Have you ever returned home from a vacation, business trip, or a weekend getaway with your family only to find your digital clocks flashing the wrong time?
You soon discover that there was a power outage while you were gone, but it’s nearly impossible to determine when it happened or how long it lasted. Consequently, you also can’t know how long the food in your freezer may have thawed, spoiled, and then refrozen.
In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, which impacted parts of the United States in 2016, Sheila Pulanco Russell shared a clever tip on her Facebook wall for those who had to evacuate their homes.
However, this trick is useful for anyone facing a prolonged absence from home and can help alleviate concerns about whether the food in your freezer is still safe to eat or should be discarded immediately.
The trick involves a simple yet effective combination of three everyday items: a mug, a coin, and some tap water.
In a Facebook post that quickly garnered hundreds of thousands of reactions and shares, Sheila shared an effective tip for those evacuating from the coast. She writes:
“For those of you that are evacuating from the coast, I just heard a great tip. It’s called the one cup tip. You put a cup of water in your freezer. Freeze it solid and then put a quarter on top of it and leave it in your freezer. That way when you come back after you’ve been evacuated you can tell if your food went completely bad and just refroze or if it stayed frozen while you were gone.
If the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup that means all the food defrosted and you should throw it out. But if the quarter is either on the top or in the middle of the cup then your food may still be ok. It would also be a great idea to leave this in your freezer all the time and if you lose power for any reason you will have this tip to fall back on.”
