Weather is unpredictable, but a little pre-planning may help keep our food safe to eat if the power should go out. Take the guess work out of food safety and purchase both refrigerator and freezer thermometers.
USDA gives us tips to help us figure out if our food is safe to eat if the power goes out.
First, keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer tells us the temperature inside our refrigerator and freezer. At all times, your freezer should be at 0°F or below and the refrigerator at 40°F or below.
Refrigerators and freezers keep their best temperature when they are full. If your refrigerator and freezer are only half filled, then add containers of water. This saves energy and will help keep your refrigerator and freezer a constant temperature. You may also buy or make and store ice in the freezer.
Next, have coolers on hand to keep refrigerated food cold if the power will be out for longer than four hours. In the freezer, quickly group food together — this helps the food stay frozen longer.
Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. The refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.
When the power goes back on, throw out any refrigerated food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.
Foods in the freezer may be safely refrozen if they contain ice crystals or are 40°F. Check their temperatures with a calibrated food thermometer to be sure.
For those readers who have campers or cabins and are unsure if their freezer went out while they were away, here is a great tip. Simply place three ice cubes in a plastic bag and place in freezer. If you return to refrozen melted ice, that means your freezer went off while you were away.
When in doubt, throw it out!
Pre planning may help reduce the hardship of a power outage. Follow these tips to help the situation.
Here is a great recipe that uses lentils as a protein source. Lentils are reasonably priced and last a long time on the shelf.
Lentil Vegetable Salad
½ cup lentils, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
4 cups mixed spring greens
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups of your favorite chopped vegetables
Freshly ground pepper and salt to taste
Place lentils in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and add bay leaf. Simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes or until tender. Drain, discard bay leaf and reserve.
Divide mixed greens evenly among four salad plates.
Top with seasoned lentils. Drizzle olive oil over top. Add favorite chopped vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots and or red cabbage.
Enjoy!
