Hi, Could anyone tell me how long food that has thawed out in a freezer (I turned mine off accidentally) will still be ok to refreeze. I noticed I had turned mine off when I went to it to put more products in. A box of fish fingers was very soggy but the rest of the stuff was still in the original plastic bags so will have remained airtight. It was off for around five or six hours. It is now back on but should I dispose of it all or just the box of fish fingers (as that wouldn't Have been airtight) ?
I don't think it makes much difference whether they are in airtight packs/containers or not. The key is the extent to which they defrosted. Stuff like bread will defrost more quickly than say a pack of mince.
Nothing to do with it being air-tight...it depends on the actual food, For example, vegetables will be OK to re-freeze if a bit soft...but ice-cream, prawns etc- a definite no-no. It's all to do with bacterial content and how quickly they will multiply when temperature rises.