In case of power outage, to know whether freezer items are safe to consume or not, before an outage occur, do the following:
Place ice cubes in a zipper bag (I place 3 cubes in a snack-size zipper bag).
Zip and place in freezer.
If the cubes become one solid mass
it means items in your freezer thawed and refroze when the power returned.
Throw everything out.
Better to be safe than sorry.
One never knows when there will be a power outage or a freezer malfunction. For peace of mind, I always keep ice cubes in zipper bag in the freezer and check the condition of the ice cubes periodically especially after an outage.
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Garden to Wok 
Hi Norma,
I hope you are feeling better. Thanks for the reminder to do this. Take care and let’s hope it is not as bad as they are predicting.
Hello Pat,
Feeling a whole lot better, thanks. Yep, hope the weather is not as bad as predicted.
Feel better!
Hello YC,
Feeling a lot better, thanks.
I had never heard of that trick before. It seems like a good one. Though the only time I’ve lost power here was when I unplugged the freezer to clean it out and forgot to plug it back in. Hopefully we will be as lucky as in the past, and not as forgetful.
Hello Daphne,
Hopefully you will not be affected by Sandy.
That is genius Norma! What a simple, but effective tip. I love it! 🙂
Hello Kristy,
Thanks. Bracing for Sandy.
I hope all is well Norma. Thinking of you!
Hello Kristy,
Thanks for thinking of me, I am OK. Lost power and cable services (phone, TV and internet) all back to normal. Did not sustain any damage I was very fortunate.
That is good news!
Thanks for the helpful tip, Norma.
Hello Angie,
You ar welcome.
Thanks for the tip Norma! Here’s hoping we don’t get hit too hard by the big storm!
Hello Patsy,
You are welcome. The big storm is heading our way, hope we don’t get hit too hard.
Thank you for this great tip 😀
Cheers
CCU
Hello Uru,
You are welcome.
That is a great tip, Norma. We have a whole house generator since we loose power so much during the winter at our home in New Hampshire but this is very helpful when we are at our summer home in Maine.
Hello Karen,
Thanks. Does your generator kicks in automatically as soon as there is a power outage?
Five seconds after the power goes out the generator starts up automatically. It is the best thing we did when we bought our New Hampshire home.
Glad to read you’re feeling better, Norma.
This is a great tip, really smart. I’ll definitely be passing this along to my Zia. BTW … I’ve not forgotten your request about squash and pasta. I’ll want to ask my Zia if she knows of any, too. 🙂
Hello John,
Thanks. Need to drag our feet every now and then, that’s how we build up our immunity. Sandy is heading our way, hoping for the best.
That’s very helpful, Norma. I hope we don’t have too many power outages this summer xx
Hello Charlie,
Thanks. Do you get frequent outages during the summer? Sandy is definitely coming to visit, no stopping her.
Very timely tip Norma. Hopefully Sandy doesn’t cross your path.
Hello Barb,
Sandy is coming to visit, no avoiding, hoping for the best.
Now why had I not thought of something so easy and logical myself? Living almost rurally, we get outages quite often and, after bad storms etc, the crews often don’t get to us until hour and hours later! Thank you and shall definitely use!!
Hello Eha,
I am sure you thought of it, but with busy schedule, just haven’t had time to sit and put it in writing.
This is an excellent tip, Norma.. I had this happen once with a freezer full of fish! This is timely with the big storm brewing off the east coast, I hope you are no where near that!
Hello Barbara,
Thanks. Oh no, hope you did not lose all your fish.
We are in the path of Sandy, hopefully not the direct path.
We did.. all caught by my husband and son on a fishing trip! Next time I’ll eat it up right away! I will be praying for you not to have an effects from Sandy!
Hello Barbara,
That was so sad, yes, next time eat it right away. Thanks, hoping for the best.
Great tip – Off to the freezer to put some in…
Hello Liz,
Thanks.
a sensible precaution Norma, very practical and sensible!
Hello Claire,
Thanks.
You are so clever! Hoping You don’t get a blackout when Sandy reaches land. Keep safe.
Hello Throve,
Thanks, I hope we do not have a blackout.
Thinking of you and this is great advice.
Hello Maureen,
Thanks, I am OK and just had my internet restored.
That’s a great idea for the freezer, Norma. I usually put a penny on an ice cube in my cottage freezer and if I see the penny in a pool of ice, I know the power went out long enough to chuck everything. Fortunately I never keep that much up there over the season. I’m doing the ice cubes in a bag trick tonight. Thanks
Hello Eva,
I like your penny trick.
Dang, I forgot to the do ice cube trick last night and we haven’t had power since very early this morning when a huge tree took out power on our street. It’s a bummer too because I just got 2 chickens and one of our customers gave me 42 burgers that are in there (I was saving them for a BBQ). So much food. I really hope I won’t have to toss them.
Hello Eva,
Hopefully your power is restored soon. Do you still have your grill out? To be on the safe side, I would grill the chicken and burgers and then freeze for future use. Make sure all are fully cooked. Do you have frozen peas in the freezer? If the pack of frozen peas becomes one solid mass, it means items thawed and refroze, same ice cubes principle.
I just called the house and the answering machine is not picking up…power is still out. AHHHK! I don’t have frozen peas but I think I have some frozen asparagus ends I was saving for ‘free soup’ I’ll check on those when the power comes back. In the meantime, I don’t want to open the freezer at all.
That’s a good idea with the chicken and burgers…I guess my left overs are toast.
Hello Eva,
You may be OK as things in the freezer will remain frozen for a while if the door is not open. Regarding the leftovers, may be you can use them up now. Just think, reheating, no cooking, getting a break.