Need Help, DS lef thte freezer open...

[6littlechickies]

So last night my almost 5 YO DS put away the ice cream but somehow the door to the freezer got stuck open and everything, EVERYTHING, is thawed out now. Most of my chicken is in the other freezer but this one had most of my beef. We were down to just about 10 pounds ground beef so I can make meatballs, etc to freeze but I have no clue what to do about all the roasts and steaks. Anyone have any suggestions? I don't normally cook those ahead and am kind of a loss on how to proceed. Can I just cook up the roast as per usual and then cool and freeze it? what about the flank and round steak? or typical 'grill steak'? same deal on that? Normally I'd use the flank and round steak for fajitas and steak salad, would I actually marinate or season it then or just cook it plain and freeze with the thought of seasoning when I'm ready to use it?

Everything is still cold but thawed so I need to cook and refreeze it today if I'm going to be able to salvage anything. Anyone that has any ideas on what to do with the roasts or steaks I would be ever so grateful. I am really, really trying not to totally lose it here!!

I have lots of recipes but I'm not used to cooking to freeze plus this caught me totally off guard and I'm feeling quite scattered and unprepared!

thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Terri O]

Oh I feel for you! My cats unplugged mine but luckily it was a chest type so the air didnt just flow out like an upright...I am assuming that that is what you have...

OK--time to make it better...you will be cooking all day! THe roasts will be fine for a few days in the fridge so you can have one each night in a different way and freeze the left overs (I hope you have a big family!) If there are any ice crystals in the roasts go ahead and refreeze them...it has only been overnight so you probably wont even lose quality.
Cut up some of the steaks in strips for stir fry and get them into a marinade and freeze again raw. You might have a little loss of quality but they will be fine.
You can grill better steaks and refreeze. Dont grill them all the way done though then you can do it again when you want to eat them.
If you had any poultry in there I would refreeze--grocery stores do it all the time.

Put a lock on your freezer! Even if you dont keep it locked just the moving of the hasp into position will make sure the door gets closed ALL THE WAY!
One time when ours got thawed a bit (this is a repeated pattern here) I just closed it up and refroze the whole mess! I am still chipping out the meat to eat...the hamburger had leaked over the rest of the beef; but after paying near to a thousand dollars for a side of beef I would be Dam*&*# if I was going to let it go to waste! I have not really noticed any change of texture or taste at all. Everything has been fine and cooks up the same as always! Good luck...dont be too hard on your son (mine is 22 and he is the one that left it open!) Terri O

 

[Kim_NC]

You could refreeze most of it, except for anything "weeping" or bloody. Terri's already given good ideas on ways to cook or store anything like that.

People do not realize that almost every bit of meat comes into grocery stores frozen. They thaw & cut it up, set it out in meat cases, or set it directly out there if it's precut chicken. Then shoppers come along, buy it, take it home and refreeze it.

Refreezing will only maintain the existing quaility. But if the thawed meat is acceptable anyway, you won't loose much.

Do you can? You could pressure can any meats that you feel need cooked immediately - or make stock and can it too.

 

[6littlechickies]

thank you both SO MUCH! yes, i have an upright one--bout the only time i've kicked myself for NOT having a chest style one! d'oh! We buy a side of beef too which is why there is so much of it and so many types of cuts. Luckily, we are about 2 months away from ordering again so it's not completely crammed full! After calming down a bit, I went back and checked again and it's not quite as bad as I initially thought.

I did find that the majority of the roasts are still frozen so I put those back, only have two that are thawed all the way. I currently have one in the oven and one in the crock pot. I love the idea to just marinate and refreeze the flank/round, think I'm going to do that. I have a vacuum sealer so I can reseal it all back up nice and tight. Found a few packs of good steak (filet) but are having company over tonight anyway so I'll just use those then--they were going to bring over pizza, guess I'll be calling to let them know we'll be 'upgrading' dinner tonight!

Already have almost all of the ground beef made into meatballs, which will actually be nice next time I make sauce I can just pull those out and toss them in. I have a few more pounds left but I was planning to make cabbage rolls this week anyway, so a couple pounds can stay in the fridge for that.

again, thank you both so much!

You've helped me maintain and get into the 'let's deal with this' phase! I have canned in the past but don't trust myself enough to do that today, been far too long and I've never canned meat, just pickles, applesauce and veggies.

When I texted DH (he's in a mtg all day so no actual phone calls) he basically said sucks to be me and that I should have double checked last night!

love how's he is being oh so supportive!

think right now I"m more irritated at him then my little guy! DS was just trying to help and it wasn't his fault the door got stuck, he was so proud to be able to do that himself last night too. We keep that freezer in the garage so he went out there all by himself to put it in. I meant to go back out and check it but got busy last night and totally forgot. unfortunately this one does not have an alarm on it like our other one (with the chicken in it). oh well, no use crying over thawed meat! what's done is done, now I need to move on.

 

[redhen]

Could you make like a bbq pulled pork or chicken??
Cook down your pork roast or chicken in a crockpot with seasoning and an onion .. shread it and add bbq sauce and put in baggies and re-freeze??
Then when you want sandwiches you can just pull out a baggie or 2...

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

True Story:

My Aunt Emma & Uncle Walt were one of those old couples that seemed to hate one another despite being married 40 + years. They weren't very nice on their own either.

Aunt Emma decided to visit family in Phoenix and drove over with another family member. It was a hot summer in San Diego and on top of it the electricity went out. Uncle Walt didn't
put 2 and 2 together until it was too late and had a freezer full of stinking spoiled meat. He had a great idea and would bury the meat. He waitied until it cooled off and dug a great big hole
in the back yard, threw all the rotten meat in it and covered it up.

By now their neighbors noticed Aunt Emma was no where to be seen....but they did see Uncle Walt late at night digging a huge hole and it smelled over there!!

The police were called. They insisted Uncle Walt dig "Emma" back up!

Still one of the best family stories to be told....and it's true

 

[txcarl1258]

 

[Terri O]

Knock Kneed Hen--that is a GREAT story! I always tell my DH that we will save funeral expenses and I will just toss him into the silo when he goes...I tend to use it as a "dead stuff" receptacle any how so folks wouldnt suspect anything if I had a rotten smell around here!

6littlechickies--I am glad that you got into the "deal with it" mode and if I was closer I would come and get your DH and throw him into my silo!!! Yes-I am quite familiar with that answer that he gave you! I hear it all the time...like when I had 5 horses on the road on Sunday....I never can remember the exact words when I want to tell him, "it sucks to be you!" either...or maybe I am just not that mean?

Anyhow--I bet your guests were pretty happy with the upgrade to steaks! I sure would have been! Glad it was not quite as bad as you originally thought, and just think about all that stuff you have cooked, refrozen and it's meal ready! A bonus in a bad situation for sure!

Terri O

 

[ElioraImmanuel]

We had a friend living w/us at one point she left our upright open, one night. I refroze everything. There was a side of beef, chicken, sausage, raw milk. Everything was fine but the icecream it got icy and the thickeners floated to the top....it was gross. Of couse, I'd just bought our summer supply if ice cream on a super sale and all was lost.

But, we eventually ate everything. It was fine, except a few pieces did get freezer burn....I tossed those when I discovered the burn. I'm hoping your stuff wasn't room temp, but still cold. Grocery stores regularly freeze and thaw or refridgerate and allow to warm to room temp...even though they deny it. I work in 'em and a lot of stuff gets left out! Even stuff left around the store is supposed to be tossed....it isn't.

Although, grocery store food is cotaminated because of how it is processed. All our beef and milk was not grocery store. I'd re-freeze, but we'd have had no meat for a yr and no milk for 3 months if I'd tossed it.