Losing your power isn’t fun, but losing a fridge full of food — well, sucks. I’ve thrown food away during an outage and it’s like throwing away money. The first few times I didn’t have a plan, but I learned from those experiences and wanted to share.
How long can a refrigerator last without power? An un-opened refrigerator will last no more than 4 hours. A half-full freezer will last around 24 hours and a fully packed freezer can last 48 hours. Opening the refrigerator or freezer during that time will impact the longevity.
We’ve collected some important information in this article with respect to food safety and some hacks you can implement to better prepare for your next power outage. Give us a few minutes of your time and we can likely save you a couple hundred dollars during your next power outage.
Spoiler Alert!
Hate to spoil the news — food spoils! I’ve overheard people say their new refrigerator is high-efficiency so they don’t need to worry about food spoilage. Not so fast Mr. Fancy Pants! Keep in mind, refrigerators run on electricity. The seal on your refrigerator, regardless of age, will work to keep the cold inside, but not forever. My first piece of advice, like
Secondly, you need to figure out if this is an isolated outage by checking your electric panel. Or, check with neighbors and the electric company to see if you’ll be without power longer. For shorter outages, just maintain the fridge temperature by not opening it. You’re likely to get power back before you have a problem.
How Much Money Could I Really Lose?
Good question. I was curious about the same thing and I found an interesting article in the Chicago Tribune that suggested it was $247.03. There you go! I don’t know about you, but I’m not throwing away that much money of I don’t have to.
So, what’s the plan?
Take Inventory
Easier said than done, but try to do this without opening the fridge. Think about what’s in the fridge and what’s likely to spoil. For longer outages, use this info to make an meal plan. I’d rather eat the leftover meatloaf than throw it away. Ma! The meatloaf! (leave a comment below if you can name the movie that’s from). Try to list out the next 2-3 meals you can make with the items you remember.
Some would argue this point and say just leave the fridge closed. I get it, but realistically someone is going to open the door. If you have kids, forget about it. They’ll go looking for food and stand there with the door open for five minutes while the cold air escapes. I can’t have the only kids that
Personally, I’m inclined to take action after a period of time without power. Usually, after 45 min – 1hr I’m beginning to get concerned about rising temperatures. If this is an outage during the summertime and the temperature inside your home begins to increase that will drastically impact your refrigerator.
Onward!
How Long Does Food Last?
Foodsafety.gov has well-established standards and has the best recommendations on what to look for. Your refrigerator is typically running at 35°F and “The Danger Zone” according to The Food Safety and Inspection Service is at 40°F. Why? FSIS says because bacteria can grow rapidly in temperatures between 40°F and 140°F, doubling in number just 20 minutes.
Keep in mind you’ll need to open the fridge to see what the temperature is. So, for all those “KEEP THE FRIDGE CLOSED” extremists — chill out bro!
You can’t check the temperature of the fridge without opening the door — or, can you? More on that later.
It’s a good idea to keep a thermometer in each refrigerator. If you don’t have one you can grab them online for less than $10. Some digital versions are a little more expensive, but having one manual thermometer is a good idea.
Category | Types of Food | Has this item been at 40°F for over 2 hours? |
|---|---|---|
MEAT, POULTRY, SEAFOOD | Raw or leftover cooked meat, poultry, fish, or seafood; soy meat substitutes | Throw Away |
Meat or poultry that is still thawing | Throw Away |
|
Salads: Meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken, or egg salad | Throw Away |
|
Gravy, stuffing, broth | Throw Away |
|
Lunchmeats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage, dried beef | Throw Away |
|
Pizza – with any topping | Throw Away |
|
Canned hams labeled "Keep Refrigerated" | Throw Away |
|
Canned meats and fish, opened | Throw Away |
|
Casseroles, soups, stews | Throw Away |
|
CHEESE | Soft Cheeses: blue/bleu, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, Edam, Monterey Jack, ricotta, mozzarella, Muenster, Neufchatel, queso blanco, queso fresco | Throw Away |
Hard Cheeses: Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano | Okay |
|
Processed Cheeses | Okay |
|
Shredded Cheeses | Throw Away |
|
Low-fat Cheeses | Throw Away |
|
Grated Parmesan, Romano, or combination (in can or jar) | Okay |
|
DAIRY | Milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, evaporated milk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk | Throw Away |
Butter, margarine | Okay |
|
Baby formula, opened | Throw Away |
|
EGGS | Fresh eggs, hard-cooked in shell, egg dishes, egg products | Throw Away |
Custards and puddings, quiche | Throw Away |
|
FRUITS | Fresh fruits, cut | Throw Away |
Fruit juices, opened | Okay |
|
Canned fruits, opened | Okay |
|
Fresh fruits, coconut, raisins, dried fruits, candied fruits, dates | Okay |
|
SAUCES & SPREADS | Opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish | Discard if above 50 °F for over 8 hrs. |
Peanut butter | Okay |
|
Relishes, pickles, olives, jellies, jams, taco sause, catsup, mustard | Okay |
|
Barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sause and soy sauce | Okay |
|
Fish sauces, oyster sauce | Throw Away |
|
Opened vinegar-based dressings | Okay |
|
Opened creamy-based dressings | Throw Away |
|
Previously opened spaghetti sauce | Throw Away |
|
BREAD, PASTA, GRAINS, CAKES, COOKIES | Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, quick breads, tortillas | Okay |
Refrigerator biscuits, rolls, cookie dough | Throw Away |
|
Cooked pasta, rice, potatoes | Throw Away |
|
Pasta salads with mayonnaise or other dressings | Throw Away |
|
Fresh pasta | Throw Away |
|
Cheesecake | Throw Away |
|
Waffles, pancakes, bagels | Okay |
|
PIES, PASTRY | Cream-filled pastries | Throw Away |
Pies that are have: cheese filling or custard. Includes quiche. | Throw Away |
|
Fruit pies | Okay |
|
VEGETABLES | Fresh mushrooms, fresh herbs, fresh spices | Okay |
Packaged greens (either: pre-washed / pre-cut) | Throw Away |
|
Raw vegetables | Okay |
|
Cooked vegetables -- including tofu | Throw Away |
|
Opened vegetable juice | Throw Away |
|
Baked potatoes | Throw Away |
|
Garlic mixed with oil | Throw Away |
|
Pasta salad, potato salad, egg salad, and other premade salads with mayonaise and/or salad dressing | Throw Away |
|
Stews, soups, and casseroles | Throw Away |
|
| Adapted from: Foodsafety.gov NOTE: This list does not take place over good judgement. If it doesn't look or smell right, throw it away. |
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What About Breast Milk?
Don’t get between mama and her milk. Want to see SHTF? I don’t! Keeping breast milk at temperature is critical. It took a great deal of effort to get it, so preserving it is paramount.
According to the Mayo Clinic your breast milk can sit at room temperature for up to six hours, though they feel four hours is optimal. If the room is very warm then you’re limited to four hours.
You can transfer the milk to a well-insulated cooler where is can stay for up to one day.
- Insulated cooler. Freshly expressed breast milk can be stored in an insulated cooler with ice packs for up to one day.
- Refrigerator. Freshly expressed breast milk can be stored in the back of the refrigerator for up to five days in clean conditions. However, use or freezer storage within three days is optimal.
- Deep freezer. Freshly expressed breast milk can be stored in the back of a deep freezer for up to 12 months. However, using the frozen milk within six months is optimal.
In our research we found a number of tests to ensure your milk is good:
- Taste it. If it takes sour, toss it.
- Smell it. If you’ve ever smelled spoiled milk there won’t be too much of a difference with breast milk. If it smells foul, toss it.
- Swirl it. Try to mix the layers. If you can’t, then it is likely bad.
Recommendations / Ideas:
Hopefully you have at least one good cooler on hand. If not, grab a medium to large size cooler (in quarts that would be roughly 36 – 99 quarts). The cooler will be the main place to begin storing your essentials.
One winter we lost power and I ended up filling pasta pots and large bowls with snow. We put the snow filled pots in the refrigerator to maintain the temperature. While it didn’t last forever, we were able to keep a number of things in the refrigerator well past the four-hour mark.
Here are some other things to keep in mind to keep food cold without power. These tips are useful when you have been warned of an impending storm where an outage is likely.
- Make ice like there’s no tomorrow. Ice will help you keep your food cold and if contained properly — it melts into drinkable water.Dump your ice trays into ziplock bags and let the refrigerator make more.
- Fill zip lock bags with water and lay them flat in the freezer so you can stack them. These make great ice-packs and when they melt use the water for hydration, cooking, and more.
- Polar Bear Tubes. These have been bouncing around for a while. These homemade ice tubes are generally made to fit in your freezer and your coolers. They’re made from 2″ PVC pipe with capped ends. They’re filled 90% with water and capped on the other end. Once frozen, they make great portable ice packs. Keeping them in your feezer helps maintain the temperature in the event of a power loss.
CAUTION: If you’re transferring raw meat into a cooler. Make sure any ziplock ice packs are above the meat. You don’t want cross contamination problems when you want to drink the melted ice packs later. Consider protecting those ziplock icepacks in garbage bags so thawing meet doesn’t drip onto anything.
How to know if you lost power while away from your home:
- Freeze a small cup of ice in your freezer. Place a nickel on top of the frozen water. Splash some water on the nickel so it will freeze to the top. If you return from vacation and the nickel is slightly below the surface — or, even at the bottom of the cup — you’ll know you lost power while you were away. Though your food may be frozen — it likely thawed then refroze. Now, you know your food is bad.
- Blinking alarm clocks
- Check with neighbors
Conclusion
Losing power can cause many inconveniences, but it can also be very costly. While we haven’t talked about generators yet, consider the cost of a generator compared to the $247.03 I mentioned earlier. It only takes two outages to justify a nice generator. Until then, consider some general preparation with what you have in your home. Coolers, ziplock bags, even trash bags. Fill them with water and freeze them. You won’t regret having ice on hand to keep your food safe, but it will also turn into
Good luck. Be safe.
