Why is there a cup of ice with a penny in my freezer? Because I don't like throwing food away unless it is really necessary. What does that have to do with penny in a cup? Well, when the food thaws, so does the ice in that cup and the penny sinks. After the freezer recovers from a power outage, I just have to check the level of that penny in the cup to see if the contents in my freezer thawed enough to toss or if it staid pretty well frozen and I can keep it.
So, lets say I check the freezer and that penny is at the bottom of the cup. That means items in the freezer thawed and now I have to throw food away, but not necessarily all of my food. Check this list out to see what you can save:
Refreeze
- Hard cheeses such as cheddar, swiss, and parmesian
- Fruit juices and packaged fruit (home or store packed) - if you notice any mold, slime, or yeast smell, go ahead and toss it.
- Veggie juices and packaged vegetables (home or store packed) - unless they have been thawed for more than 8 hours.
- Flour
- Cornmeal
- Nuts
- Pie crusts
- Rolls, muffins, and cakes that do not contain soft dairy fillings (like custard or cream filling)
- Bread dough (it won't hurt you, but there will be some quality loss)
Discard
- Meat and any frozen prepared foods that contain meat
- Dairy including milk, ice cream, and frozen yogurt
- Soft and semi soft cheeses such as cream cheese and ricotta
- Out-of-shell eggs and egg products
- Cheesecake
- Cakes, pies, and pastries with custard, cheese filling, or other dairy filling
Well! How ingenious! Thanks!
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