how long will frozen food last after power outage

[raggie33]

my freezer is pretty full i put a few tuper ware containers in there about 3 gallons a pieace then i fill them with grocieres cause if i dont they fall out when i opne door alos have a box with groceries in there to .i belive i have it as full as i can get cause i assume ya have to have airflow id guess its 85% full.biglots has a cheap thermonter with a wire on it for 5.99 but ill have to wait a bit to get it.lol now instead of happy fun when lights go out ill think dollor signs lol

 

[TPA]

Dry ice is the way to go... you can easily preserve food for a week (or more) with a 5 lb chunk of dry ice in the freezer. VERY handy in hurricane country. Publix grocery stores usually have dry ice in stock and most people never think about it, grabbing the regular ice (useless) instead.

 

[eluminator]

I think you guys are nuts. Has anyone seen a remote temperature sensor fail in a freezer, or is this just speculation?

An outdoor thermometer wouldn't have much value around here if it failed to work at such temperatures. When the temperature falls below zero Fahrenheit is when it starts to get interesting.

Alkalines have a lot less capacity at zero degrees but I'd think they should be easily able to power the temperature sensor. My remote sensor has run for over 2 years on the original AAA cells. It can't be drawing much power.

An alkaline cell freezing in a freezer seems even more far-fetched. I'm sure the flashlights in my car have experienced lower temperatures than you would find in a freezer. If they've ever frozen, it didn't seem to do them any damage.

 

[2dim]

Dry ice MUST be handled with gloves, to avoid 'burns'. Carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air, so wrap it thickly to preserve and place in TOP of freezer or cooler. Fun to play with, too...makes 'smoke' in water. Flush small pieces down the toilet and freak your kids...use in pumpkins for Halloween. Great effect with the right lighting. No danger from inhalation, except suffocation which would take an awful lot in a completely enclosed space...please don't stick your head in it, Raggie!

 

[AJ_Dual]

Dry ice MUST be handled with gloves, to avoid 'burns'. Carbon dioxide gas is heavier than air, so wrap it thickly to preserve and place in TOP of freezer or cooler. Fun to play with, too...makes 'smoke' in water. Flush small pieces down the toilet and freak your kids...use in pumpkins for Halloween. Great effect with the right lighting. No danger from inhalation, except suffocation which would take an awful lot in a completely enclosed space...please don't stick your head in it, Raggie!

OT, but hey...

When I worked at a grocery store in high school, we'd all jockey and try to shuffle our work duties to be back by the freezer whenever a pallet of ice cream was delivered so we could screw around with the big slabs of dry ice that were kept in the center of the load. There was the usual nonsense, "smoking toilets", and exploding soda bottles from the damaged goods pile thrown into the back dumpsters, filled with warm water, crushed dry ice, and screwed shut, etc.

My invention was the best IMO. I made insulated "shoes" out of layered cardboard and plastic bags, put them in the freezer, laid a big chunk of dry ice against the "cold" side for an hour or so in preparation, so the ice would stop sublimating against the "shoes". And once the contraption was chilled enough that the dry ice could stick to the "shoes", you could jump on top of the block and skate around the floor of the store on your frictionless skateboard! As the bottom of the exposed dry ice sublimated against the warm floor, you rode along on a cushion of carbon dioxide.

That is, until some of the 3rd shift stockers all decided to push me in a running start to see how far I could go in the longest asile of the store, and I glided right past the general manager.

Fortunately, he thought it was just cool enough to not fire me on the spot.

 

[raggie33]

the thing about dry ice that i wondr is wont it melt in freezer?or make the food to frozen?could even mess up the freezer .unless ya mean buy it after power goes out.but even then there wont be none at store cause everyone will buy it firs

 

[Empath]

Dry ice doesn't melt, Raggie. Instead of becoming a liquid, it goes through a process called sublimation. Carbon dioxide doesn't exist as a liquid, it's either solid or gas. It takes a lot of energy to change from solid to gas. It also can't stay solid at anything other than an extremely low temperature. Since it can't stay solid, it pulls the energy, in the form of heat, out of it's surroundings. That's why it feels so cold.

It's not of any practical use in your freezer except to hold the temperature after the power goes off. You're right, it would be in heavy demand during an extended power outage, probably hard to find.

 

[savumaki]

With respect to alarms, I have three freezers and all have alarms that have internal sensors connected to the battery box/alarm unit outside the box; cheap insurance at $20 per.

We had a 30 plus hour power outage two years ago and I promptly wrapped all the freezers in blankets and sleeping bags . I did not lose a single item.

The trick of part filled water containers helps a lot; but then I guess all you campers and fishermen know that. Another thing I have employed to take up empty space is large blocks of styrofoam.

Good luck and may the power flow.

Karl

 

[Brangdon]

If you have neighbors, it can be worth coordinating with them and only opening one freezer at a time, sharing the food. The other freezer you keep shut so it lasts longer, and then you share the food from that one too.

 

[Mark Anthony]

Another trick is to take a few (2-4 depending on the size of your freezer) plastic 1/2 gallon milk jugs and fill them 3/4 with water and freeze them in your freezer. If the power goes out they will help keep things cold for a LONG time.

Generally speaking the more stuff you have frozen in the fridge, the longer it will take for everything to thaw (as long as you keep the door shut as much as possible.

+1 on this - I always fill the excess space in my freezer with milk jug ice blocks. The freezer works a bit less and your food lasts days at a time. And as said before, never open the Fridge or Freezer.

I live in Alaska and the power goes out often enough to plan for. I've never tested how long food can last but I've never lost meat in the freezer due to an outage doing these two things.