84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 11, 1999
Family Living
Focus
by
Adams Co.
Extension Agent
Nina Redding
Refrigerator Talk
With all the fuss about this
New Year’s Eve, my mind quick
ly remembers New Year’s Eve
1976 when I was a teen
I was so excited. That evening
was to be my very first date with
my now husband Russell
Then it happened. The refrig
erator died. Of all the days and
years in a lifetime, why did our
refrigerator have to die mid day
on December 31 9
Let me set the stage We lived
way off a mam road and didn’t
have a close neighbor to borrow
refrigerator space
Who needed a refrigerator
when it was only 20 degrees out
side 9 My mother placed all of
the refrigerator contents in the
mam entranceway of our house
which had a wide cold doorway
with a large stone threshold
between the screen door and the
house
As a sixteen year old, image
was everything. I was so embar
rassed that this boy I was des
perately trying to impress would
have to walk through our make
shift refrigerator. As it turned
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out, Russell eventually found my
house, walked through the
refrigerator and has been
around ever since
Refrigerators play such an
important role in our lives that
many times we don’t stop to give
them a second thought until
something goes wrong.
When’s the last time you
checked your refrigerator’s tem
perature? Consider keeping an
appliance thermometer in both
the refrigerator and freezer at
all times Set your refrigerator
no higher than 40 degrees F. and
the freezer unit at 0 degrees F
Check these temperatures occa
sionally on your appliances ther
mometers.
As a result of thunderstorms,
ice storms and other distur
bances, power outages occur
more often than we would like.
It’s not only an inconvenience,
but a safety issue, particularly
with food. When refrigerators
and freezers lose power, we
worry whether or not the food
will be safe for our families.
Knowing how to handle food
while power is off and when it is
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you and your family do not
become victims of food-borne ill-
ness
If possible, when the power
goes out, try to find out how long
it is expected to be off If only a
few hours, don’t do anything
Open the freezer or refrigerator
door as little as possible so the
unit maintains its chilled tem
perature longer
If the power is off for more
than two hours, you should
begin to monitor the tempera
ture of the refrigerator. Keep the
thermometer close to the door
opening. This will allow you to
open the door slightly and keep
the temperature lower. Check
the temperature each hour.
When it reaches 40 degrees F.
you will need to take action to
keep the temperature from ris
ing. Place block ice in a contain
er in the refrigerator. You may
also consider placing perishable
items in a cooler with ice or ice
packs placed around them.
If the temperature of the
refrigerator rises above 40
degrees F. for more than two
hours, you will need to discard
these perishable foods: meat,
poultry, seafood, cold cuts, hot
dogs, casseroles, soft cheeses,
shredded cheeses, low-fat
cheeses, cream, sour cream,
yogurt, milk, eggs, custards,
pudding, creamy salad dress
ings, fish sauces, opened
spaghetti sauce, cookie dough,
refrigerator biscuits or rolls,
cooked pasta, rice, pasta salads,
pizza, cut fresh fruit, greens,
cooked vegetables, opened veg
etable juices, baked or mashed
potatoes and potato salad. Any
food that has an unusual odor.
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color or texture should also be
discarded Never taste foods to
determine their safety
Foods that are safe, even if
held at 40 degrees F. or above for
more than two hours include
hard cheeses, processed cheeses
that are carefully wrapped, grat
ed Parmesan and Romano
cheeses, margarine that is prop
erly wrapped, canned or uncut
fresh fruit and fruit juices (but
discard if they look, feel, smell or
taste unusual), fresh vegetables,
canned vegetables, herbs, spices,
peanut butter, jelly, relish, taco,
barbecue or soy sauce, mustard,
ketchup, olives, breads, rolls,
cakes, muffins, bagels, pancakes,
waffles, opened jars of mayon
naise, tartar sauce or horserad
ish (unless held at 50 degrees F.
for more than 8 hours) then
throw them away.
A full freezer will remain
below 40 degrees F. for about
two days, and a less-than-full
freezer will maintain that tem
perature for approximately one
day. Rearrange meats to avoid
meat juices dripping onto other
foods as the meats begin to thaw.
Throw away any ready-to-eat
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item that comes in contact with
meat juices
Frozen foods that have par
tially or completely thawed can
be refrozen if they contain ice
crystals If they have completely
thawed, but are still at a tem
perature of 40 degrees F or
below, they can also be refrozen
Use a meat thermometer to
check the temperature of the
food. Although partial thawing
and refreezing of these foods will
be safe, the quality of some
foods, especially vegetables and
fruits may be reduced. Hard
cheeses, breads, fruits, and veg
etables and their juices, as long
as they look, smell and taste
normal, can be refrozen even if
above 40 degrees F. for more
than two hours.
One way to ensure the safety
of meat products that have
thawed, but are above 40
degrees for two hours or less, is
to cook them immediately.
Either serve the food immedi
ately or refreeze the cooked
item. Be sure to cook to the prop
er temperatures, checking inter
nal temperatures with a meat
thermometer. Refrigerate and
use within two days or freeze
leftovers immediately
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