Freezer temp too high...is my food still good?

[notoriousben3]

I returned home from vacation to find my freezer full of ice crystals!

Upon further inspection, I noticed that the freezer temp was set at 6 degrees Fahrenheit, when it was supposed to be set at 0 degrees.

Is the food in there still good, or is a full week at a temp slightly too high bad for the food in there?

There was no meat in there, but some frozen veggies, frozen homemade sauces and things like that.

 

[dragnlaw]

They are probably not bad but the taste and texture of some of your vegies is probably affected.

Check with your neighbours- was there a power failure? Ice crystals suggest that maybe there was. So it would depend on how long the power was out.

Are all your vegies a solid lump in the bag?... in other words did they defrost/melt completely and then freeze again? Those might be pretty yucky and I, personally, would probably toss them.

It really depends if there had been a power failure.

+6 F is still very much below freezing point of 32 F and I doubt enough to create crystals. Is the door solid fit might be checked too. Perhaps it never got shut tight, something got caught in it?

 

[Andy M.]

6ºF is not a short-term issue for frozen food. As dragnlaw said, freezing is 32ºF. I agree that the door may have been left ajar or that the seals are bad.

 

[Termy]

This is where you are better off with a full freezer, the mass of the food is cold and is not going to heat up soon. So you don't know how warm it got.

Taste will tell.

T