RICHIE3

Don't take a chance and risk it, throw it away.

There are still plenty of tender female deer out there to bo eaten.
Live and learn.

GForce

Do Not Eat it. Meats can only be safely re-frozen if there are still ice crystals in the piece (well below 40 degrees).

Here's a tip I will offer to anyone concerned:

Invest in a freezer alarm. Check out this site -

http://cdnw.com/site/pdf/products/ta10.pdf

This is just one of many types available. It's cheap insurance. I know a number of taxidermists who use them.

There are even models that will auto-dial a programmed phone number to notify you when you aren't home

Shoot often - Hunt always

Strut&Rut

I have almost 10 years of professional cooking experience. We have one saying that's paramount in the business..."when in doubt, throw it out".

With that said, you have two options: toss it all or cook some up and try it. Personally, I would try it first. The only thing that scares me is you had leaking packages, which indicates that some of your packages were not well sealed. However, if the majority of the meat was well wrapped---double wrapped in paper with plastic freezer bags, or vacuum sealed---you may be OK.

I suggest thawing in the microwave, not via the fridge or a water bath. You will know immediately before cooking---if it's bad---just by the smell. If you're going to eat anything, do it yourself. However, you're going to have to cook it thoroughly---well done all the way. Pseudomonas bacteria can grow at low temperature. 72 hours is a long time, but if your freezer was full it probably took longer than the aforementioned 24 hours to completely thaw. Probably more like 48 hours to thaw the stuff crammed in the back (upright) or bottom (chest) of the freezer. However, even with that estimate that corresponds to a minimum of 12 hours above 45 deg., and add at least another 6-10 to refreeze everything.

If you have any suspicions after you cook it---you'll know after the first bite---just toss the stuff into the garbage. If you toss it, I would suggest either taking it to the dump or placing it on the curb in the frozen state though. Dogs, cats and coons will destroy the cans to get to thawed meat.

In conclusion, I would taste test it first and if you're brave eat a small loin steak. Those cuts with the least fat may survive. The fatty cuts and the ground products will be those most susceptible to bacterial colonization, especially sausage products with added sugars (food for the bugs).

Good luck,

S&R

Greg / MO

Interesting how varied the replies are. I'm certainly no expert, becks, but maybe I can offer some help anyway. The reason is, I had almost the exact same thing happen about a month ago. Our freezer is in our basement, and we've only got one electrical outlet, which shares time with our washing machine. When we wash clothes, we unplug the freezer, then re-plug it in later (been that way since I bought the house, one of these days I'll put another outlet in). You can guess what happened; we forgot to plug the freezer back in and only noticed it when blood was leaking out of the bottom of the freezer toward the drain in the middle of the floor.

Problem is, I had like four deer in there, and there was no way I was gonna throw that much venison out. We plugged it back up, and have eaten several tenderoins and cooked about three or four pounds of hamburger (deerburger?) meat since then... all so far with no effects.

I would agree with the philosophy of throwing it out, too... except I had just too darn much invested to throw that much out. Thank God it's turned out OK so far.

Discipline -- not desire -- determines destiny.