If you’re committed to a lifestyle of homesteading and prepping, there’s a good chance that you own a freezer that’s fully stocked with the essentials.
From meat to vegetables, you might have thousands of dollars’ worth of food socked away in your freezer.
Author’s Note: If you’re prepping, don’t rely solely on freezing your food. Make sure you have a stockpile of long shelf-life foods, like canned goods and dehydrated foods, in your pantry as well. The freezer food should merely be an accompaniment.
Freezing food for long-term storage is a great way to get ahead – but what do you do when a power outage threatens everything that’s inside?
You can’t necessarily prevent or predict power outages, though having a functional generator and other emergency preparedness supplies can help.
However, you can avoid the all-too-common guessing game that occurs during and after a power outage when you’re forced to ask yourself, “is this food safe to eat?”
It all has to do with putting a coin in a cup of water in the freezer.
It sounds simple, but this technique could help you save thousands of dollars – and help you keep safe in an emergency, too.
Here’s why you should put a coin in a cup of frozen water in your freezer – and how to do it correctly.
Why You Should Put A Coin In A Cup Of Frozen Water In Your Freezer
When we focus on emergency preparedness and survival as preppers, we often think of how to stockpile food and how to make sure we have electricity even when the weather’s bad.
However, very few of us think about how we’re going to keep that food safe in a storm.
If you have a power outage – particularly a long one – there’s a good chance that the food in your refrigerator will spoil.
That’s not always the case with a freezer, though – particularly a well-stocked one where the solidly frozen food serves as additional protection for all the rest.
During a power outage, you might wonder how much your food has thawed – but opening up the freezer to check is a recipe for disaster since it will let warm air in and cause the food to thaw more quickly.
Related: What To Eat When The Power Goes Out
Instead, you should wait until after the storm has ended. The problem with this is that you’ll never really know exactly how frozen or thawed the food was – and you won’t know whether it’s safe to eat.
Enter – the coin in a cup of water trick. This is something you can do before a storm to help you know whether you can safely eat the food in your freezer.
All you need to do is fill a cup with water. Put it in the freezer until it’s frozen solid. Then, place a quarter on top of it and put the cup back in the freezer.
After the power outage, check the cup. If the quarter is still on top, your electricity didn’t go out for a significant amount of time and the food is likely safe to eat.
If the quarter has sunk to the bottom, that indicates that the ice thawed completely and the power was out for quite some time. You should probably get rid of the contents of your freezer to avoid getting sick.
And if it’s in the middle? It’s a toss-up. If your freezer is one that’s attached to your refrigerator (not a freestanding unit), you should get rid of the contents of your refrigerator if the coin is in the center. The frozen food is likely still okay, but the food in your fridge definitely is not.
What To Keep In Mind
Although this method is mostly reliable, it’s not foolproof. There are some other variables that need to be considered here.
For example, the size of your freezer plays a role in how much the ice in the cup melts, as does the position of the cup in the freezer.
We recommend placing the cup in the spot of the freezer where it would be most likely to melt first (like the door rather than deep in the center of piles of frozen food).
That way, even if the ice partially melts, you’ll still have a pretty good idea that your food is safe to eat. Ice is not as dense as water so the ice will float on the water it creates as it is melting.
It’s possible that the ice could melt partially before refreezing and the coin would still be in the same position – but putting your cup in a more telling position will help you determine this.
Of course, you’ll also need to consider how much other food is in the freezer and what the temperature inside the house is.
Related: Living without a Refrigerator – It Can Be Done!
These can impact how long it takes your food to freeze and thaw, too – and impact the reliability of the coin ice test.
Keep Your Food Safe
In any event, you should follow the Food and Drug Administration’s guidelines to keep the temperature of your freezer below zero degrees Fahrenheit and the refrigerator no higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit whenever possible.
You can freeze containers of ice water to help your food stay cooler longer in the refrigerator. If you have any refrigerated items that you won’t use immediately, put them in the freezer to help them last longer, even in a power outage.
Remember, refrigerated food will stay safe as long as the door is kept shut and the power isn’t off for more than four hours.
Frozen food usually stays frozen for 24 to 48 hours as long as the freezer is unopened. Some freezers can keep food cold even longer than that – up to five days, in some cases, and of course, depending on the conditions.
Try putting a coin in a cup of frozen water long before a storm is forecasted. Do this today so you’re prepared for any power outage – especially if you’re living off the grid, you probably already know how common these can be!
The coin in a cup of frozen water hack may not be perfect, but it’s still a great way to determine whether your food is safe to eat – or needs to be tossed. Give it a try so you’re prepared no matter what Mother Nature throws your way.
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It would take quite a few days for a freezer to thaw out if you don’t open the door so . its a interesting tip
kool
I like this tip, and I think a smaller 4 or 5 OZ paper or plastic cup might work better than the ceramic cup in the picture since the thin paper or plastic would make it easier for the ice to thaw if your freezer got too warm.
Please!!!! Don’t just through away frozen foods that you assume may not be edible. Do you have chickens? Do you have pigs? Do you have a compost pile? All of these options are ways to “re-use” what you are assuming is a non-edible item. Contrary to the thoughts of many who have not “actually” raise chickens, especially range chickens, they eat nearly ANYTHING! Of course pigs are the same. If all else fails, when your frozen items get soft enough, shred them and put them in your compost pile.
If you have a pressure canner, can all the meat that you possibly can! In fact, do so before storms or SHTF! Canned meats are ready to eat right out of the jar.
we have a few dozen canning jars, a canning kit, boxes of extra lids, and a pressure cooker, but it does not have any gauge or pressure settings for canning, what would you recommend for a small home pressure canner? I see a lot of pressure canners with good reviews online, but we have no experience, any suggestions?
All American canner
dz.
Your getting into my area, and I think I can help. #1 above all else is get a canner that uses the weights (5,10,15 psi). You do NOT want one that has a dial because you would have to get it re calibrated every year. And to do that you will have to take the canner to your local agricultural office. This could work for now but maybe not in the long run(like after shf). The next thing that you are going to want to get is a book on canning. Ball’s Blue book is the best one to get you started. There is a long procedure that you will have to follow while canning each batch. There are few exceptions (Like I always have to use the 15psi because I live in the mountains) Things will get faster and easier as you learn. Then you can explore different books and learn new recipes. And then you should feel better about putting food on your family’s table that does not contain GMO’s or bioenginered products.
The water could only partially melt and coin might still be on top.
I use a half empty water bottle. Freeze it standing up. Once frozen just lay it on its side. If it thaws even a little bit the water will find it’s own level and you can see how much it thawed just by looking at the water now frozen on the side of the bottle.
Joe, that’s an even better idea! We usually have several frozen water bottles in the freezer to use in portable coolers, so I’ll just make a partially filled tester bottle and lay it on its side in the door tray. Thanks.
I like your idea better Joe. Doesn’t necessarily have to be a big bottle so it doesn’t take up so much room in your freezer. Sort of like the idea of a level. Could also be one of those square sided bottles. You could also put some food colouring in there so it would be easier to see. If freezer and electricity still working partially fill a small bottle with water. Freeze it and then take it out and time it to see how long it takes to melt a certain amount of water. Even if electricity out for a day or two and you keep freezer door closed not necessarily time to panic. If more than that I would prepare to barbecue as much of the freezer contents as I could. Depending of course upon the ambient temperature. If you wanted the freezer to stay cold as long as possible you could also cover it with as many blankets and comforters as you could find until you’re ready to process the contents. Most websites say that after a power outage your food should be good for up to about 4 days in a chest freezer. After that you might want to start thinking about cooking it. Prioritize your cooking. I would say fowl and fish first. Especially chicken and turkey.Then pork and then beef. Beef contains no natural pathogens for us.
I prefer a balloon filled with water. Hang it from a rack until it is frozen solid. Then, lay it on a shelf, or any flat place. If it thaws it will reshape itself, flatten, most likely.
A couple ice cubes in a zip lock bag work really well. I know from experience..
Sgt, another great idea!
Sgt, I think the zip lock bag with a few ice cubes in the freezer door tray is the best idea, easy to do, easy to check, so I did it, and so far so good, no thaw even when it got over 100 degrees for a couple days in the garage where the freezer is, but the power has stayed on so I have not gotten to check if I get a partial thaw then re-freeze, which the bag will show by a layer of frozen water on the bottom, even if it’s just a thin layer. Thank you.
Until reading this article, I always used popsicles – the two-stick type that have the thinner section joining them. As long as the popsicles held their shape then the food was OK. The coin trick sounds like a great idea, as well.
I have a built-in ice maker. If the ice cubes start melting I will immediately know by the water dripped out of the ice bucket to the door opening for the in door ice cube dispenser and also down inside the freezer.
We take a 2 quart juice bottle, fill it halfway, lay it on the side in the freezer. When the water is frozen, we stand the bottle upright. If the water thaws, the water will be in the bottom of the bottle. Very obvious if there is a power problem.
Ask a Prepper is now censoring our posts, what the results will be are yet to be seen.
really guess that isn’t much of a suprise.
They need to be censoring them. Not for political content unless someone’s promoting violations of the law or violence – just from a liability standpoint – but the constant personal attacks are lowering the value of Claude’s property and potential customers are walking away. Since there’s no login to post comments, it’s abused and hard to control. Perhaps they will add a login to post comments and then they can just ban, even if temporarily, those who have nothing helpful to add to the conversation.
well, I hope if they continue to censor, they will block all liars, religious zealots, and people like Dale and the X-spurt that continually lie, insult, and antagonize others for the sole purpose of appeasing their own inflated egos.
wow i knew you supported facism and hated Elohim
dz, you are, without any doubt or question, the worst on this site for instigating trouble, name calling, and picking unsolicited fights.
Dale, I return fire back at instigators like you and your “bend over buddy” X-spurt that are always antagonizing others with lies, name calling, and insults, which is easy to verify by looking back on the BS attacks you both post. X-spurt has been an instigator for over three years on a lot of blogs, with about 1% valid posts, and 99% garbage, and there are times when you are just as bad, and you have the audacity to complain when the same type of crap you fling is tossed back at you? What a Libtard hypocrite.
dz, that’s an absolute lie and you know it. You instigate, initiate, virtually all of the attacks. You continuously make attacks that are original attacks, not subject matter attacks, not responsive attacks, but the initial insults and attacks and they almost never have anything to do with the topic of the article or of any other post.
Dale, you have proven you have mental issues, do you even remember when someone else posted something and you falsely accused and repeatedly attacked me for someone else’s posts? And then you spent the next couple days posting excuses trying to sanctify your bad conduct? I know what I post, and why, and have a pretty good memory of who are the good posters and who are just lying hypocrites. You are like a Bi-Polar idiot savant, one day your rational and courteous, then for no reason you just convert into a demented, arrogant, antagonizer, so I will treat you as you treat others. If you don’t like being treated as you treat others, then grow up and change your ways. A good start would be to make amends to ALL the other posters you have lied about, called names, and insulted during your personality disorder episodes.
This is a Definition for – ANTAGONIZER: A person who or thing which causes antagonism, hostility, or opposition; an agitator or provocateur; an enemy, opponent, or critic.
Sounds like you.
I rest my case. You’re a good example of why a person should never testify in their own defense.
Claude, I see someone has selectively start censoring your blog. If you want to censor, please do it right.
1.) set the rules with very explicate and non-negotiable parameters, such as: All posts must pertain to the prepping subject. Posts deviating from prepping will be considered a violation. (This means all the soapbox sermon preachers will be in violation). Intentionally posting lies about, name calling, or antagonizing other posters is a violation and you will be banned.
2.) establish a verifiable login method such as by IP Address so posters cannot post under another bloggers name, as I proved can be done. If you cannot verify by IP Address, then it requires much more scrutiny and research to verify but will be required to remain valid.
3) all violators will be PERMANTLY banned from all Ask a Prepper and affiliated blogs, such as Homestead Survival and Urban Survival.
I can live with that, can you?
Nothing like having a good old book burning eh
We’ll miss you when you’re gone, DZ.
And, dz, you did prove posting with another users name can be done when you posted using my name. That is a banning offense on any site so when they put in a proper comment process your ban should be the first.
Good grief people, just read the article and move on with your lives. How much time did you waste arguing again?
And what’s that old saying……if you can’t say something nice, don’t say something at all.
Anybody know a super insulated chest freezer that uses the same tech as some of these coffee mugs that keep the liquid hot forever it seems. Somebody must have taken freezer tech to the next level.
Yeti coolers are supposed to be really good. The Navy Seals use them for ice and water in areas that normally get over 100 degrees during the day.
excuse me, I reread and realized you are asking about a chest freezer for the home, not a portable cooler. Sorry for any confusion, and I don’t know of any chest freezers that are super insulated, but I have not really searched for one – yet. If you find some, please post the make and model(s).
A wireless digital temperature monitor (available at amazon) is great for knowing the temperature in the freezer without opening the door.
Also, another hint I learned was that during a power outage, cover the freezer with blankets and pillows to insulate it and keep it cold for longer.
Covering a cooler or freezer with blankets when there is no power really does work. Our BSA troop made sno-cones at a local fair. The ice in the coolers kept well frozen the whole day. It was amazing. And it was a very hot day. PS. We did keep the coolers out of the direct sun.
new to me
I would worry about freezer burn
freezer life
storage life span of meats and other items
change is what destroys
keep constant temp
never above 32 or below zero as the colder you get to absulute zero the more worthless the product , ruins the prooduct
I used an empty pop bottle half full then laid on its side to freeze then stood up.