How Many Hours Will Food Last In Fridge When Power Goes Out??

[orleans]

we lost power yesterday for 8 hours.

the fridge was opened twice when power first went off (to grab the milk and return it)

the freezer was opened twice

i did not have a thermometer to check what the temp was.

anyone have something similar happen and what did you do?

i'm wondering if i should throw out everything in the fridge?

[Richard D]

1. Unless the food in the freezer . . .

. . . actually melted, you should be OK. I've often turned my fridge off at night. Food is still cold in the AM. Of course if it doesn't pass the sniff test, or you have doubt, throw it out. Food is cheaper than food poisoning.

[mucifer]

2. this is what google is made for

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Keeping_Food_Safe_During_an_Emergency/index.asp

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/poweroutage/needtoknow.asp

[Gormy Cuss]

14. +1

The USDA guidelines are conservative and detailed. It's what I've relied on when my power was out.

[Stinky The Clown]

3. Left unopened, food should last 24 hours

Having opened it quickly as you imply you did, it should still be perfectly good at 8 hours.

[Kaleva]

4. Depends

A full fridge and freezer will stay colder longer then a near empty one as the food and drinks inside the applince will help keep the temperature down for awhile. It takes alot of BTUHs to get a liquid to change state (from solid ice to liquid). A newer appliance is better insulated then an older one and thus it'll take longer for the inside of the appliance to reach ambient temperature. Another factor is the temperature difference between outside of the appliance and the inside. The greater the difference, the greater the heat transfer.

[vadawg]

6. what he said n/t

[Kaleva]

9. One can place containers of ice in the fridge

It takes alot more heat to raise the temp of ice enough so it changes state (become water) then it does to raise the temp. of a liquid the same number of degrees.

[kestrel91316]

13. That's interesting. Smartypants.

:P

[sweettater]

8. That was a very

informative and NICE reply. :applause:

[Kaleva]

10. I stayed at a Holiday Inn last week.

:-)

[ananda]

5. If you leave the doors closed, a long time.

nt

[ejpoeta]

7. should be ok as long as you try not to open it. you only did it twice, it should be fine.

our electricity goes out from time to time, though not that much. and we have had it go out for several hours. it was winter, though, so i don't know if that changes anything. we pretty much only opened the fridge once or twice throughout the time the power was out. everything in the fridge was perfectly fine.

[KansDem]

11. Invite me over and I'll check it for you...

I'm a whiz at determining if oysters on the half shell, fillet mignon, roasted mushrooms with asparagus and parmesan cheese, bottles of Chianti, to name a few, are still edible.

Oh, and I'll be happy to test your single-malt scotch, too! :hi:

on edit: spelling...

[Billy Burnett]

12. Put blankets over it.

If you have one of those silver foil thermal blankets use that.

I've done this many times and it helps. I live in S Florida and have managed many power outages because of hurricane hits.