My 'budget' freezer meal plan backfired when the power went out for 36 hours

Last summer a storm knocked out power to my apartment in Tulsa for a day and a half. I had just done a big shop and meal prep for the month, like $120 worth of ground beef, chicken, and frozen veggies all stuffed in my chest freezer. By hour 20 I started opening the door to check and that killed whatever cold was left. I ended up tossing almost everything and ate peanut butter sandwiches for a week. Lesson learned: get a cheap freezer thermometer and have a backup cooler with ice packs ready. Anyone else lost a whole budget haul to a blackout?

3 comments

3 Comments

emery_black28d ago

It's just one of those things where we don't realize how much we rely on systems until they break, then we scramble to patch it together with what we have. Feels like that's true for a lot of stuff these days honestly.

seanjackson28d ago

Hard disagree on leaving it shut for 36 hours. Even if you never opened it, most average chest freezers won't hold safe temps that long unless they're packed solid and the seals are perfect. I had my freezer shut tight for a full 30 hour outage last year and still lost half my meat because the center started thawing around hour 28. The real trick is keeping bags of ice or frozen water jugs in there year round so they help buffer the temps. A thermometer with an alarm that goes off when it gets above 40 is the only way to know for sure without guessing.

mila_campbell2528d ago

Oh, opening the door repeatedly definitely doomed it. A freezer stays cold way longer if you just leave it shut, even after 36 hours.