How long can food sit in a fridge with no power?

Question

As everyone knows, with all the snow, the NKY area lost power yesterday. We lost it around 4:30/4:45pm-ish, and it came back on around 9pm. We had to leave, cause we have a 16 month old, so our fridge was never even opened or messed with. How long can the food that was in it sit before they would be considered spoiled?? Like milk, and meats (chicken and pork), and deli meats. I don't want to have to throw everything away, and was just wondering if anyone had had experience with this. What should I pitch and what can I keep after about 4 1/2 hours of unopened non-fridge power?? THANKS!

Answer 1

Food needs to be kept at a temperature of between 0-5 degrees.if you are sure that it was at that temp then it should be OK.but i would not chance giving anything to the child just in case as they have much weaker bodies.in restaurant kitchens food is left out for about that length of time during service but be careful you don't want food poisoning.

Answer 2

I would say no more than a couple hours but it depends how many dairy products you had in there. Like milk, cheese etc. Not so sure I would trust that stuff but other than that it should be fine.

Answer 3

If the room temperature was no higher than 70F, I would give it 12 hours IF the door is kept closed at all times.

Answer 4

Why don't you just stick the stuff in the snow? I've done that many times.

Answer 5

It should be fine because you didnt open the frige and its cold. It would be different if it were Summer

Answer 6

It should be just fine as long as it stayed closed and cold. Just use your nose -- if it smells funky, pitch it. Otherwise all should be just fine.

Answer 7

A couple of hours at most.