Hello! I left my fridge cracked open (the door was touching the frame, but no seal) for around 20 hours.
I had cooked rice and bean/sausage stew that I put in the fridge right after cooking it and right before leaving it ajar. I also had milk, eggs, condiments, jams, cheeses, etc.
For reference, the ice in the freezer compartment was partially thawed. No condensation in the fridge, but stuff didn't feel cool to the touch.
AIs say I should throw everything out because I didn't know how many hours it spend at room temperature.
What should I throw out?
Posted by Xandy13
12 Comments
you already asked AI if you should throw stuff out, why not ask it what?
Personally I’d throw out everything that actually needs to be refrigerated. I don’t mess with food poisoning after I had it once lol
Bacteria starts to grow at 40 degrees so I would reluctantly start over.
I’d keep it all and just look for signs of spoilage as I ate it. Any off colors, textures, or smells and it goes in the trash.
For reference, I’ll happily eat pizza that’s been left out overnight for breakfast. Lunch and dinner, too.
We had this happen recently. You’re also going to have to pull everything out at some point and thaw the whole fridge/freezer because your coils almost certainly have all iced over and it won’t run correctly after until you do. A hairdryer helps it thaw faster.
I did this once when I had way less expendable income (aka, throwing out my whole fridge would ruin me). I just smell checked things. I was ok (take caution though I may have just been lucky).
If fridge temp rose above 40deg then toss everything that can spoil. You know temps got higher than 40 because ice in the freezer melted.
Here’s the thing: it might be fine. But it might also not, and some toxins that result as a consequence of improper food storage can land you in the hospital. And if you’re in the U.S., the hospital is much more expensive than a load of groceries.
I would throw out the bean/sausage stew. (Sorry…) I would keep cheeses, eggs, condiments, jams. Milk is probably iffy. I’d probably get rid of that. I would also get rid of any meats that you have sitting in the refrigeration compartment, not frozen.
You can check your veggies and see which ones look totally wilted or ugly.
PS: This is my experience based on living in Florida and going through storms without power.
I would not throw anything away unless the look or smell of it gave me a reason to. It’s good to be cautious but people are way too quick to say to throw everything away. It’s easy to tell someone else to throw away all of their food and start over when it’s not coming out off their bank account.
Look up “fried rice syndrome” or Bacillus cereus, but if you do you may never eat rice again.
Smell and look test. I’d be eating the stuff.