it, I'd cook anything that is fully thawed and then refreeze. Anything that is still partially frozen I'd just refreeze as is. The only thing that's really a problem for is produce - meat will do just fine. And if i's been on ice this whole time, then it's safe to assume fridge temps have been maintained.

[noobmom]

As long as the food still has ice crystal in it (partially frozen) you can refreeze it. Otherwise, treat it as if it's been in the fridge.

Here are some guidelines I found:
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgi.../hgic3780.html

[JElaineB]

According to the USDA, if you thaw food in the fridge then it is safe to refreeze without cooking: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/...g/index.asp#14

If you are sure fridge temps have been maintained (40 F or below) then I would refreeze. I agree with the PP that the main quality loss will be on more fruit/vegetable type items assuming all the food is still cold.

[Junegoddess]

Ugh. This hasn't been fun. Some of the packages leaked, despite me being all smart and putting them inside ziplocs. I have a cooler full of bloody ice water now, and had to wash the packages that remained watertight. I've got a big crock pot of lazy beef broth going (didn't brown anything, haven't bothered adding veggies for flavor... just a tail and some soup bones.) I lost a lot of organ meats, including some sweetbreads which I've still never tried.

I've got lots of Vital Choice salmon and halibut to cook ASAP, and then I guess refreeze for tacos, fish cakes, whatever.

I'll be making a huge batch of chicken liver pate after I go to the store. But all this activity is giving me tons of Braxton Hicks, and it's going to rain soon and not stop for 3 days... so I really need to hurry to the store.

I need to check with my insurance to see if this is covered. With the repair bill for the freezer and the lost food, it has cost about $500.