Refrigerator ajar all night—-what to toss?

[mmasc]

Apparently one of my kids didn’t close our fridge door last night. It wasn’t wide open, but definitely ajar at least an inch or two. 😔 I’d say open somewhere from around 9:00 pm to 8:00 am. And our heat is currently running since it’s cold. The refrigerator is fairly well stocked right now due to buying groceries only once every two weeks. I’m food-cautious, but it makes me cringe to think about just tossing it all! What would you toss under these conditions? Info:

I put a hygrometer in there (normally it sits out for humidity levels) and it’s getting a temp reading of around 60. I don’t know how accurate that is. 

the yogurts (we have LOTS!) feel warm-ish to the touch on the outside and *slightly* cool on inside 

I have three unopened milk jugs of Fairlife milk (does being ultra pasteurized help in this case???)

pudding cups (same as yogurt—warm-ish)

lots of veggies 

I am just sick about this! I hate to throw away all of this food AND have to go to the store again 😢

What would you do?

[PeterPan]

How much of it can you cook up? I would toss leftovers and raw meat. Everything else I would cook. You can sour the milk and make large batches of pancakes to freeze. Yogurt, I'd just go ahead and eat so long as it doesn't taste too sour. I wouldn't rush on that. Veges, I would use up today if they're fragile like spinach or just go ahead and saute and throw into a quiche to freeze or a soup. 

The most dangerous thing is meat. Definitely don't eat any raw meat you had in there. Other than that, you're talking about quality degrading sooner, not food poisoning.

[mmasc]

5 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

How much of it can you cook up? I would toss leftovers and raw meat. Everything else I would cook. You can sour the milk and make large batches of pancakes to freeze. Yogurt, I'd just go ahead and eat so long as it doesn't taste too sour. I wouldn't rush on that. Veges, I would use up today if they're fragile like spinach or just go ahead and saute and throw into a quiche to freeze or a soup. 

The most dangerous thing is meat. Definitely don't eat any raw meat you had in there. Other than that, you're talking about quality degrading sooner, not food poisoning.

Thank you; this is helpful! I have two packages of raw meat. Sadly, I will toss. What about a package of turkey lunch meat? Or a package of bacon? Those aren’t ‘fresh’,  but still meat  ???

the milk is way too much to use or cook with today. It’s 3 half-gallons of Fairlife Ultra pasteurized whole milk. 
 

I’m glad to hear your thoughts on yogurt. We have way more than we could eat today. I tasted one to see the temp and it was still sweet. Guess we need to eat them up ASAP. 

i do have spinach and lettuces. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by mmasc

[Karen A]

Except for the lunchmeat, I would just cook the meat this morning and eat or freeze it cooked and eat the rest when/as you can. If something tastes off, toss it then. But I'm not as cautious as most.

[fairfarmhand]

I would keep all but the meat. 

The milk will spoil more quickly, so smell it each time you use it and let everyone drink up in the next day or so. Pasteruized Milk is one of those things that will tell you when it's getting yucky.

I wouldn't worry about the vegetables. They might get wilty more quickly because of exposure to warmer temps, so just eat them a bit more quickly. Yogurt will be fine. Often in yogurt, the souring bacteria out compete the food borne illness bacteria.

[Tree Frog]

We've put milk that's sat on the counter overnight back into the fridge and used without a problem. So for me, as long as it smells ok, I would keep the dairy. I would suggest eating it sooner rather than later. Does the pudding need to be refrigerated? I ask because I've seen some same brand puddings refrigerated in one store and on the shelves at another.

If the meat is raw and you can cook it to well done, I would probably cook it today.

Like Peter Pan said, the veggies will probably go bad faster, but they should be ok to eat.

[mmasc]

Re: pudding. One kind is the Jello brand that comes from the refrigerated section of the store. I also have the SnackPack brand that was on the shelf in the store, but is refrigerated now at my house. 
 

the yogurts are:

activia vanilla cups and those Danimals smoothies. 
 

I had a child who had dental work a few days ago, thus the fridge is stocked with all this stuff. 😔

[Selkie]

If the spinach and lettuce are wilted, put them in an ice bath and they should perk back up.

[Sherry in OH]

I would keep everything.  Heat the lunchmeat and serve hot sandwiches with salad greens and Jello pudding cups for lunch.  Require everyone to eat the remaining Jello pudding cups before the Snackpack pudding (which is shelf-stable).   You will be able to taste if the pudding (and yogurts) have spoiled.

Cook the meat thoroughly, including the bacon, and freeze whatever you won't use in the next two to three days.

You will know if the milk has gone off - if it only slightly off, use in recipes calling for sour milk.  

The vegetables may wilt more quickly than normal but will be safe to eat.  You can perk up any you plan to eat raw by soaking them in cold water.  

[marbel]

You've gotten great advice on the food. Now, think about a thermometer/alarm. We got one when I noticed the freezer that lives in the garage was left open once in a while.  Great peace of mind that we will be alerted if the fridge or freezer gets above a certain temp!

[sassenach]

I’d probably keep all the dairy because it’s easy to tell when that’s turned. Sniff test before serving. I’d expect you’ll ultimately end up tossing a lot of it but I’d rather eat what I could over the next few days. 
 

Toss any meat, leftovers, etc. 

Sorry, that’s a huge bummer. 

[mmasc]

11 minutes ago, marbel said:

You've gotten great advice on the food. Now, think about a thermometer/alarm. We got one when I noticed the freezer that lives in the garage was left open once in a while.  Great peace of mind that we will be alerted if the fridge or freezer gets above a certain temp!

Yes! I’ve been so worried during this whole stay at home thing that the kids would keep our garage freezer door open and ruin everything in it! I told them today that from now on, I’m the only one allowed to use the garage freezer. I never thought of alarms though! What kind? Where do you get these?

[mmasc]

Thank you all so much! You’re all so kind and helpful. I knew that if I posted this first thing this morning, I’d have good, clear advice within minutes. ❤️

[fairfarmhand]

3 minutes ago, mmasc said:

Yes! I’ve been so worried during this whole stay at home thing that the kids would keep our garage freezer door open and ruin everything in it! I told them today that from now on, I’m the only one allowed to use the garage freezer. I never thought of alarms though! What kind? Where do you get these?

We have a lock on our freezer. It helps us know without a doubt that the door was fully closed. 

[marbel]

25 minutes ago, mmasc said:

Yes! I’ve been so worried during this whole stay at home thing that the kids would keep our garage freezer door open and ruin everything in it! I told them today that from now on, I’m the only one allowed to use the garage freezer. I never thought of alarms though! What kind? Where do you get these?

 

Look for wireless refrigerator/freezer thermometers with alarm. I don't remember where we got ours; maybe Lowe's. You can find them on Amazon. Ours has 2 sensors, so we keep one in the upright freezer in the garage, and one in the freezer compartment of the kitchen fridge. Sometimes we move one to the fridge section if things seem wonky. Our fridge is pretty old. You can get them with 3 or 4 sensors, I think. We set minimum and maximum temps and an alarm goes off when a max temp is hit.  Ours is a lower-end model so doesn't keep much history; we don't travel much now, but if we did it would be good to know if the power had gone out and how long the freezer was at a higher temp, in case stuff defrosted and then refroze.  

This was also helpful during a long power outage - we were prepared to move stuff out of the freezer into coolers, but we didn't have to open the door to see how things were going in there. 

[Tap]

I would cook the meat, use it or freeze today. If the lunch meat  has preservatives , I would eat today if possible and toss the rest.  The dairy products I wouldn't worry about. You will know if they are bad. The veggies are zero concern for me and may just  wilt faster than expected. People toss yogurt, pudding etc in lunch boxes all the time. They are relatively stable when out of refrigeration for a few hours. If it was left open, the refrigerator was still running trying to stay at temperature. The door wasn't wide open, so I would figure that it was mostly cool inside for most of the night. Especially if it was packed full, the items will have retained their cool temperature longer.

I  can tell you from years in retail, that when shelves get stocked in stores, they put pallets on the sales floor and work the load over night. Things like yogurt, pudding etc often sit out for hours. 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Toss the meat, keep the rest.

The milk will be fine. Technically it doesn’t need to be refrigerated until opened because it is UHT.

[Pen]

I would open and gingerly check a  non shelf stable pudding right away — it will hold unrefrigerated for awhile in a lunchbox—if it seems okay I might offer it for immediate eating up to extent possible and then toss the rest of it. 

If there’s raw fish I would get rid of that. Open Mayonnaise tends to go bad fast.

Anything that looks or smells off, I’d get rid of.  

Everything else I’d keep. 

 I would cook all the raw meat and freeze all you can’t use up soon.  I would also tend to do something cooked with any deli — such as deli meat and melted cheese sandwiches.

Yoghurt and ultra pasteurized milk should be fine.  If the milk is not good it will be obvious from smell, taste, curdling coffee. 

Try to use up delicate vegetables ASAP as they will tend to go bad faster now. Well, everything will tend to go bad faster, but most things are probably still fine now. 

 

 

[Pen]

2 hours ago, marbel said:

You've gotten great advice on the food. Now, think about a thermometer/alarm. We got one when I noticed the freezer that lives in the garage was left open once in a while.  Great peace of mind that we will be alerted if the fridge or freezer gets above a certain temp!

 

Our refrigerator has a built in alarm, but it is very quiet and only sounds for a short time.  

If you have something loud and long, what is it?

 

[marbel]

26 minutes ago, Pen said:

 

Our refrigerator has a built in alarm, but it is very quiet and only sounds for a short time.  

If you have something loud and long, what is it?

 

I don't know what it is. There's no branding on it, no name at all. We bought it several years ago.  The alarm is pretty loud, we can hear it anywhere in the house, though the house is small.  I don't know how long it sounds; we turn it off after a few minutes.

it is similar to this but not this. But I don't even know if ours is made anymore.

https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-Refrigerator-Thermometer-Temperature-Customizable/dp/B004QJVU78

[mmasc]

Ok, so we’ve opened one of the milk jugs and it seemed fine (other than not cold enough to our liking). The kids had that and used some of the butter for breakfast. I also had my coffee creamer. I’m going to clean it all out soon and see what needs to be eaten ASAP for lunch. I’m going to toss the fresh meat. I don’t really like to cook or eat meat anyway, so the idea of cooking it under these circumstances really gives me the 🤢. I know I have spinach that probably needs to be dealt with today. 
 

I wonder if I should toss mayo/creamy salad dressings/etc, OR wait and do the sniff test at each eating?🤔

[mathnerd]

4 hours ago, mmasc said:

 

the milk is way too much to use or cook with today. It’s 3 half-gallons of Fairlife Ultra pasteurized whole milk. 
 

You can make yoghurt from the ultra pasteurized milk (easy to make and a lot easier if you have an InstantPot). And you can make paneer cheese with it if you are up to learning a new recipe! All you need to do it add lemon juice after you boil the milk and then strain it to get the cheese. There are tons of recipes on the internet.

Keep all your veggies. They will be OK at 60 degrees.

[El...]

I would not keep the mayo salads, especially if they involve potatoes.  

I bet the milk will be ok, but not for as long as usual, so maybe cook some as pudding? 

[prairiewindmomma]

Mayo and anything else with egg should go.

[Melissa in Australia]

I would keep everything. The fridge wasn't turned off. It would have been going flat out, covering everything in cold air. 

Personally I would be more cross with the amount of electricity used

[Pen]

2 minutes ago, Melissa in Australia said:

I would keep everything. The fridge wasn't turned off. It would have been going flat out, covering everything in cold air. 

Personally I would be more cross with the amount of electricity used

 

This — except for the mayo.   And I would not keep non shelf stable pudding long.  

Edited May 12, 2020 by Pen

[mmasc]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Mayo and anything else with egg should go.

Possibly dumb question...but does that mean our actual eggs should go too? If so, not a huge loss fortunately...I only have 5. 

[mmasc]

We just opened a new mayo last week. Bummer on that. A new ranch dressing too—the big one. 😢

[Pen]

Just now, mmasc said:

Possibly dumb question...but does that mean our actual eggs should go too? If so, not a huge loss fortunately...I only have 5. 

 

No, actual eggs stay good fine on counter at room temperature for some time.   Plus like milk are quite obvious if they are bad. 

[Melissa in Australia]

I would keep the Mayo no problems. 

[Pen]

 

2 minutes ago, mmasc said:

A new ranch dressing too—the big one. 😢

 

Check ingredients, if it’s just things like olive oil, seasonings and buttermilk solids the dressing may be okay.  

 

The meat, if cooked, should be okay which should be better cost wise than the mayo and dressing

part of problem with mayo, and dressing and pudding is you cannot cook them to use heat to

Kill off any bacteria that could have started. 

[prairiewindmomma]

If you are in Europe or they are farm eggs, I would keep them, but US store bought eggs = pitch.

[sassenach]

3 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

If you are in Europe or they are farm eggs, I would keep them, but US store bought eggs = pitch.

Nah. I've left store bought eggs on the counter with no problem.

But do toss the mayo.

[Tap]

1 hour ago, mmasc said:

Possibly dumb question...but does that mean our actual eggs should go too? If so, not a huge loss fortunately...I only have 5. 

I wouldn't worry about eggs in the shell. They will be fine at that temp for a while. Lots of recipes call for room temp eggs (they whip easier).