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11 Tips for Keeping Food Safe When the Power Goes Out

Avatar for Gaye Levy Gaye Levy  |  Updated: November 24, 2020
11 Tips for Keeping Food Safe When the Power Goes Out

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A couple of years back, 600 million people in India were without power for two days.  It was not only lights out – but lights out for half of the population. Can you imagine the chaos?

More recently, there have been significant power outages in North America. In late October 2012,  Hurricane Sandy brought high winds and coastal flooding to a large portion of the eastern United States, leaving an estimated 8 million customers without power.  Not quite as bad but serious none-the-less, the ice storms of December 2013 cumulatively left over 1 million people without power.

11 Tips for Keeping Food Safe When the Power Goes Out | Backdoor Survival

When the power goes out (commonly called “grid down”), so do transportation systems, manufacturing systems, communications systems and of course, household systems. And what about those household systems?  The first thing that comes to mind is heating and cooling when the temperate drops to below freezing or the heat swelters to 90 degrees Fahrenheit with 80% humidity.

Personal comfort aside, there is a big issue with our dependence on refrigeration in keeping food safe.  In recent weeks, I have been asked about food safety when the grid is down.  One of the more specific questions has been “what is safe to eat after thawing and being re-frozen following a power outage?”.

I can not say that I am an expert on the subject but I can share some guidelines to follow when the power grid goes down for more than a few hours.

Keeping Food Safe When the Power Goes Out

1.  Place appliance thermometers in both the refrigerator and the freezer. After a power outage, check the temperature to determine whether your food is still safe to consume.  Safe temperatures are 40°F or lower in the refrigerator, 0°F or lower in the freezer.

2.  Keep your freezer as full as possible.  Fill empty juice or milk jugs with water and keep them in the freezer (unless you need the space for food, of course).  If the power grid goes down, you can use these frozen blocks of ice to maintain the cold temperature in your refrigerator and/or to keep the temperature in your freezer colder for a longer period.  A full freezer will hold its temperature for about 48 hours but only 24 hours if half-full.

3.  Place ice cubes in zipper type bags and place them in the freezer.  Later, if the power goes out, keep the freezer door closed.  When the power is restored, leave the freezer door closed long enough for it to go back to its normal, freezing temperature.  If the ice cubes have melted into a bag of solid ice, you will know that everything in the freezer thawed and is likely unsafe.

4.  Have a minimum of a week’s supply of ready-to-eat food that does not require cooking or refrigeration after being opened.

5.  Do not open the refrigerator and freezer doors unnecessarily.  Take out what you need quickly then close the doors and keep them closed.  A refrigerator will keep food cold for four to six hours if the door is kept closed.

6.  Have coolers on hand that can be used to store the refrigerated foods that you think you will need for the short term.  Use the frozen jugs of ice from your freezer to keep the food in your cooler cold.  This will mitigate having to open and close the refrigerator door unnecessarily.

7.  The following foods are generally safe to store at room temperature for a few days.  Even if they are normally kept in the refrigerator, they will be safe to consume even if the power is out for 1 or 2 days.

• Butter and margarine
• Hard cheeses (such as Cheddar, Swiss)
• Fresh fruits and vegetables
• Fruit juices
• Opened jars of salad dressing, peanut butter, jelly, relish, barbecue sauce
• Mustard, ketchup, and olives

8.  When the power comes back, check the temperature inside of your refrigerator and freezer. Discard perishable food that has been above 40°F for two hours or more.  Definitely discard the following:

• Raw or cooked meat, poultry, seafood
• Meat-topped pizza, lunchmeat
• Casseroles, stews or soups
• Milk/cream, yogurt, soft cheese (such as feta and Brie)
• Mayonnaise, tartar sauce, or creamy dressings
• Cooked pasta, potato, rice and salads prepared from these foods
• Fresh eggs, egg substitutes

9.  Check each item separately. Throw out any food that has an unusual odor, color, or texture, or feels warm to the touch.  With frozen food, check for ice crystals. The food in your freezer that partially or completely thawed may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is 40°F or below.

10.  Frozen foods that have been partially defrosted during an outage should be cooked or reheated to a minimum temperature of 160 degrees.

11.  When in doubt, dump it.  And never, ever taste food to determine whether it is safe to eat.

Food Safety Reference Charts

There are a number of food safety charts available at the FoodSafety.gov website.  These charts can be used as a guide when determining whether your food is safe to eat following an outage.  For some people, the charts may be on the conservative side – this is the US Government, after all – so there may be some individual instances where food may be safer for a period longer than shown, depending on how cold your refrigerator or freezer was to begin with.

You need to be mindful of your own comfort level.  In my own household, if the temperature goes above 36-38°F for any period of time – even 30 minutes – out it goes.  Your mileage may vary.

What to Eat When the Power Goes Out?

This is where your preps come into play.  Canned goods, packaged goods and other items that do not require cooking are obvious. But beyond that, having a simple rocket stove or other outdoor cooking devices can save the day.  Even if the only thing you do is boil water, having some way to heat your soup or activate some of your freeze-dried food will be a godsend.  This is especially true if the power is out for days which calls attention to the question:  do you have at least three days worth of food that does not require heating or cooking of any type?

The Final Word

Those who live off grid, including those who live in RVs and boats, typically rely on solar or generator power for their AC needs.  Many also rely on propane to fuel their refrigerators and freezers.

For the rest of us, our reliance on electricity to keep our food safe is huge. Sure you can purchase insurance to cover any food loss following an outage, but like the gift that keeps on giving, a claim will likely result in increased premiums for years to come and who wants that?

The best time to prepare for an off-grid emergency is now, while the power is still on.  A low-cost investment in freezer and refrigerator thermometers plus taking the time to store some frozen jugs of water may make the difference between having a full freezer and refrigerator of food or a dumpster full of smelly, spoiled and unsafe food.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

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Bargain Bin: Below are some items that will help you prepare for a power outage.

Taylor Freezer-Refrigerator Thermometer:  This no-frills thermometer is the one I use.  At this price, there really is no reason not to monitor the temperature inside you refrigeration appliances.  You will be surprised at how quickly the temperature rises when the door is left open for just a few minutes.

Wireless Refrigerator/Freezer Thermometer: A wireless thermometer will allow you to easily monitor freezer and refrigerator temperatures without opening the doors.

Ultra Bright LED Lantern – Collapsible:  This popular lantern uses 30 different LEDS and is powered by 3 AA batteries, including rechargeables.  Instead of a switch, you turn it on by extending the lantern from its collapsed condition.  With a lifetime warranty and over 1,350 close to perfect ratings, I can see why this is popular.  I love mine!

Coleman Candle Lantern: When the lights go out, there is nothing like a Coleman.  They last forever because spare parts are always available.  A candle lantern will not give out the bright light of say, a propane or kerosene lantern.  On the other hand, candles are like to be available when other fuels are not.

Solo Stove:  I was so impressed that I renamed this the “Amazing Little Solo Stove”.

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A Practical Guide to Storing Food For the Long Term
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When most people start thinking about family preparedness, they focus on food. Not shelter, gear, sanitation, power, self-defense or the myriad of other concerns that need to be addressed following an emergency or disaster situation. Quite simply, food is the number one concern people have second only to their concern for having an adequate supply of water.

The Prepper’s Guide to Food Storage is a book about food: What to store, how to store it and best practices. It is a roadmap for showing ordinary citizens that long-term food storage is not something that will overwhelm or burden the family budget.

This book is based upon my own tried and true personal experience as someone who has learned to live the preparedness lifestyle by approaching emergency preparedness and planning in a systematic, step-by-step manner. Nothing scary and nothing overwhelming - you really can do this!

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35 Responses to “11 Tips for Keeping Food Safe When the Power Goes Out”

  1. I like your tip to put thermometers in the refrigerator and freezer during a power outage. My brother has some things he would like delivered but they need to be refrigerated. Hopefully, the delivery service he finds doesn’t ever have the power go out.

  2. It really helped when you suggested putting the water or any type of liquid in the freezer to use them as ice when the power is out. I guess I will be doing this tip since our location usually has power outages when heavy rainfall strikes. We just needed to be ready when our restaurant is open in the future. We will be serving Mexican chorizo meals, so we need to make sure that the meat that we will be ordering will stay in good condition.

  3. I like your idea to have coolers on hand that can be used to store the refrigerated food that you will need for the short term. My husband really wants our house to be emergency ready in case anything serious happens in the next few years. It’s so important to be ready for anything, especially something like a power failure, since that can have such a large effect on every day life. https://safelumin.com/product/

  4. Who knew that a closed fridge can keep food cold for 4-6 hours! The power keeps going off in my home but my neighbors don’t have the issue. I need to find an electrician ASAP.

    //www.abcelectric.net/our-services

  5. Power outages are an extremely important topic for this increasing problem happening across the U.S.

    According to this article, //www.mixedcrafts.com/long-will-refrigerated-food-last-power-outage/ there are more and more power outages due to a ever-degrading power grid. An old system, along with a constantly growing population create a high demand on our nation’s power infrastructure.

    One thing that my family does is keep frozen water bottles and old, plastic milk containers filled with water and stored in the freezer. If the power were ever to go out, the first thing we do is transfer those water bottles and milk jugs to the refrigerator to lengthen the time the food will remain in its edible and safe temperature range.

    I really enjoyed this article and especially enjoyed your extensive lists 🙂

    Keep the posts coming Gaye!

  6. There have been a lot of storms and winter storm warnings in my area this week, so I’m a little worried that the power might go out if the weather gets bad enough. I really like your tip about keeping a week’s worth of food in the house that doesn’t need to be cooked or refrigerated. However, I don’t think there is enough room in my freezer for jugs of water. If the power is out for more than a day, it might be easier to have ice delivered to my house.

  7. Eggs are safe to eat if they get above 40. You just need to cook them above the 165.
    On submarines we would store eggs in the bilge temps would vary from 50-70 and the eggs would keep for months

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