Thawed/re-frozen brine shrimp

[Seisage]

I know the general consensus is to not re-freeze and reuse thawed frozen foods, but that seems to typically be advice applied to open packages and leftovers that weren't fed out. I bought some frozen brine shrimp cubes from the LFS and had a ~2.5 hour drive home. By the time I got back, they were still rather cold, but definitely not really frozen anymore. I chucked them in the freezer when I got inside. The package is still very much sealed, so I'm wondering if it's still safe and good to use. It was only $5, so if they're unsafe, I'm not out much money, but if they are still safe, I don't want to toss them out.

And, if I can't use them for feeding animals any longer, does anyone have any advice for what I can use them for? I'd rather not have them just completely go to waste.

 

[Colin_T]

If they were still cold they should be ok.

If you have to get frozen food in future, make sure they wrap it in a few sheets of newspaper and then wrap it in a towel and put it in an esky in the car.

 

[Seisage]

If they were still cold they should be ok.

If you have to get frozen food in future, make sure they wrap it in a few sheets of newspaper and then wrap it in a towel and put it in an esky in the car.

Great, thanks Colin. I did loosely wrap the package in a towel, but it obviously wasn't enough. I'll definitely be more prepared next time with more towels and/or a cooler and ice packs. Thankfully, I do have a local store that sells frozen fish food, so in that case I don't think I'd need to insulate, but everything there is wildly overpriced.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Great, thanks Colin. I did loosely wrap the package in a towel, but it obviously wasn't enough. I'll definitely be more prepared next time with more towels and/or a cooler and ice packs. Thankfully, I do have a local store that sells frozen fish food, so in that case I don't think I'd need to insulate, but everything there is wildly overpriced.

I picked up a cheap little insulated kids lunchbox thing specifically for when I'd be getting frozen fish food, could add an ice pack to take in it too if you wanna be extra safe.

But especially if it was just a bit defrosted and wasn't like, baked in a hot car boot for 2 and a half hours, I'd still use it and not give it a thought. I highly doubt that storage of packaged frozen fish foods is flawless between manufacture, delivery to stores then always packed away into a store freezer perfectly every time anyhow.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Thanks goodness I had 20 tanks going and thet 13 of them were for breeding and growing out plecos. So I would buy my frozzen foods onine and have them shipped to me. Mostly I get slabs that run from 1 pount to one kilo. Much cheaper. I also usually buy between 12 and 15 pounds per order because it is cheaper for both the purchase and the shipping.

There are a couple of exceptions though, I am highly allergic to blood worms and must get them in cudes. I also get a few cucbe packs of BBS and Daphnia as do not use these in any quantity. Usually at my monthly fish club meedting somebody comes with a box of frozen slabds- brine, bloods , mysis and maybe something else. They are pretty cheap that way and I will grad one or two slabs when I need them between my regular orders.

Now that I am downsizing I am not sure what I will do. I do not do live foods and frozen are the next best alternative.

Also, we have a second freezer in which I store my frozen foods, it has a habit of not sealing when closed and we have had it defrost a few times. As long as the frozen food is at least a slushy frozen or better, I keep them, But if they het to room temp I threw them out. I also buy dried foods in bulks and keep them frozen as well. I am more inclined to keep them and refreeze them even when they got to room temp.

Since this has happened several times over the past decade or so, I know that the fish are not being harmed by the foods because I have not seen any ill effects from refreezing them and using the down the road.

As always this is how I have done it. If yu do not feel safe in refreezeing food that have defrosted, then by all means throw them out. It is better for you to feel safe than not.= just because of how I do things.

 

[sharkweek178]

I got one of those hot/cold insulated bags from the grocery store for this kind of thing.

 

[sharkweek178]

I picked up a cheap little insulated kids lunchbox thing specifically for when I'd be getting frozen fish food, could add an ice pack to take in it too if you wanna be extra safe.

But especially if it was just a bit defrosted and wasn't like, baked in a hot car boot for 2 and a half hours, I'd still use it and not give it a thought. I highly doubt that storage of packaged frozen fish foods is flawless between manufacture, delivery to stores then always packed away into a store freezer perfectly every time anyhow.

I bought a similar kind of cooler to transport the fish themselves. I put the bag in the cooler for the trip home. It's insulated so it offers some protection from the outside elements. I also think since it's dark in there and the noise is reduced, it's a less stressful trip for the fish.

 

[jaylach]

The issue with such items being thawed and frozen again is that the process causes crystals to form which you could think of as freezer burn. If the product is vacuum packed there really should not be much of an issue.