Keeping meat frozen outside in 20°F (-7°C) weather

Question

We lost power about 49 hours ago, during a big ice storm. We had 2 freezers of meats (hamburger, chicken tenders, chicken breasts, beef roast, stew meat, boneless pork chops, 1 whole turkey). We put them in totes and moved them outside where the temperature is around 20°F (-7°C). All the meat still seems to be frozen. And no end in sight for the power outage. As long as the meat doesn't thaw, will it be okay?

Answer 1

Frozen is frozen.

You should be careful to keep the totes of frozen food shaded, as sun exposure could cause localized heating in the totes even at below-freezing air temperatures. And you'll have to hope you get power back before the weather warms.

Answer 2

Be wary about thaw/freeze cycles

The most dangerous issue with frozen food outside of a freezer (or in, during power cuts) is not much that it thaws, but that it thaws and then freezes again. That is, you should not assume that just because it is frozen when you inspect it, it stayed frozen all along, and never thawed.

This could happen for various reasons:

• Within a freezer: the food thaws while the power is out, then freezes again once the power is back.
• Outside: the food thaws during the day (warmer, exposed to sunlight, ...) and freezes again at dusk or overnight.

Within a freezer, a neat trick is to freeze a bottle of water lying on its side, then, once frozen, keep it vertical: if you find frozen water at the bottom of the bottle, outside the original "half-moon", then it means some water thawed & re-froze, and the content of the freezer are at risk.

Outside a freezer, it seems more difficult, as the temperature may not be homogeneous. For example, even if your food is in the shade, some of it could be exposed to sunlight reflected on a window, or the snow, etc... while whatever mechanism you use to detect thaw/freeze cycles isn't.

So I don't have a solution for you, I can just recommend caution.

Answer 3

You shouldn't have to move the food into totes. keep the freezer closed and the meat will stay frozen. If moved outside in totes it may be subjected to animals and may thaw. Youd be better off emptying the freezer and putting it in the garage or somewhere it will be cold and putting the meat back in.