My fridge is totally empty! (almost)

[Beth H]

We had a fairly significant ice storm here in South Carolina on Monday - we were without power at my house from Monday morning until about 6 pm yesterday evening. I had to throw away the contents of my fridge and freezer on Wednesday evening, before our garbage collection day.

But I kept a few things in the fridge, thinking that maybe they hadn't been too impacted by the outage (it was cold in our house as we didn't have any heat).

Here are the things I thought were still OK - what do you think?:

ketchup
soy sauce
mustards
sticks of butter (which never did really soften)

Really I haven't yet sorted through my condiments - except for the Hellman's which I pitched.

[Bailey]

I would have kept those same items.

[SPITFIRE]

I think those should be fine. We lost power in Sept. and kept our ketchup and mustard--I'm still alive to tell about it! :D And you mentioned you had no heat in the house.

Restaurants and dinners often keep condiments (ketchup, mustard and soy sauce) out on the tables.

As for the butter, you should be ok there as well. I always leave a stick of butter out in a butter dish so that it stays soft for toast, etc...

[kristalsnow7]

I agree, all of that stuff should be absolutely fine. Sorry to hear about the power outage. This winter is certainly interesting. :rolleyes:

[wallycat]

depends what you tossed...I may hve even kept some of that :o :eek:

[Beth H]

I tossed meat, milk, soft cheeses, eggs, sour cream, etc. Some of it might have been OK since it wasn't hot (or even warm) in the house. But - just the idea of eating it sort of grossed me out. The stuff in the freezer had started thawing some.

Thanks for the input - it made me feel terrible to throw so much food away (esp. from the freezer) but better to be safe than sorry, I guess.

[Kristi]

I never refrigerate soy sauce... is that something I should be doing??

[Angelina]

If it wasn't raining, I would have just put everything outside in a cooler or a plastic bin. I would bet anything that right now the temperature outside is colder than my refrigerator!

When we had the big blackout last August though, I tossed so many things...I did hang on the condiments. And the jams.. :)

[Beth H]

I don't think soy sauce really needs to be refrigerated - I just always have for some reason.

I thought about the cooler/outside option. However, it warmed up pretty well on Wednesday (when we still were without power).

I called my insurance company and of course the contents of my fridge were less than my deductible - I didn't have any super expensive cheeses or meats in there!

[wallycat]

I would have kept the cheese, eggs, given the milk to our stray cats,
tossed the meat into the freezer and used it in the next day or two...would have been cold enough to keep it "refrigerator temp" anyway, and depends on what type of sour cream, I may have even been tempted to keep it :eek:

You need to go live in Europe for a month :o ;)

[Beth H]

tossed the meat into the freezer and used it in the next day or two

Well, I actually attempted to do that but since the stuff in my freezer had begun thawing the things I put in there weren't exactly freezing. I couldn't cook since I have an electric stove and my grill is broken. So we were eating out every meal.

You're probably right about the sour cream and other cheese - I was more erring on the side of caution. I did keep my hunk of parmesean cheese, however.

I have lived in Europe - their fridges/freezers are much smaller than ours generally! If they did have a power loss there wouldn't be that much lost. The family I lived with did shopping on an almost daily basis.

[wallycat]

Originally posted by Beth H


Well, I actually attempted to do that but since the stuff in my freezer had begun thawing the things I put in there weren't exactly freezing. I couldn't cook since I have an electric stove and my grill is broken. So we were eating out every meal.

You're probably right about the sour cream and other cheese - I was more erring on the side of caution. I did keep my hunk of parmesean cheese, however.

I have lived in Europe - their fridges/freezers are much smaller than ours generally! If they did have a power loss there wouldn't be that much lost. The family I lived with did shopping on an almost daily basis.

Where did you live??
I hope I didn't sound critical...I meant that in Europe they don't refrigerate half the stuff we do.

I do feel your pain. We have had power outages here too and I sob at the stuff I am forced to throw out :rolleyes:

[Beth H]

I lived in Cologne, Germany for 5 months on a study abroad program in college.

Well, that is true about the refrigeration part - of course, the milk my host family used was irradiated (spelling?) so that it didn't need any refrigeration. They didn't put juice or anything in the fridge either. But the fridge they had was so small - maybe 1 1/2 the size of a dorm fridge - that it really didn't hold much. She bought things like cheese, meats, etc. fresh all the time.

I didn't think you were being critical - I just wanted to sort of explain why I couldn't cook with some of the stuff so that BB members didn't think I had been wasteful about throwing out all that food! :)

[Beth H]

I lived in Cologne, Germany for 5 months on a study abroad program in college.

Well, that is true about the refrigeration part - of course, the milk my host family used was irradiated (spelling?) so that it didn't need any refrigeration. They didn't put juice or anything in the fridge either. But the fridge they had was so small - maybe 1 1/2 the size of a dorm fridge - that it really didn't hold much. She bought things like cheese, meats, etc. fresh all the time.

I didn't think you were being critical - I just wanted to sort of explain why I couldn't cook with some of the stuff so that BB members didn't think I had been wasteful about throwing out all that food! :)

[dlaboriel]

Beth, my mother lives in Columbia and when she called to tell me about the ice storm and how she had no electricity and how cold it was there, I told her to put stuff she wanted to keep cold on the otside patio. She did and lost nothing. I was a bit concerned about what she considers cold there because that is not cold here. today it was -9 degrees with a wind chill factor of 30 below. I went to the store today to get chicken wings and Italian sausage for Super Bowl party and forgot and left them in the car. I didn't go back to the garage to get them and they are probably frozen by now.

[luv2run]

Beth,

I live in Fort Mill and we had the same weather but, fortunately, we didn't lose our power. I'm so sorry; it happened to us last year for three days. It's miserable but I would have thrown away the same things you did.

Debbie :cool:

p.s. http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/1/1_4_43.gif
(Sorry, Patriot fans, I couldn't resist--I may be sulking Sunday).

[mbrogier]

I feel bad for you losing all your food. I was in the blackout this summer and I lost a ton of food. My friends got power withing 24 hours, and I took my mayo and stuff to her house. When I opened the mayo it hissed, so it got pitched anyway. I put my probe thermometer in the fridge and it got to 50 something.

[heavy hedonist]

My power here in Indy goes out so frequently that I have stopped believing in real time at all. If the microwave clock didn't blink 8888, I would never know when to check my food for surprise spoilage. But as long as you keep the fridge door closed, the cold will stay a long time, at least overnight,and the cold from the freezer will help to keep fridge items cooler. I can't tell you how many times I've come home from a three or four day vacation and have had to guesstimate how long the power was off by the moisture-y condition of the cheese-- which if it's not green, I never throw. Just for future reference. But I do know the sweet pain of having to ditch $80 worth of pantry items (flour, nuts, etc.) because of grain moths!

[Cooky]

Lets not mention power outages. The August ordeal is still fresh in my mind. Of course that was summer, so we ended up barbqueing everything so it wouldn't spoil outright.

Had it been winter, I would have put certain items in my cooler and set it outside or, put it in my car. Cheeses, butter and most condiments usually keep (I never refrigerate soy sauce or ketchup (I refuse to put cold ketchup on hot fries). Eggs and mayonaisse/miracle whip I would handle with care. Boiling the eggs would preserve them some. But anything you aren't comfortable about, toss.

In either case, sorry that happened. :(