{"id":398,"date":"2020-04-06T21:17:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T20:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebli.com\/?p=398"},"modified":"2023-01-12T14:23:08","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T14:23:08","slug":"left-freezer-open-overnight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebli.com\/left-freezer-open-overnight\/","title":{"rendered":"Freezer Door Left Open Overnight? Try These Fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your freezer allows you to keep your food at a really low temperature and this stops them from going bad. This is done by compressing, condensing and evaporating the gas in the freezer to remove any heat in your foods. The gas from your food is compressed then evaporated into gas and from here, it\u2019s condensed into a liquid and evaporated to then be taken out the freezer.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you can forget to close your freezer’s door in the night and when you wake up, you realize that the door was open the whole time. This is usually an accident and no one in the house ever takes the blame but don\u2019t worry, there are ways you can go about this. If your food has thawed, you can read below to see what you should and shouldn\u2019t throw out.<\/p>\n

What To Do If Freezer Door Left Open Overnight<\/h3>\n

1. Check How Long The Freezer Door Was Open For?<\/h4>\n

Depending on how long the freezer door was opened, damage may not have been done. If you left your freezer door open overnight, then this is a lot worse than if you left the freezer open for a few hours. If you left your freezer open for a few hours, then you can close the freezer door and forget about it because not much would have happened within a few hours. For a freezer that\u2019s only been left open for a few hours, your freezer should be cold enough to keep the food at a low enough temperature.<\/p>\n

When your freezer door is left open, it\u2019s no queue for it to start defrosting everything in your freezer. If the door is open and your freezer works at a really low temperature, chances are your groceries are going to be the exact same. If your freezer barely works and maintains a low enough temperature, this means that it\u2019s not working properly, and your freezer could have defrosted. In this case, you\u2019ll need to get your freezer repaired or troubleshoot it yourself.<\/p>\n

2. Check The Temperature Of The Freezer?<\/h4>\n

The first thing you need to do is check if the freezer is still cold. If it is, it looks like you\u2019ve got nothing to worry about. To make sure that the freezer is at the right temperature of 0 degrees F to -10 degrees F or -12 degrees C to -18 degrees, you need to use a kitchen thermometer (view on Amazon)<\/a>. This’ll allow you to make sure that the internal temperature of your freezer is safe for the food. It’ll also allow you to check the internal temperature of food such as steak and chicken to make sure that they’re safe to eat. If the temperature surrounding your freezer is cold, so if your home was cold that day, the things in your freezer may not have suffered. But, if your home is really warm, this isn\u2019t going to help your freezer whilst the door is open. Chances are your food has thawed and you may need to start inspecting it.<\/p>\n

3. Check The Temperature Of Your Food<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll now need to check your food and what the temperature of it is like. If you can clearly see that all the ice in your freezer has gone, and your food has defrosted, then you should be worried. To check this properly, you can use a food thermometer and check the temperature of the food inside. The temperature of the food should be below 41F. If the food is at a temperature this low, and your freezer is still working, chances are you can shut the door and go about your day. If your food is considerably more than 41F, this can be a host for bacteria to grow and you may be in trouble. You can check down below on what types of foods you\u2019re going to have to start clearing out.<\/p>\n

4. Check If Your Freezer is Working<\/h4>\n

The next thing you need to do is to check if your freezer is still working properly. If your freezer is still freezing, the temperature is low, and your food looks good, chances are that you can shut the door and go about your day. Most freezers shouldn\u2019t have any issues when the door has been left open overnight. Only freezers that barely hit a low temperature and struggle to work in the warm climate will be in trouble. If you know that your freezer is always reliable and doesn\u2019t struggle to freeze your food, then you should be good.<\/p>\n

If you noticed that your freezer is warm and isn\u2019t freezing<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to check out why. Another major sign that your freezer is suffering is if you see a pool of water leaking. In this case, it\u2019s obvious that there are some faulty components that are preventing your freezer from working. Before you determine that your freezer is kaput, you can check if it\u2019s plugged in. Sometimes your freezer may have defrosted because it wasn\u2019t on.<\/p>\n

5. Ice and Moisture Formation<\/h4>\n

After your freezer has been left open, warm air from the outside would have been with the cold air inside causing moisture to form. From here, the freezer will have trouble keeping the temperature cold inside and this will cause ice to form around the freezer coils – this will prevent your freezer getting cooler since it prevents air circulation.<\/p>\n

6. Make Sure Internal Components Aren’t Overheating<\/h4>\n

Because of things like the coil forming ice causing poor air circulation, the freezer is going to have trouble lowering the temperature when the door is left open. There’s a chance the thermostat fails to signal the compressor to slow down the process. It leads to overheating, which is harmful to the appliance and your home<\/p>\n

7. Check If The Food Is Thawed<\/h4>\n

If your freezer is defrosted all night and your food is thawed, then you\u2019ll need to assess what you can do with each food. All the food in your freezer is different so it won\u2019t be wise to decide to throw everything out just because it thawed. Before you do anything, you need to know that refreezing your food isn\u2019t dangerous to the food. The only danger of doing this is that the food could have spoiled between the time it was defrosted and the time you decided to refreeze it.<\/p>\n

The reason your food can go bad as soon as it was defrosted is because of bacteria growth. When you freeze food, the bacteria growth on the food isn\u2019t killed, it\u2019s only slowed down rapidly to the point where it stops. When the food is defrosted again, then the bacteria growth rate is increased rapidly and if not frozen again, it can be too much, and the food can spoil. Another downside of refreezing your food is that the quality of the food goes down is because the cells are damaged and they\u2019re expanded with ice crystals. There are a few foods that this doesn\u2019t apply to, for example, meats, baked food, vegetables, fruits, rice, and pasta.<\/p>\n

If your freezer door has bene left unopened, you need to avoid reaching a point where bacteria has had a chance to multiply and then refreeze. If you’re refreezing your freezer without checking if the food is safe to it once thawed, then you’re putting yourself at risk. Bacteria has more chances to multiply each time your food is thawed.<\/p>\n

Along with the scary bacteria that you may be worried about such as E. coli and Salmonella, there are other toxins produced by bacteria that aren’t killed during the process of cooking. Foods like vegetables can contain bacteria, but it’s a lot less likely in frozen vegetables as they’re blanched before they’re frozen.<\/p>\n

If you’ve left your freezer door was left open for a few days and some foods have been thawed slightly, then these will be ok to eat. Even if it’s meat – it wouldn’t have gotten to the point it’s spoilt. There’s a very low chance that it thawed completely and refroze. However, if the freezer door was left open for days, then most of the food would have been spoilt and it’ll be totally unsafe to eat.<\/p>\n

When You Should Throw the Food Away:<\/p>\n