Stupid question: frozen (yeah!) canned foods

[CompassRose]

Suppose you had a pantry, and suppose you went down into it to get a can of tomatoes and some broth to make your cabbage soup.

Suppose when you did that, you found that not only had a bottle of something exploded, but your canned tomatoes and broth (and by the looks of them, at least several other things) were frozen absolutely rock solid?

I'm not sure if everything has -- some of it certainly has, the tomatoes were all bulged up at the top (I used them anyway, since it's obviously from the expansion, and they were completely, completely ice-hard) :( :mad: and I saw that at least a few more are, too.

But. Should I let things thaw out, then see which ones *look* compromised (bulgy, etc.) and toss those? Or would it be safer to bin the lot? What do you think? I have to go down there and clean up (yuch) because of the broken bottle and glass anyway.

I know I meant to clean out my house of any kind of tempting off-plan foods -- but this is a bit more extreme than I had in mind! I am just not loving this week at all.

Katharine

[wallycat]

The rule of thumb for bulging/exploding cans to be thrown out is because of the Botulinum toxin. You cannot smell this, see it or kill it with cooking....so if you are POSITIVE it is from freezing it is one thing...to "look" and see if that is the problem....I say dump the lot.

I'm trying to picture anything freezing in side?? acccckkk...I should be living in Canada :D :D

[CompassRose]

Well, I'm positive it's from freezing now -- thing is, if stuff has frozen inside the cans, could that make them leak and get contaminated with whatever later?

Yes. Inside. In the basement inside, but still. It is so (swear! curse!) stupidly cold. Let me tell you -- I already brought up my veggies that were down there, the onions and the sweet potatoes (and the red cabbage) cos I was afraid there might be a touch of frost (it's happened before). I put THEM in the non-functioning and not-really sufficiently insulated bathroom, the addition (which hasn't worked since last year, when all the pipes froze and burst at much this time of year). In the bathtub.

Y'know? I cut open my onions and cabbage? They were frozen. And this is upstairs -- in an addition, yes, but still part of the general main-floor milieu. And I've even had the door to that bathroom open because I didn't want what's left of the pipes (they're only capped) to freeze again and pop.

What I must be losing in heat costs. I hate this stupid climate. Who was the jackhat who thought it would be a good idea to have a country up here?

[ClaraB]

I would let the stuff thaw out and see if the seal is still good on it, then use or throw anything without a good seal. My understanding is that a good seal is your indicator that all is well inside the bottle, so if the seal remains, things should be OK. I hear you about the cold weather - this time of year, we use the front hall closet as a fridge, and the garage as a deep freeze... (and this is a 4-year old house!)

[Aubergine]

"when in doubt, throw it out.

Rose, my take on this has always been that even remotely unsafe-appearing canned/botted/frozen/boxed goods must be discarded, as much as it may hurt, and it does! ya just gotta bite the bullet and do it, for your own piece of mind. also, cheaper than dr's visits and time out of commission (or total time-out).

fwiw, i recently had to tackle this chez nous, but i've never, ever, wanted to play with botulism.

p.s. might be a good plan to re-locate pantry.

[wallycat]

If you want to save the canned goods and are POSITIVE it is from freezing, I would open all the cans and put it in your freezer.
I agree...once a can is bulging, it may be compromised and though you'd be safe from botulism, the food would spoil once thawing commenced :(

Oh how my heart goes out to you....this is almost as bad as when we have our hurricanes and lose electricity and I am dancing around like a maniac worried about how long it will take to get it back so my freezer contents don't require dumping out.

oh, and I think living in Canada was a GRAND idea. I'd EASILY move to Nova Scotia (or anywhere in Canada) in a heartbeat! LOVE it there.
DH thinks I'm insane :o

I was just watching the national news and Minnesota's two cities fighting for "the coldest" record. 60 below was the winner. OH HOW I am dreaming!!!

[CompassRose]

Originally posted by wallycat
I agree...once a can is bulging, it may be compromised and though you'd be safe from botulism, the food would spoil once thawing commenced :(
That's true, isn't it -- botulism is anaerobic. Woohoo! small mercies! :p

Eh. I don't think the (albeit overdue) freezer cleaning is really tempting as an addition to my evening, so that I can fit in all my canned stuff. I brought in a garbage can. Time to stop procrastinating and get down there. The bottle that exploded, too, was a Da Vinci sugar-free syrup, and now the whole basement simply reeks of "English Caramel." Which is one of my favourites, but hanging heavily in the air in that concentration -- no.