Power Goes Out – What to do With All the Food in the Fridge & Freezer

Recently, the power went out for an extended period of time in the area where I live. It wasn't out for everyone, and I'm not even sure what exactly happened, as we were not home.  I just kept getting alerts from Xcel Enery regarding the fact that the power was out.  It was out for at least 4 hours or more.  Even though we were not home, it got me to thinking about the food in the fridge and the freezer, and how long does it last before you need to start thinking about throwing stuff out.

The obvious answer is that if the power is out for a day or more, probably need to throw some or all of that stuff away.  But do you need to worry about other perishable foods when the power is out for like 6 hours or more?

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PRESERVE THE TEMPERATURE IN THE REFRIGERATOR

Short answer - don't open it if you can avoid it.  All that does is let some of the cold air out. And with the power out, that cold air is precious.

From the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Services:

If the power is out for 4 hours or less, and you haven't opened the fridge or freezer, you are probably good.  If the temperature has gone above 40 degrees for two hours or more, you may have to throw a lot of it out.  But some things are ok at that temperature for an extended period of time.

You can check a chart to see what's best to toss and what is ok to keep.

attachment-food-safety-chart-during-power-outage

Mostly, it's what you would expect.  Dairy items, toss.  But there are some cheeses that are ok to keep, and some that are not.

They also recommend that you never to a taste test to decide if something is bad or not.  Personally, I do either a visual test or a sniff test.

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO PRESERVE FOOD LONGER THAN THE 4 HOUR LIMIT

Get a cooler!  And as we all know, some coolers are better than others.  Get a good one that holds the temperature for a long duration compared to some cheap coolers.  Put your food that you are worried about in it with a bunch of ice and/or ice packs.  Keep the cooler closed.

Freezer - if the item still has some frozen crystalization, it's safe to refreeze.  If not, toss it.

Let's hope we don't run into this situation again any time soon.  It's severe weather season, and anything can happen.

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