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Post by tenbusybees on Jul 23, 2019 15:05:57 GMT
As y'all know our a/c went out last week. It's being fixed as I type. Woohoo!
We have two fridges in the kitchen one that we work out of and the other to keep the cold back stock. Since we haven't been cooking we haven't really gotten into the 2nd fridge.
The fridge couldn't keep up with the heat and yesterday I noticed everything defrosted in the freezer and inside the refrigerated section is cool at best. The dairy stuff is curdled and separated. 
I wasn't sure if the fridge went out or just couldn't keep up so I put a cup of water in the fridge last night. It was frozen so that leads me to believe once the a/c gets fixed we'll be back in business.
However...
Do you think I can/should try to salvage some of the stuff from the fridge? (chickens, dogs, and cats ate reeeaallly good last night on the once frozen stuff)
More specifically: 16# of butter? It's not completely soft but it's not solid either. Almond milk? Unopened. Condiments? Gallon jugs of mustard, worchestshire sauce, liquid smoke, and ketchup Pickle and olives? We have a gallon jug of black olives and jars of fermented dill relish Misc? homemade jellies, unopened coconut aminos, kefir grains, hot sauce
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Post by Ken on Jul 23, 2019 15:09:02 GMT
As y'all may know our a/c went out last week. It's being fixed as I type. Woohoo! Fixed that for ya! I didn't know!  |
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Post by Melissa on Jul 23, 2019 15:15:27 GMT
tenbusybees, The freezer part may freeze but the refrigerator part could still not be cold enough. Sometimes you have to shut it off and let it completely thaw. The vents can become frozen and not allow cold air to circulate into the refrigerator part. Everything you listed I would save. The butter is the only one that might be iffy fresh. I would still use it for baking.
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Post by Ken on Jul 23, 2019 15:15:34 GMT
More specifically:
16# of butter? It's not completely soft but it's not solid either. This should be fine. Almond milk? Unopened. Was it from a refrigerated section at the store? If not, it's prob ok. Condiments? Gallon jugs of mustard, worchestshire sauce, liquid smoke, and ketchup All opened? I would prob toss. Pickle and olives? We have a gallon jug of black olives and jars of fermented dill relish In brine or fermented should be fine. Misc? homemade jellies, unopened coconut aminos, kefir grains, hot sauce coconut aminos and kefir should be fine. unsure about rest. Bear in mind, I don't know how cool the inside of the frig was. Prob everything is ok, but you may not want to chance it. |
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Post by Ken on Jul 23, 2019 15:18:43 GMT
... Everything you listed I would save. The butter is the only one that might be iffy fresh. I would still use it for baking. That's funny, Melissa. The only thing you worried about is the only thing I don't worry about. We set butter out on the counter and it can stay there for days before it's used (but it's usually used pretty quick as we use LOTS of butter). Sometimes we have to pick gnats out, but it never goes bad.  |
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Post by tenbusybees on Jul 23, 2019 15:29:19 GMT
Oh, and a jar of bacon grease?
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Post by tenbusybees on Jul 23, 2019 15:39:26 GMT
It's cool enough that I can leave a finger print indentionin the butter but it's not soft enough to make cookies. We leave butter on the counter too and it's never gone bad but I was unsure what it would do to go from semi soft to cold again? I'm unsure of the condiments the most. That's a lot too lose and they're all organic, so pricy to replace. Growing up we didn't refrigerate them at all. But still... Same with bacon grease. I know a lot of older people especially never, ever fridge it. Just use it out of a coffee cup on the back of the stove as needed. Good point, Melissa, I'll turn off the fridge and get it to reset. Thanks, y'all! |
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Post by feather on Jul 23, 2019 15:47:43 GMT
What a bummer to have to deal with a warm refrigerator. If the condiments are high in salt or have vinegar in them, they are less likely to go bad. (if they are in a jug with a narrow opening, you won't be able to look at the surface of the condiment, to see if it has gone bad/has mold-so if it is good now, you can move it into jars, so you can tell one way or the other) Bacon grease, if it has much moisture in it, it may go bad, but if it is just fat and no water, mold can't grow in just fat alone, so it will be good longer. When we were using butter, we'd also leave it out for days without a problem. |
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Post by mountainlover on Jul 23, 2019 17:09:49 GMT
I have always gone by taste. I forget a meal and leave it out for 24 hours after cooking it atleast once a month. I do a smell test and then a taste test of a small sample. Teaspoon worth. Out had anyways worked for me.
Rice is the only tricky one. I read there are invisible spores that develop and cause illnesses so we would toss any forgotten cooked rice even if it smelled and tasted fine. I see it as way higher cost to get the kids to the hospital over bad rice than the rice itself.
Re: the butter, there was just someone over in the fermented milk post who said they saved large amounts of so-so butter and didn't get ill from it. Some of it just tasted sour.
That really sucks that happened though. I think I read you have a really large family so that sucks even more.
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Post by Melissa on Jul 23, 2019 18:21:12 GMT
I do leave butter out also and it doesn't go bad. Tasting is probably your best option.
Ketchup and pickles and things like that have plenty of vinegar to keep them from spoiling.
My Mom always had a tin can of bacon grease on the stove for frying. We just kept adding to it and taking it out. I don't think it was ever in the refrigerator. We didn't die!
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Post by tenbusybees on Jul 24, 2019 0:03:29 GMT
Yay! I have a nice, clean fridge that is frigid once again!
While the fridge was off and resetting itself this morning I took the opportunity to give a thorough cleaning. Then I stuck a water bottle in the freezer and it's solid. The peach I just got out of the fruit drawer is deliciously ice cold.
Thanks again!
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Post by Bear Foot Farm on Aug 17, 2019 0:15:01 GMT
Many refrigerator/freezers really only use cooling coils in the freezer section and then vent cold air to the refrigerator side. It may be the fan isn't working properly.
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Post by lindym on Aug 20, 2019 0:34:21 GMT
Many refrigerator/freezers really only use cooling coils in the freezer section and then vent cold air to the refrigerator side. It may be the fan isn't working properly. Our 9.9 cf refrigerator is set up like this, its 3.5 years old. The fan went out, I did the research, hubby did the tear down. I called the manufacturer for the part and in passing mentioned it was only 1 month out of warranty, a 12 month one. He looked it up, said he could over-ride the system and sent me out an $85 part free of charge  . This had nothing to do with food spoiling, which is the whole point of the thread, because my daughter had the exact fridge that wasn't being used so hubby pulled her fan to use until the new one came and it got it fixed so fast all food was fine |
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Post by Tim Horton on Aug 21, 2019 0:14:59 GMT
I second the thought to take everything out. Let it thaw to room temp overnight.
WATCH OUT FOR WATER PUDDLES...
Restart, give it overnight to come down to operating temp. If the temp is OK, resume use...
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