Shell-on Frozen Prawns and Power Outage
I love everything from the sea, but am a little squeamish when it comes to cooking shellfish etc. myself
I have a large bag of Frozen, shell-on Black Tiger prawns, as well as two trays of 'Jumbo' Black Tiger prawns in my freezer (these are enormous, almost Lobster-like, three per pack).
My particular issue with these is that while they are well in-date, we have had two x 6 to 8 hour planned power-outages over the time I've had them in the freezer. I followed the usual guideline, as in keep the freezer closed during the outage.
Should I be concerned, or just cook up these (still beautiful looking) Crustaceans?
Thanks!
(My first post here, so please forgive any errors.)
Best Answer
Without knowing the internal temperature of your freezer for the duration of the power outages this is impossible to answer. Since these are planned outages, I assume you have experienced them before. Do items in your freezer remain frozen? At the very least, they will have experienced some freeze/thaw cycling, which would likely impact the texture of the prawns. It is obviously not ideal. So, yes, I would be concerned. How concerned is impossible to judge with the information provided.
Pictures about "Shell-on Frozen Prawns and Power Outage"
How long will frozen food stay frozen with no power?
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. If the doors stay closed, food will stay safe for up to: 4 hours in a refrigerator. 48 hours in a full freezer; 24 hours in a half-full freezer.Can frozen prawns go off?
The precise answer to that question depends to a large extent on storage conditions - keep cooked shrimp frozen at all times. Properly stored, frozen cooked shrimp will maintain best quality for about 10-12 months in the freezer, although it will usually remain safe to eat after that.What foods are safe to refreeze after power outage?
If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40\xb0 F or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook. If the power was out for no more than 4 hours, refrigerated food should be safe as long as the doors were kept closed.Can you defrost prawns at room temperature?
Can you defrost prawns at room temperature? Of course, you can! So long as you follow these simple steps: Place the prawns in a large bowl, cover them in water, change that water every 15-20mins.How to Devein Shrimp/Prawn with Shell | Denise Planas 💋
More answers regarding shell-on Frozen Prawns and Power Outage
Answer 2
If you haven't prepared ahead and done the coin-on-ice trick that John W. mentioned in his comment, I would suggest that you look for something in your freezer that's 'IQF' (individually quick frozen).
In this case, it might be the shrimp / prawns. It might be a bag of frozen peas or corn. Basically, something that when you bought it was a whole lot of little frozen bits, rather than a solid block of frozen something.
If you have an automatic ice maker, you can also use that an indicator -- they'll all be stuck together if there was thawing.
If it's now a solid block, then your frozen items thawed and re-froze. Now, they might still be okay ... your periods were short enough that you can probably just treat them as if they were in the fridge for that time, and cook them right away ... just don't assume they're fine being left in the freezer for longer.
Answer 3
We experience power outages with every hurricane, so, frequently. The general rule of thumb is that frozen food will remain good for 3 days as long as you don't open the freezer door. The US FDA webpage on Food and Water Safety During Power Outages and Floods indicates 2 days,
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
- The refrigerator will keep food cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened.
- A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.
which would indicate that your shellfish should be fine.
Really glad you asked as I've been using outdated information.
Enjoy your Prawns!
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: eberhard grossgasteiger, SHVETS production, SHVETS production, SHVETS production