Who doesn’t hate food poisoning?
People often worry about getting food poisoning while traveling abroad. For that, see your doctor to get the proper medications before you leave.
What many don’t know, is that they may be at risk from getting sick from the food in their own fridge, after traveling. If you plan to leave your home empty for any length of time, this hack is for you!
We all know that our power can go out, unexpectedly, for many reasons. We often have little control over this whether we are home or not, but at least while home, we know how long the power was out and if the food in our fridge stayed cool enough to be safe for eating.
How can we be assured our food stayed safe while we were away on vacation? Make a thaw detector!
To do this, fill a small cup with water and freeze it. Once the ice is solid, place a heavy coin on top of the ice and put it back in your freezer.
(A coin that is too light may float, due to surface tension, so a coin about the size of a U.S. quarter is recommended.)
After your trip, check to see if the coin is still on top of the ice, or if it is now frozen inside of the ice at the bottom of the cup.
If the coin is found to have moved to the bottom, this means your freezer (and fridge) were off long enough for the ice to thaw. And, if the ice thawed, so did your food!
Even if everything is once again frozen, you need to throw out all perishable items from your refrigerator and freezer. (Unopened bottled or canned products may be OK, but check the label.)
This hack is useful for those in many circumstances:
- Those with second homes.
- Those who deal with evacuations during hurricanes or other natural disasters.
- People who travel.
- People who keep food in their company’s refrigerator or freezer over weekends or vacations.
Regardless of your location or travel plans, why not make a thaw detector for every fridge or freezer that you use? They’re cheap and easy to make, and can save you and others from getting sick from food that looks perfectly fine, but isn’t!
~ LHK
Thanks for the A2A Colin!
*Photo courtesy of the internet.