Why Minnesotans Should Be Keeping A Quarter In Their Freezer

I've never heard this hack before, but if you have a freezer in your basement, or garage, or someplace that you wouldn't necessarily know if the power kicked off, this would be a great way to make sure your food kept in that freezer is safe for eating, in case there was a loss of power at some point, and your food thawed and then froze again without you knowing it.

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Grab a coffee cup. Fill the coffee cup with water, and then place the cup in your freezer. Once the cup of water is frozen solid, place a quarter on top of the ice in the cup, and leave the cup in your freezer.

Let me explain how you can tell if your food has thawed and froze again.

Let's say that you've been on a week-long vacation. While you were gone, you heard that there were severe storms in your area, with reports of power outages. Upon your return home, you open your freezer and look at your frozen cup of water with the quarter on top.

If the quarter is either on the top or in the middle of the cup, then your food may still be ok. However, if the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup, it means all the food defrosted at some point while you were gone, and you should throw all of your freezer food in the garbage.

What a great idea! Now I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't have sold my garage freezer!

Do you have a safety plan that works better than the quarter-in-the-cup trick? Share your ideas with us by sending them to kelly.cordes@townsquaremedia.com.

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