We are so grateful for the rain we have received (and continue to receive) here lately!! Unfortunately, sometimes rain can bring along hail, damaging winds and power outages. It is important to keep food safety in mind with your refrigerators and freezers during down times. In general, the best offense is a good defense!
Be prepared by hanging a thermometer in your refrigerator, knowing where you can purchase dry ice and keeping a few days of ready-to-eat foods that do not depend on heating or cooling, which depend on electricity.
When the power goes out, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. Refrigerators will keep food cold for about 4 hours if the door is unopened. Proper food storage requires refrigerators be kept at 40′ F or below.
Once the power is restored, check the temperatures inside both your refrigerator and freezer. If an appliance thermometer was kept inside the refrigerator, confirm the temperature reads less than 40′ F. If this is the case, the food is safe and may be kept. If you do not have a thermometer in the appliance, all food packages must be checked individually. You cannot rely on appearance or odor to determine whether the food is safe to keep. If the food still contains ice crystals or is less than 40′ F it is safe to refreeze or cook. Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs or leftovers) that has been above 40′ F for two hours or more.
For additional information, check out the Kansas State University Food Safety Page:
http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/FoodSafety/p.aspx?tabid=20
