Freezer door left open just a crack

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sacedbysapp

Meat Mopper
Original poster
Jan 16, 2013
225
20
Florida
Last Friday afternoon I pulled out a rack of ribs out of my standup freezer to thaw out and I guess the door didn’t quite shut all the way so I noticed Sunday morning that when I went to get some ground beef out that things had thawed out but everything was very cold still so I’m wondering what I should do? I went ahead and made a meatloaf with the ground beef I pulled out and everything was fine but what should I do about the other meat everything was thawed out for the most part but still very cold. I quickly refroze everything in another freezer but is it worth taking a chance?
 
I would of checked the meat temp to make sure it was 40*f or below but many people my self included refreeze meat you don’t say how it was packed cryovac, butcher paper, etc. I would give it the smell test when you go to use it
 
As long as it thawed under what you'd consider refrigerator temps then I say good to go. If it was any other circumstances like a blazing hot garage or something I may feel different. Especially with chicken
 
When we went went freezer shopping we had to really look for a freezer that had an alarm. No idea why manufacturers would cheap out on something like that. You can buy aftermarket but that just seems like a common sense every manufacturer standard equipment.

If meat was still partially frozen I would think it was fine also.
 
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We have alarms on both freezers and fridges.
I would concur with using a digital thermometer to individually check temps on everything.
A digital, no contact, IR laser thermometer would be the best tool for the job to make sure everything was at a safe temp on the surface.
 
This has happened to me a few times until I figured out the problem. On my commercial stand up freezer, it has a vacuum suction deal which seals the door, rather than magnets. However, with the passage of a couple decades, the seal around the door starts to get old and develop small cracks which makes the vacuum deal not work correctly. Hence, the door opens a crack when you're not looking and the freezer warms up, ice melts, and you have a big mess and potential spoilage. Now I keep my door forced closed with a stick. Good luck
 
Had this happen last week. Someone left the door ajar on the garage freezer. Some of the stuff in it was slightly thawed, but still partially frozen, Still ice on the shelves and all that, so I just let everything in there refreeze. All the meat is also vac sealed so everything should be fine.
 
What I use, very nice. Notified me once. Accidentally pulled sensor out with some meat, was hanging on the back side of freezer.
 
What I use, very nice. Notified me once. Accidentally pulled sensor out with some meat, was hanging on the back side of freezer.
Thanks for sharing this!
 
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Our fridge has an alarm for when the door is left open. Works great, the only issue is the 30 minutes or more that it takes me to figure out what the he'll is beeping
Yea my kitchen fridge has that, but even if the garage freezer had such an alarm, it would likely go unheard until it was too late. I keep my steaks and best cuts in the freezer of my barn fridge because I check it daily ....... especially if I have meat curing in the fridge part.
 
What I use, very nice. Notified me once. Accidentally pulled sensor out with some meat, was hanging on the back side of freezer.
So I take it the probe wire is thin enough for the door to seal well around it(?)
 
I use these and they are on sale right now. Only problem I have is I have two and they get confused with each other sometimes. They have such long range I have to take one for ride in car to redo. I need to buy another brand for my second.

 
I use these and they are on sale right now. Only problem I have is I have two and they get confused with each other sometimes. They have such long range I have to take one for ride in car to redo. I need to buy another brand for my second.

thanks for sharing the info!
 
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