ACK! Deep freezer got unplugged!

[MamaSheepdog]

Thank heavens it was the smaller of the two we have, so it is not the epic catastrophe that it could have been.

There were only a few cornish game hens, a ham, and three large salamis in there as far as meat goes. Don't even ask about the salamis... I told Hubs they can be stored on the shelf, but no- into the freezer they went. :roll:

However, some of our ziploc-bagged and frozen refried beans, baked beans, split pea soup, and apricots thawed out. The fruit and baked beans are going to the chickens and I am making "dog soup" out of the rest of it, because I have no clue when the stuff thawed out.

One of the salamis got damp- it may be dog food as well. Drat!

Anyway... the freezer smells kind of funky. I am going to wipe it down with baking soda and white vinegar in the hopes of eradicating the odor. Anyone have any better ideas? Whatever I use needs to be non toxic, obviously.

 

[Marinea]

Ouch!

I don't have one, but have heard about the alarms that go off when power is interrupted to a freezer. Have you heard of those? I might invest in one once we get our freezer.

 

[dayna]

Baking soda and lemon juice and lots of fresh air have helped me in many a freezer pinch!

 

[MaggieJ]

Oh, gee... What rotten luck!

I know we should buy alarms for our two freezers, but you always think it won't happen.

At least the food isn't going entirely to waste (happy critters!) but it really bites to not have it for yourselves. Especially the salami!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

alarms that go off when power is interrupted to a freezer. Have you heard of those?

No, I have never heard of those! I'll have to look into that.

I have no idea how it happened- the outlet is in the ceiling, and the other cord was still plugged in. :?

Baking soda and lemon juice and lots of fresh air have helped me in many a freezer pinch!

I managed to fit everything into the other freezer. I wiped it out with the vinegar and water, but it still smells weird, so I unplugged it and am letting it air out. I think I have a bottle of lemon juice around here somewhere... I know I have key lime juice. I'll give that a try if the smell lingers.

At least the food isn't going entirely to waste (happy critters!) but it really bites to not have it for yourselves. Especially the salami!

Yeah, lucky critters is right. The beans are really irritating because we like to make large batches and then freeze them for convenience, so we have side dishes that don't need to be prepared for every meal. The salami is the worst though- not only are they expensive, but it shouldn't have been in there anyway.

 

[wsmoak]

I have Thermoworks alarm thermometers on everything. In addition to telling me if something dies or gets unplugged, they also help in a power outage, so I can see how well the temp is holding without opening them and making it worse. Then I can decide whether to get out the generator or just wait it out.

Here's one with a single probe, I use these on the chest and upright freezers: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/alarm/rt801.html

And here's one that monitors both the fridge and freezer: http://www.thermoworks.com/products/alarm/rt8100.html

-Wendy

 

[DogCatMom]

Ouch!

I don't have one, but have heard about the alarms that go off when power is interrupted to a freezer. Have you heard of those? I might invest in one once we get our freezer.

Our freezer is packed with food bought on sale, food I've made for future meals, etc. We did have a freezer outage a few years ago, but most of the meat still had ice at its core, so we went very meat-heavy for at least a week. Bleah. Meat is an ingredient, not a feature, in my personal world (DH disagrees, of course).

I'm very interested in finding out about freezer power alarms, too.

MSD: I'm sooo sorry! Our dogs--and cats--feasted on chicken, beef, and lamb after our freezer "problem."

 

[skysthelimit]

Oh no.

The deep freezer is where the dog meat goes.

 

[zee]

Sorry to hear that. That sucks! Been there done that...

 

[Miss M]

Anyone have any better ideas? Whatever I use needs to be non toxic, obviously.

Vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice, plain ole' airing, etc. are all good to try.

But when a hurricane came through here and knocked out power to my grandmother's house for a couple of weeks, my uncle cleaned and cleaned and cleaned the two refrigerators, but they still smelled bad. It had not occurred to them to empty the refrigerators before they left. So when they got back... :x

(Having lived much closer to the coast for a long time, and having been through quite a few hurricanes, we know that's one of the first things you do before you evacuate. You empty the fridge/freezer and leave it open, fill the empty space in your deep freezer with bags of water and turn it to its lowest setting (if you can), wrap the deep freezer in as many blankets as you can find, pack the car, turn off every breaker except the one to the deep freezer, and leave.)

At any rate, he finally called me to see if I had any more ideas. I searched and searched online, and finally found something weird that a lot of people had tried and had success with.

Crumpled newspaper.

Yep. Fill that baby with crumpled newspaper. Replace the newspaper every week, until the smell is gone. It may go away quickly, or it may take a while, but it should work.

<br /><br />__________ Sat Nov 16, 2013 1:10 am __________<br /><br />By the way, I found this idea at http://www.thriftyfun.com/ ...pretty neat place.

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Don't know about odors (looks like others have good advice) but...wow, rotten luck!!!

 

[bobqdevon]

I use the same solution that the commercial places use to sanitize eggs. I buy it by the gallon at TSC and only takes a very tiny amount, so the gallon lasts around a year. same stuff I use on my rabbit cages to sanitize them. I think the gallon cost us around $4

 

[mystang89]

Don't have any suggestions just wanted to say sorry. Never fun to lose food for any reason.

 

[ladysown]

if it still smells funky, air it for a day, but then close it and put a bowl with vinegar in it to sit overnight. That should also help mightily.