Why Are People Putting A Cup Of Ice With A Coin On Top In Their Freezer?

Picture this : you ’re check in on your parents ’ house while they ’re on vacation . The perfect time to bust their deep freezer for delicious good , of course , but when you reach the door in hunt of shabu pick , you find something strange – a frozen cup of water with a coin on top . Why on Earth is that in the freezer ?

It may well be because of a “ life literary hack ” that ’s been wide shared on social medium and evenlocal newsthat aim to get you know if your deep-freeze ’s lost power , and thus whether or not you should eat its contents .

The idea get that you first occupy a cup of some variety with water and pop it in the freezer . Once the water is wintry , pop a coin on top of it and then put it back in the freezer .

It ’s mostly suggest that if the coin has only go under a little piece , the deep freezer has n’t been off long and the solid food inside is safe to eat . If the coin is at the bottom , then you should probably thrust the food for thought out .

While this method has overspread far and blanket on the cyberspace , it ’s not necessarily the most dependable . After all , shabu floats – if everything melts apart from a roundabout of meth below the coin , then refreezes , there ’d be no reading from this “ trick ” alone that anything had even occur .

Food safety is no joke , so what are some better ways to figure out if a Deepfreeze might ’ve lost index ?

fit in to theUniversity of Nebraska , one simple trick is to down a duo of trash cubes into a sealed plastic bag or container . If the ice cubes stay on as they are , the freezer either has n’t been off or was only off for a very short amount of time . If the frosting block have melt done , or been replaced by a solid chunk of shabu , then the freezer ’s been off for an extended period of meter .

you could alsotake a lookat the literal food that ’s in the deep freezer – does it still have ice crystals or still feel cold ? For some solid food , like internal-combustion engine cream , ice crystals propose the freezer has deice and the dessert should be thrown out .

Can you see any mold , or smell anything that ’s a bit funky ( although that’snot always reliable ) ? Whatever you do , do n’t taste it – if it has been thawed and refrozen , the prospect of food poisoning really is n’t worth the risk of infection .

While theUSDAstates that , as long as the door stay closed , intellectual nourishment can stay good in a full freezer for up to 48 hours and in a half - full freezer for up to 24 hours , it also says “ When in Doubt , project it Out ” . In other words , if you are n’t certain about whether something is still dependable to wipe out , barf it – it ’s good to be safe than sorry .