Power outage

Lifestyle Parenting, Household Affairs and Cuisine corner
1

So if you’ve had a power outage, how do you know what food had spoiled and what can still be consumed.

Do you just use the “looks gross” or “smells gross” test?

Other than that, are there certain deadlines for certain foods and veggies?

2.5 days without power. Do I have to throw all this food away? :crying:

2

Re: Power outage

The looks gross or smells gross test usually works fine.

3

Re: Power outage

Sahar ji are you in pakistan?:D

4

Re: Power outage

Alas no, ninja. Bad storms in the US, and most of us don't own generators. :p

5

Re: Power outage

oh i heard about that power outage....

you people are not ready for such problems...

I think smell,taste and looks are basic tests to check quality of food...

6

Re: Power outage

the rule of the thumb is...if the power is out for more than 24 hours, you have to toss everything out in the garbage...especially meat! the deep freezer keeps things cooler for even a longer period of time...like 36 hours...make sure freezer/deep freezer door is NOT opened at all. milk etc should be discarded even after 10-15 hours of power outage.

7

Re: Power outage

Ji baqiya unglion ke bhi rules bataa dijiye....

I think vegetables ko agar khule me rakha jaye to zyada der tak chal jaati hain...........

8

Re: Power outage

24hrslater my parents got power, so we brought meat and dairy to their house. Things still seemed cool. Some meat from freezer was still solid, the rest was definitely cold.

9

Re: Power outage


GS pe waqtan-fa-waqtan 8 rules of fingers aur 2 **rules of thumbs pahle hii bataa chukaa huN...ab **rules of toes bataanaa rah gayaa hai!@ :D

10

Re: Power outage

well i think both works, moreover i dont use food after two days :(

11

Re: Power outage

It was really hot and I had my sister throw away all the food in the fridge because she didn't have power of 2 days.

The freezer things has not gone bad.

12

Re: Power outage

We go through long power outages, once every 2 years or so. In our case, wife does not taste/smell test in cooked food. Everything gets dumped after 36-48 hours.

Frozen raw meat lasts longer usually and unless its fully thawed, its good to keep.

13

Re: Power outage

If you didnt open the freezer and it was fully packed, things can stay fine for 24-48 hours!

Refrigerator.. cooked food/dairy etc shall be discarded if it's out of temp for more than 4 hours (that is food safety rule)!

14

Re: Power outage

When we had a 5 day power outage,it was bitter cold.Everything in the fridge was thrown out,even if it was smelling fine,
Stuff in the freezer was frozen.I did throw out stuff like nuggets and kababs because I just was not too sure.Raw meat I kept.

Another outage which was for 3 days,was when it was not as hot as is now but everything in the fridge still was thrown out(milk,eggs,yogurt,leftover food etc).Freezer foods (meat especially) was frozen till the end of day 3 so it was kept.

The key was that we did not open the freezer even once in all those days so it acted like a vacuum sealed box and prevented early defrosting and thawing of stuff.

15

Re: Power outage

what about fruits? veggies? eggs (Ammi keeps saying these are kept out in Pak and don't go bad -- is that true?)?

16

Yes what is average temperature at your place?
If veggies get plenty of air it does not decay fast!

17

Re: Power outage

Yes, the food and veggies were fine. When the AC is on we keep it around 72-75. But it's been 100+F in the past few days. The house has been at 85+F without any AC. But all those items were in the fridge and still seemed cool.

18

Re: Power outage

Depends on the fruit/veggie.Like if it were apples,they would have been fine.If it was cut up water melon or strawberries,not so much..!