Power cut - Should I throw out fridge food?

Owain_Moneysaver

ripplyuk wrote: »

What about the meat? I'm thinking it's more risky. When I got home after shopping and saw the power was off, I didn't want to open the fridge so this meat was sitting out for 3 hrs. There's also ready meals with mince in them.

Once raw fresh meat's been out for 3 hours it should really be cooked, then cooled and kept chilled or frozen.

Ready cooked meat especially mince will deteriorate more quickly. If you aren't eating it today get it frozen quickly.

PasturesNew

Everything is absolutely fine. No damage done. Time off was minimal. People will get their food hotter/longer lugging it home from the shop on a hot day ...

Really ... nothing to worry about.

monnagran

Going way back into history, when I was a girl, all housewives did their shopping on a Friday or Saturday when they bought their meat for the Sunday roast. No fridges in those days. They then cooked the meat on Sunday. On Monday (washing day) there was no time for cooking so some of the leftover roast meat was eaten cold with pickles. On Tuesday more of the meat was turned into stew. On Wednesday any meat left was minced for cottage pie.
This menu was written in stone and followed by every family I knew and had been for generations.
So....meat was bought on Friday or Saturday and survived cooked and uncooked until the following Wednesday without ever seeing the inside of a fridge.
Of course this would not have included chicken, that was for Christmas Day and Boxing day only and spent the night in between in the coldest place they could find. Probably the kitchen.

It's a wonder the human race survived really.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

gt568 wrote: »

Send it all to me, I'll test it for you.

I'm nearer. Send it to me. I will carry out destructive testing on it. Unfortunately I cannot return any item due to be a great big nice ..l

ripplyuk

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Ready cooked meat especially mince will deteriorate more quickly. If you aren't eating it today get it frozen quickly.

No notifications came through from here! I wish I'd read that before I ate the ready meal. It had mince in it. Now I'm waiting to get ill.

monnagran wrote: »

So....meat was bought on Friday or Saturday and survived cooked and uncooked until the following Wednesday without ever seeing the inside of a fridge.

Thanks monnagran. Even in the summer? It's probably safer with big joints of meat. I've got raw chicken fillets and ready meals with mince and chicken in them. There's so many warnings now about keeping things at the right temperature.

gt568

You won't be getting ill.

[Deleted User]

The ready meals will have been fine pet, fresh mince will keep a good 24 hours in the fridge and far longer if it's cooked. I always make a big shepherds pie/chilli/Bolognese sauce/lasagne when I make one and make 6 portions for the two of us. We eat two and the rest sits quite safely in the fridge for a few days until we use it up. You'll be happy, healthy and fed, not ill!

anotheruser

Even if the fridge door was opened, it won't matter too much. So long as it wasn't open for long!

If the food you want to eat smells okay, looks okay, it'll probably be okay.