Keeping meat frozen outside in 20 degree weather

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We lost power about 49 hours ago, during a big ice storm. Had 2 freezers of meats (hamburger, chicken tenders, chicken breasts, beef roast, stew meat, boneless pork chops, 1 whole turkey). We put them in totes and moved them outside. All the meat still seems to be frozen. And no end in sight for the power outage. As long as the meat doesn't thaw, will it be okay?

Frozen is frozen.

You should be careful to keep the totes of frozen food shaded, as sun exposure could cause localized heating in the totes even at below-freezing air temperatures. And you'll have to hope you get power back before the weather warms.

The food won't immediately rot, but the shelf life will diminish.

The usual temperature of a freezer chest is around -20°C / -4°F. Even at that cold, frozen food does have a "best before" date, because microbial activity is not completely stopped. Given an uninterrupted cold chain, a commercially frozen whole chicken usually has a shelf life of 12 months, chicken pieces 9 months, raw ground pork (hamburgers) only 3 months.

Storing frozen food at -7°C / 20°F will keep the water frozen infinitely, but it will allow bacteria to be slightly more active than in a functioning freezer. My gut feeling is to cut the usual shelf life in half and assume that the hamburgers are over their "best before" date immediately. Make an effort to use up all frozen food in the next 2 - 4 months. Check the smell of everything you defrost and heat everything completely through.

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