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Dead Refrigerator/Freezer


mdt

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Recently bought a suckling pig to cook this weekend. Went down to the cellar where it was stored in the fridge and found the door open, which it had been for almost 24 hours. Thermometer stuck into thick part of pig showed a temperature of 62F. Am I at risk of poisoning my guests if I cook it? What would you do? Cook it or pitch it?

Needless to say I am not in a good mood right now.

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Recently bought a suckling pig to cook this weekend. Went down to the cellar where it was stored in the fridge and found the door open, which it had been for almost 24 hours. Thermometer stuck into thick part of pig showed a temperature of 62F. Am I at risk of poisoning my guests if I cook it? What would you do? Cook it or pitch it?

Needless to say I am not in a good mood right now.

Oy. That su-diddly-ucks. Sorry man, I think it has to go. That pig is too toasty-- it's practically room temperature and has been for many hours. I wouldn't cook it.

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Oy. That su-diddly-ucks. Sorry man, I think it has to go. That pig is too toasty-- it's practically room temperature and has been for many hours. I wouldn't cook it.
Unfortunately, I have to concur. I would be so pissed off in this situation, I can't even think about it. My sympathies. It does happen to everybody, sooner or later, one way or another...if that helps :lol:.
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Say your refrigerator breaks down--just the fridge, not the freezer (thank god). And there's a recall notice out on it that you never got because you're a renter. When the repair folks come today, do I ask to be reimbursed for the significant cost of the food that had to be thrown away? Or would I ask my landlord (which I don't really want to do because I don't want to rock the boat)?

And what exactly should be thrown out? Mayo, cream salad dressings, meats, eggs, yogurt, and open cheeses--obviously go. Condiments like mustard, soy sauce, peanut sauce--probably not? Breads, fruits and veg--can tell from how they look. All the food my mom made me to help feed me while recovering from surgery this week--go. :D

What about pickles? Non-cream salad dressings, chutney, butter, open box of chicken stock, olives, cocktail onions...?

Harumph. How annoying. More codiene, please!

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Say your refrigerator breaks down--just the fridge, not the freezer (thank god). And there's a recall notice out on it that you never got because you're a renter. When the repair folks come today, do I ask to be reimbursed for the significant cost of the food that had to be thrown away? Or would I ask my landlord (which I don't really want to do because I don't want to rock the boat)?
Do you have renters' insurance? Some policies cover food spoilage, and although the conditions are for power outages, there may be an exception or something to talk to the insurance company on. Also, I would check with the manufacturer. Sometimes that may work too, if you don't want to bug your LL.
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Say your refrigerator breaks down--just the fridge, not the freezer (thank god). And there's a recall notice out on it that you never got because you're a renter. When the repair folks come today, do I ask to be reimbursed for the significant cost of the food that had to be thrown away? Or would I ask my landlord (which I don't really want to do because I don't want to rock the boat)?

And what exactly should be thrown out? Mayo, cream salad dressings, meats, eggs, yogurt, and open cheeses--obviously go. Condiments like mustard, soy sauce, peanut sauce--probably not? Breads, fruits and veg--can tell from how they look. All the food my mom made me to help feed me while recovering from surgery this week--go. :D

What about pickles? Non-cream salad dressings, chutney, butter, open box of chicken stock, olives, cocktail onions...?

Harumph. How annoying. More codiene, please!

Bummer. How long was it non-functioning? How warm has it been inside the box? Condiments are ok to keep, as is pretty much everything you've listed that has a fair amount of salt, sugar and/or vinegar in it, as long as it hasn't been unrefrigerated for several weeks. The open box of chicken stock, I'd pitch. If the butter smells ok, it's probably fine--I keep a working stick of unsalted butter out on my counter for several days and never have a problem with it getting rancid before being used up.

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Bummer. How long was it non-functioning? How warm has it been inside the box?

I guess Monday was the first day we noticed that it was a bit warm. I had changed the setting to be less cold since my veg had all frozen the previous week. So I turned it up, but it never got warmer. I think it's about 60-65 degrees--colder on the bottom than on the top, but the juice is still "cool"--probably because the freezer is still working and a little cold air is coming across.

I like the idea of a "working stick of butter." I picture the little guy with a tiny pick-ax, hard hat, and overalls. :D

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I guess Monday was the first day we noticed that it was a bit warm. I had changed the setting to be less cold since my veg had all frozen the previous week. So I turned it up, but it never got warmer. I think it's about 60-65 degrees--colder on the bottom than on the top, but the juice is still "cool"--probably because the freezer is still working and a little cold air is coming across.

I like the idea of a "working stick of butter." I picture the little guy with a tiny pick-ax, hard hat, and overalls. :D

Funny (or not), recently, I left my upright freezer door open. Could have been open/ajar for more than a day. Some things were well on their way to thawing, although, not below what a safe fridge temp would be. So, I thought they were still safe, but did not refreeze them. The items (vacuum sealed) in question were 2 huge porterhouse steaks, and a large roaster chicken.

I decided that we'd be eating steak and chicken for several days--in fact, I just grilled the second porterhouse and will use it for salads, pitas etc.

Now, for reimbursement-do you have renters insurance? That may cover it.

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So, how cold should a fridge be? Guy was here six hours ago, and it's 62. I'll give it until morning, but that doesn't seem quite right to me...

Fridge should be no warmer than 40F, but more likely in the mid to high 30s.

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"Maybe today" but they can definitely get someone in to fix it Monday. :D
This is unacceptable. Do you have a friend who is a lawyer who could place a call on your behalf?

A large, reasonably ethical realty company usually has extra, large appliances in storage.

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This is unacceptable. Do you have a friend who is a lawyer who could place a call on your behalf?

A large, reasonably ethical realty company usually has extra, large appliances in storage.

My landlord said he'd bring over a mini-fridge if they couldn't come until Monday. I don't feel well enough to go to the store to stock up on all the stuff I've lost, so now I have to figure out how best to strategically order in...

Man, this is turning into a seriously crappy week!

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My landlord said he'd bring over a mini-fridge if they couldn't come until Monday. I don't feel well enough to go to the store to stock up on all the stuff I've lost, so now I have to figure out how best to strategically order in...

Man, this is turning into a seriously crappy week!

The latest in the fridge saga: (Can you tell I'm home sick and bored silly?)

Fridge is totally dead, and now the freezer is dying (42 degrees, and the foods are still mostly frozen, but that won't last long...). The manufacturer volunteered that if I make a list of the foods I've lost they'll reimburse me (which I think is very nice), but if the freezer fails... How do you quantify all of the lost homemade goodies? The soups! The sauces! The stocks! The Eggos!

Went to CVS and bought a cooler and a ton of ice, but that's mainly because I'm sick of drinking lukewarm water and can at least store leftover order-in stuff in there.

Sigh. So annoyed.

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The latest in the fridge saga: (Can you tell I'm home sick and bored silly?)

Fridge is totally dead, and now the freezer is dying (42 degrees, and the foods are still mostly frozen, but that won't last long...). The manufacturer volunteered that if I make a list of the foods I've lost they'll reimburse me (which I think is very nice), but if the freezer fails... How do you quantify all of the lost homemade goodies? The soups! The sauces! The stocks! The Eggos!

Went to CVS and bought a cooler and a ton of ice, but that's mainly because I'm sick of drinking lukewarm water and can at least store leftover order-in stuff in there.

Sigh. So annoyed.

Dry ice!! Save the homemade stuff. The hell with the Eggos.

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I went to the downstairs freezer to get some chicken out for defrosting a little while ago and discovered that much of the food at the front especially near the top was covered with frost on the outside and was partially thawed. The last time I was in the freezer was less than 24 hours before this, and the door must not have sealed tightly when I closed it. (I'm guessing it was the seal at the top that was the problem, because of where the thawing seemed to be. I didn't notice anything was wrong until I opened the door. It wasn't like, "OMG! The freezer door is open!")

There was one pack of bacon that was almost completely thawed, so I've got that in the fridge to use ASAP. I refroze the other items that had partially thawed.

The temperature in the freezer when I discovered this was 20F. An hour or so later, it was down to 10 degrees. So long as the temperature drops back down into the zero range fairly soon, I'm figuring everything should be okay. Shouldn't it? :)

I guess I'm just looking for some handholding here. I don't really want to throw away everything that was starting to defrost. (Actually, the only items I think could potentially be a food safety danger other than the bacon were some scrapple and a container of turkey soup. Other things were bread, cupcakes, and foods like that.)

Help?

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I went to the downstairs freezer to get some chicken out for defrosting a little while ago and discovered that much of the food at the front especially near the top was covered with frost on the outside and was partially thawed. The last time I was in the freezer was less than 24 hours before this, and the door must not have sealed tightly when I closed it. (I'm guessing it was the seal at the top that was the problem, because of where the thawing seemed to be. I didn't notice anything was wrong until I opened the door. It wasn't like, "OMG! The freezer door is open!")

There was one pack of bacon that was almost completely thawed, so I've got that in the fridge to use ASAP. I refroze the other items that had partially thawed.

The temperature in the freezer when I discovered this was 20F. An hour or so later, it was down to 10 degrees. So long as the temperature drops back down into the zero range fairly soon, I'm figuring everything should be okay. Shouldn't it? :)

I guess I'm just looking for some handholding here. I don't really want to throw away everything that was starting to defrost. (Actually, the only items I think could potentially be a food safety danger other than the bacon were some scrapple and a container of turkey soup. Other things were bread, cupcakes, and foods like that.)

Help?

I don't think your food got into the danger zone (40F-140F), and you should be ok. This happened to me not long ago. I don't think I threw anything out-just closed the door all the way and let the food freeze solid again.

Maybe there will be some effect on textures? but I would be inclined to say food safety isn't an issue.

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I don't think your food got into the danger zone (40F-140F), and you should be ok. This happened to me not long ago. I don't think I threw anything out-just closed the door all the way and let the food freeze solid again.

Maybe there will be some effect on textures? but I would be inclined to say food safety isn't an issue.

One thing that concerns me about temperature is that the thermometer is on the bottom shelf and the thawing was with things in the upper part of the freezer. I doubt it got to be 20 degrees warmer in the top part, though. Most meats and things like that seemed pretty rock solid hard, so I'll guess I'll just fret over those few things I'm not sure of :). Thanks for the handholding :D.

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