Expert: Carol Schlitt - 9/29/2006

Question
Can foods that are sealed and frozen, be refrozen safely. I have lobster tails, salmon and chicken and beef kabobs.   Freezer broke...do I need to cook it all?  Thank for help

Answer
Hi,

When the freezer stops, the key for knowing what to pitch, what to refreeze depends if ice crystals still remain in the food. If the chicken, lobster tails, etc. still had ice crystals when you discovered the broken freezer -- then you can successfully refreeze.

If the protein-rich foods (like the ones you described) were completely defrosted when you discovered the broken freezer, then our recommendation is to pitch the food.

Be sure to examine carefully all foods for color changes or odor before refreezing and then refreeze only packages that still contain ice crystals or are cold to touch. The exception is ground meat which should be cooked before refreezing.

For more information on what to do when the freezer stops, please refer to this quide:  http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/disaster/facts/food.html

If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.

Carol