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Power outage -fridge/freezer safety?


Kanin
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We've been without power for about 14 hours. The CDC website says food in the fridge is only safe for 4 hours. It really warms up that fast? Eek!

Do I have to throw away fruits and veggies, cheese... or just meat/eggs?

CDC says 48 hours for a full fridge, and 24 for a half-full fridge. I'm not sure how full mine is...

Wah! I hate not having power. Small problem, I know...

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Did you lose it in the storm? Man that was big one! The wind was roaring here all night, I can't believe our power didn't go out (just lots of light flickering) and that trees didn't crash through our roof. 

Given that your house is probably cool (I hope you have a stove?), I would only throw out any meat, maybe eggs if the outage lasts another day or two (though smell them, ofc).

I hope you're safe and warm!

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1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Did you lose it in the storm? Man that was big one! The wind was roaring here all night, I can't believe our power didn't go out (just lots of light flickering) and that trees didn't crash through our roof. 

Given that your house is probably cool (I hope you have a stove?), I would only throw out any meat, maybe eggs if the outage lasts another day or two (though smell them, ofc).

I hope you're safe and warm!

Thanks! Yes, lost it last night. The wind was so strong and the snow is soo heavy. 

No stove. Eek! I have a friend that has the teeniest wood stove. I'd like to get something like that, someday.

Power set to return at 2, fingers crossed!!

 

 

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I hate the power going out. I'm glad that it shouldn't last too much longer. I put food on the porch when it's colder outside than inside the fridge. or in a cooler with the frozen food from the freezer. Then cook up all the food that thawed from the freezer. It's a pain. 

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4 minutes ago, KSera said:

If the eggs were unwashed farm eggs, I would keep them. Super market eggs probably not. 

We routinely leave supermarket eggs on the counter for 24 hours, and have yet to get sick. I realize that is probably against all food safety advice, but it works for us. We like to have eggs for breakfast, and prefer the way they cook if they are at room temperature. So every day we cook the ones on the counter and get out eggs for the next day.

And yes, farm eggs can be kept...much longer in such conditions.
 

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17 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Thanks - me too! Just bought a dozen eggs on Sunday 😒

 

8 minutes ago, KSera said:

If the eggs were unwashed farm eggs, I would keep them. Super market eggs probably not. 

Our Trader Joe’s and Costco eggs stay outside and the only issue we had was Costco eggs turning greenish if they were not used after a few weeks.

ETA: it is 68 degrees here indoors so probably warmer than where you are.

Edited by Arcadia
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We had a 9 hour outage due to a storm recently.  I did some research to see what we could keep from the fridge.  It wasn’t much.  You can keep uncut fruit, things that are acidic/vinegar based, like ketchup, pickles, etc., and things high in sugar, like jelly.  Surprisingly, you can keep butter/margarine, but no other dairy.  
 

It was hard to throw out a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk.  On the bright side, I cleaned out all the old leftovers and things hiding in the back of the fridge.

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Just now, athena1277 said:

It was hard to throw out a dozen eggs and a gallon of milk.  On the bright side, I cleaned out all the old leftovers and things hiding in the back of the fridge.

It's been.... more than a while since I've cleaned out the fridge. I guess today's the day!

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28 minutes ago, Kanin said:

Thanks! Yes, lost it last night. The wind was so strong and the snow is soo heavy. 

No stove. Eek! I have a friend that has the teeniest wood stove. I'd like to get something like that, someday.

Power set to return at 2, fingers crossed!!

 

 

If you want to drive down here you can borrow our generator! 
 

I’m slammed with work or I’d offer to drive it up to you. 

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1 minute ago, Kanin said:

Aww, thanks!! That's such a nice offer. We'll be OK now. Thank you though!! ❤️ 

Any time! Honestly. 

I know it’s weird and melty out but I’d bet the eggs would be fine nestled in the snow. Or just on the counter, like others have said. 

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For the things that I know I can check if they went bad, then I checked (i.e. milk). Non-checkable things I erred on the side of caution. High sodium/sugar sauces (soy sauce, siracha, jam) I think are OK, but not ranch/mayonnaise kinds of sauces. 

I'm so sorry. We've had to throw out a bunch of stuff in our fridge/freezer a few years back when we had power outage for a few days.

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