Can I eat this: Frozen Food Thawed For Six Hours Edition

October 21, 2019 6:00 AM

Two big bags frozen sweet corn. Two big bags frozen sweet peas. Two big bags frozen blueberries. Brought them into the condo 1:15 AM, put away other groceries, didn't notice this bag -- I was deep tired, ate a snack and fell under FAST. Found @7 AM, still quite cold but not frozen. Eat what I can for a week while refrigerated, then throw away? Re-freeze? Help?
posted by dancestoblue to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

Best answer: Keep in mind that when not frozen, fruits and veggies typically exist at room temperature without going off quickly (after a week, yes. After a few hours, no). So I would think your biggest problem here would be that they won't re-freeze well, and you'll end up with chunky-ice-veggies/fruit, which is not good eats. I'd keep them in the fridge and eat what I could this week, then toss the rest.
posted by Hold your seahorses at 6:09 AM on October 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: It was still cold and you put into the refrigerator. I can see no difference in it than fresh vegetables or fruit except for the loss in texture.

For example I make a composed (layered) salad and frozen green peas are one layer. It's included in the recipe as frozen peas. It's made a day in advance then refrigerated (so it's an easy choice for gatherings).

I would even be as bold as to re-freeze the fruit in smoothie size portions for later use.

Basically, it sounds like all was still cold so have a very veggie week!
posted by mightshould at 6:09 AM on October 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I would absolutely refreeze these. They're fruit and vegetables which would be fine to eat if they had not been frozen - there's nothing on them that is going to become unsafe, I mean, fresh, they can sit for quite a while.

The only downside is that they will probably refreeze in a lump and the blueberries may end up mushy.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:10 AM on October 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Best answer: In your shoes I'd cook the blueberries down into blueberry syrup, which can last for ages and ages and won't suffer from frostbite. The corn and peas will probably be fine if you refreeze them, but you could be especially particular and spread them out on sheet trays to refreeze so they cool down quicker, shaking them around every hour or so, and then bagging and labeling - that way they won't clump up. You could do that with the blueberries too, and it's how my mom freezes fresh picked ones from her yard every summer, but the corn and peas will be more forgiving.
posted by Mizu at 6:19 AM on October 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

Best answer: FoodSafety.gov (scroll down for the freezer section) says to refreeze unless moldy, smelly, or slimy.
posted by lazuli at 6:40 AM on October 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Many best answers marked, which I don't like when I see it in threads but I just cannot see a way to not mark these.

The food is in the freezer. It will definitely clump up / ice up / lose texture but I'm OK with that -- the corn and peas get used in cooking eggs, so I have more fiber, and because I like how they taste. The blueberries I spin into smoothies, along with some greens, some protein powder -- a treat that helps me put on weight, but healthy weight. Maybe I'll toss some corn / peas into the smoothies also, sweet carbs that'll spin right in with the rest of it all, give me energy to face into my fitness routine.

Thank you all for your prompt responses. You've saved me about $30 and saved me from throwing away good food, which I sure hate to do.

Marked resolved.
posted by dancestoblue at 7:43 AM on October 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Do come back and tell us how it worked out! You know, for SCIENCE.
posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 9:02 AM on October 21, 2019 [1 favorite]