Here, my freezer failed, and set off the very quite alarm, and I discovered the problem when the vegetables were loose and wet inside the gallon bags. The top most items in the freezer were nearly completely thawed, and the items at the bottom to about the middle were stil quite firm, but showed signs of thawing as well. Because of this, my whole freezer had to be replaced. It was 6 am when I found the problem. Rushed out to Home Depot, who was about the only store open that early. Had them hold the last freezer (display model) in another store, rushed to that store, rented a truck, brought the freezer home, finally got it out of the truck by myself and moved it into my basement. It was set up, and I waited about 6 hours before putting stuff in it. I also moved as much thawed stuff to my upstairs freezer. I am not sure what will be the outcome, but do hope that the ten gallon sized bags of garden veggies will survive. The only way of knowing is to open one, and cook up some of the stuff. If it has a bad taste, it all gets tossed. For me, that also means five 2 pound bags of shrimp, about 50 pounds of meats for making sausages, many home made chicken and turkey pies, and about 30 pounds of filled pasta, and more. About the only items that can freeze, thaw, and refreeze are bird food suet cakes, and some pork fat As you can see, the loss of the freezer does have its issues. Because of the low volume freezer alarm, I bought a newer one with a louder alarm sound. I believe if I had heard the alarm the night before, the whole issue would never have gone as far as it did. When putting an alarm senser into the freezer, locate the sensor near the top shelf, so it will pick up the loss of cold faster than if its located at the bottom. Good luck with your stuff. I figure I could have lost over $600 worth of food.

If a chest type freezer is fairly full it will keep for 48 to 60 hrs with no problem if it is kept closed, however, every time you open the door to check on it, you cut the remaining time in 1/2. By example, when the power goes out you have 60hrs, but if you open the door to check the freezer warm room air rushes in and that time is immediately cut to 30hrs. Come back in a few hours and open to check it again and the time is cut to 15hrs from the time the power went out. Wait a while then open to check it again and your now down to 7.5hours and should start planning on how you can cook all that meat to save it. In refrigeration school they taught us that if the power goes out do not open the freezer doors, lock them shut, and if you don't have a lock, tape it shut with duct tape.

chicken breasts will turn to cardboard in a crock pot....poach them in a little flavored broth. Put a couple of cups of water in a sauce pan, add some chunks of onion and a clove of garlic, a stalk or so of celery...hand full of parsley...or some dried...maybe a bay leaf....table spoon or2 of lemon juice....simmer for 10 minutes....put in the chicken breasts....still frozen or thawed....doesn't matter add water to cover the chicken....and simmer until when you cut into them they are no longer pink. The amount of time depends on the number of chicken breasts....likely 30 to 45 minutes.....when no longer pink, turn off and allow to cool in the broth for about 30 minutes....remove and shred...or chop or refrigerate for later. But for the shredding you can be done with the whole thing in an hour.

Thanks for the tips! Now to check the cooked weight the next time I rotisserie a chickiebird... I buy cooked chickens at the grocery store when traveling with hubby (take your own tableware, napkins (paper towels) and paper plates). Usually we buy a bag of pretzels and some fruit. Much cheaper and healthier than fast food. I won't pay more than 99 cents a pound for apples, pears or grapes. One of them are usually on sale. Bananas (33 cents per pound) and salad mix I buy at the local Sav-A-Lot. Check out the dollar stores for spices, salad dressings etc. I saw someone recommend when you need a little shredded cheese check the price at the salad bar per pound. I would not empty their container though. If you want really high fiber bread - buy a bread machine (yard sale or thrift store) and add oatmeal to your wheat flour and buy your yeast and flour at a farm store in bulk. Fresh bread is addictive though so that might not save much money! If a recipe calls for different color peppers (such as my pepper pasta dish) buy bags of stir fry peppers and onions and pick the onions out (they are big) and refreeze them for later. Whole orange, yellow and red peppers are $3.99 per pound and I would bet half of them are waste too. Don't get stuck on brand names - if there is a generic give it a try. I had a friend who washed name brand mayo jars for years until her hubby asked why she was keeping the Miracle Whip jars. He had eaten generic mayo for years.... Don't go to the grocery store hungry! Kathy