Halp!!! Thawed meat question!

Associate
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1 Jun 2019
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Hey folks! New to the forum. To be honest, I only signed up out of pure despair, need quick advice. Here is my story:

So, my friend left on Tuesday (5 days ago) for a three-week vacation in Canada and asked me to occasionally check on their property to make sure everything is okay. She said checking in on the house once a week should be fine. So I've been planning to go over there on Saturdays, which is today. So, I let myself in and check the house, all good, all fine. Except, the fridge has turned itself off and there's tons of meat defrosting in the freezer. We're talking about AUD $200 worth of meat. Two huge chunks of roast, 4 packets of mince, some cutlets, chicken breasts, chicken drumsticks. I have never seen (or owned) so much meat at once, so obviously I'm distressed at the amount of meat possibly going to waste. I'm standing there for a good 20 minutes, my heart bleeding along with the thawed meat, and texting and messaging everyone I know to ask for their opinion and advice. Hell, I even called my mum in Europe. That's how troubled I am at the moment. Everyone, including Google, is saying something different. The consesus, I guess, would be that "if it doesn't smell icky, it COULD still be edible", or "better not ri, sk it, after all it's not your money going to waste". BUT IT'S SO MUCH MEAT! What if they're wrong?? What if we are all wrong as a society??
Anyway, this is my last straw.... I'm asking the broad public and depending on what the majority says I will either chuck it or eat it. Please and thanks, your opinion matters. ;)

If any further information helps:
- The freezer was completely defrosted, no ice to be seen anywhere in the freezer but lots of puddles.
- Some of the meat still had small frozen parts, especially the cutlets that were sitting underneath the bigger chunks of meat.
- All of the meat was still cold, but definitely thawed. Haven't checked the insides yet to see if still frozen.
- The colour of the roasts is beautiful, no brown patches or anything yucky. No slime on any of the pieces of meat, but most of them have been sitting in a puddle of water and blood. Yum.
 
Soldato
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Caerphilly
Got a temperature probe?

If any of the food is above 5c bin it.

If its 5c or below its safe to eat but consume within 24 hours.


Thats on the advice the other half who's a food safety officer....
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
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38,372
Got a temperature probe?

If any of the food is above 5c bin it.

If its 5c or below its safe to eat but consume within 24 hours.


Thats on the advice the other half who's a food safety officer....


Some of the meat still had small frozen parts, especially the cutlets that were sitting underneath the bigger chunks of meat


it's safe to eat.

do you guys not remember before fridges or freezers were invented?

also food safety officers have to do everything by the book which is overkill. i ate a tin of soup 3 years out of date. when i opened it, it smelled fine. had the full thing and was brand new.
 
Soldato
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It would be fine to eat if you knew how fresh it was when it went in: frozen on its 'use by' date, then you'd not have long let, but if frozen with a week spare it'd be fine at fridge temp for a couple of days.

Doesn't really help you if your friend isn't around: unless you want to eat 10kg of meat yourself :)
 
Caporegime
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38,372
How old are you?

I dont remember a time before fridges were invented but then i'm not approaching 200 years old......lol

I'm quite young. But fridges are quite a new invention. I believe they became popular in the 60's or thereabouts. Correct me if I'm wrong. There should still be people who remember before the 60's.
 
Soldato
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Worcestershire
It's probably all fine to eat now, but refreezing I think is a different matter.

Is your friend in Canada 100% uncontactable? Give them a ring and explain the situation and ask them what they want you to do, surely?

If I was them, I'd say to you, take what you want to eat as 'payment' for house checking and chuck what you can't eat.

100 quid's worth of meat is a lot, but it's not worth giving your family food poisoning over.
 
Caporegime
Joined
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In acme's chair.
I'm quite young. But fridges are quite a new invention. I believe they became popular in the 60's or thereabouts. Correct me if I'm wrong. There should still be people who remember before the 60's.

They were invented over 100 years ago but were not commonplace in the UK until the 1960's.

In 1959 13% of UK homes had a fridge, vs 96% in the USA.

Prior to this things were kept cool in cellars, meat safes, etc, or were pickled or spiced. And food generally wasn't kept in the home for as long anyway.
 
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