Alarm or Warm Reading on Your JennAir Freezer: Is the Food Still Safe?

A freezer holds a lot of money in meat, seafood and prepared meals. If you hear an alert or notice the display reading warmer than usual, a few minutes of calm decision making can save most of what is inside.

First steps

• Keep the door closed. A full freezer stays cold for a long time when left alone.
• Check whether the power is on and whether a breaker has tripped.
• Look at the display and write down any message or code before you reset anything.
• Place a thermometer inside and check again after an hour.

Deciding what to keep

Food that still has ice crystals or feels as cold as if it were refrigerated is generally safe to refreeze, though quality may suffer. Food that has thawed and stayed above 40 degrees for more than two hours should be discarded. Watch to seafood, cooked meals and dairy desserts. If you cannot tell how long it was warm, be cautious.

Signs of a deeper problem

• The alert returns after the door has been shut
• Food at the front is hard but items at the back are soft
• The compressor is silent or the fan has stopped
• Water is dripping inside or underneath

Protect your investment

Move the most valuable items to a cooler with ice or a neighbor’s freezer if repair is going to take a while. Do not chip away at ice with a knife or screwdriver, because a puncture to a cooling line is dangerous and expensive.

We test the controls, fans and cooling system, quote the repair in writing and provide a 30-day workmanship warranty.

Keeping a thermometer in the freezer all year gives you a baseline, so a change stands out immediately.

Do not wait for food to thaw. Reach our freezer repair team through the page, and see whether you are in our service area.