Deep Freezer DOWN :( ReFreezing?

MaskedMarvel

Greetings friends,

beeping in the laundry room brought this bad news:

There’s a few hundred pounds at stake. 

I can offload this into a keg box I have. I’ll have to sacrifice a few kegs, but they’re not super fresh any more. 

What’s my “refreeze” situation? 

I’m out of town tomorrow thru Thursday. A service call will be made Monday. 

Can I hold the meat thru a repair, assuming it happens soon?

and - can I refreeze it with any expectation of quality?

I know a bunch of you have gone through this. This really sucks. 

Thanks
8-Damien

ps -  SOMEONE PLEASE FIX THE MOBILE SITE. REALLY REALLY FRUSTRATING

Ozzie_Isaac

What was the max temp you hit?  If you stayed below 40 you can refreeze, but will lose some quality...ice crystals melting/reforming damage the cell walls.

MaskedMarvel

Ozzie_Isaac said:

What was the max temp you hit?  If you stayed below 40 you can refreeze, but will lose some quality...ice crystals melting/reforming damage the cell walls.

This is happening in real time, the freezer is currently at 0°F

What I’ll have to do is transfer to refrigerator for a few days, and it will get above freezing then

 

Ozzie_Isaac

Depending on access, I would get a large cooler and stuff with the frozen stiff and lots of dry ice.  As much as you can fit.  Then put it all in the cooldest area you have (probably inside the house this year).  Then just keep it all buttoned up until you get freezer fixed.  Should hold till Monday.  Can use a combo of ice and dry ice too.

Ozzie_Isaac

Or better yet, stuff your freezer full of dry ice 

johnmitchell

@MaskedMarvel. Damien this sucks. I have a huge Yeti cooler and plenty of other size coolers if you need.. pm me if I can help

lkapigian

Not knowing anything about your freezer, so long as it’s not a mechanical failure and based upon the time of the year, dirty condenser coil? If so it’s likely not going to get much worse but should be a reminder to all … Clean Your Coils , set a reminder, do it regularly 

alaskanassasin

You can try and defrost with a hair dryer. This is my worst nightmare hang in there buddy.

Canugghead

Hot water and sponge work faster and safer than hairdryer. 

MaskedMarvel

Looks like either a bad thermistor or the board. 

I ordered a temp switch - maybe the compressor can hang on long enough if I only turn the freezer on when it needs to run. That’ll keep it from heating up so much..

alaskanassasin

MaskedMarvel said:

Looks like either a bad thermistor or the board. 

I ordered a temp switch - maybe the compressor can hang on long enough if I only turn the freezer on when it needs to run. That’ll keep it from heating up so much..

If you have a inkbird use that.

U_tarded

Coolers and dry ice will buy you a few days of still frozen (like 4 or 5).  I did a medium sized chest in 2 65qt rtic coolers cross country for 4 days over Labor Day weekend in the back of a truck.  I used I think 20-30 lbs of dry ice (I think I started with 20 and filled the top after 2 days) basically I layed it across the bottom, a layer of paper bag meat until about 2 inches from the top, another layer of paper and then dry ice until full.  

MaskedMarvel

alaskanassasin said:

MaskedMarvel said:

Looks like either a bad thermistor or the board. 

I ordered a temp switch - maybe the compressor can hang on long enough if I only turn the freezer on when it needs to run. That’ll keep it from heating up so much..

If you have a inkbird use that.

That’s what I’d ordered. It arrived 18 minutes after I headed off to the mountains.