How to Keep Food Cold When Fridge is Broken
Whether you’re a restaurateur with a walk-in refrigerator or a homeowner with a mini-fridge, both are essential to keeping food fresh. So, what’s the best way to keep food from spoiling if your trusty fridge breaks? A refrigerated trailer can save food on a commercial scale, while a home supply gets temporary aid with some savvy storage techniques. Learn how to keep food cold when fridge is broken to save your livelihood or your next meal.
Food Preservation Tips: How to Keep Food Cold When Fridge is Broken
Once your refrigerator stops working, your food’s freshness is on a ticking clock. Whether you’re waiting for a repair or the power to be restored, there’s only so much time before most items will spoil. To avoid both food waste and financial loss, here’s how to keep food cold when fridge is broken on both a large and small scale.
Walk-In Refrigerator Not Cooling
Anyone in the food service industry knows that keeping frozen and refrigerated food fresh is essential to your livelihood. So when you find your walk-in refrigerator not cooling as it should, refrigerated trailers and emergency freezer rentals are the best preservation options.
Renting a refrigerated trailer and/or freezer quickly keeps large-scale amounts of food at their proper temperatures while waiting for a walk-in repair. Plus, a nominal rental cost saves thousands in wasted food and eliminates the risk of food-borne illness due to improper storage.
How to Save Food When Fridge Breaks
Wondering how to keep food cold when fridge is broken at home? While there are more options for storing a home supply of food, they involve frequent monitoring to maintain a proper temperature. Frozen foods must be kept at a temperature of 0℉ while refrigerated items need to be at or below 40℉ to avoid spoilage.
These options detail how to keep food cold without a fridge while awaiting a residential refrigerator repair :
- Pack a cooler : A properly packed cooler can maintain frozen food or keep refrigerated items cool for 2-4 days, if necessary. For maximum efficiency, layer ice packs, cubes or dry ice in between rows of food, keeping frozen items at the bottom. Top with fruits and vegetables and a final layer of ice. Keep the cooler in a cool spot and monitor its temperature frequently, replacing ice as needed.
- Use your freezer : Move all refrigerated items to the freezer ASAP, where the temperature will remain cooler, longer. Place items close together so contact helps maintain their temperatures. Refrain from opening the freezer door for as long as possible but continue to monitor the internal temperature to avoid spoilage.
- Preserve produce with sand : If your fridge stopped cooling overnight, preserve fruits and root vegetables by filling the crisper drawers with sand. This reduces the moisture that causes produce to spoil and can save some fruits and vegetables that were warmed during the night.
How to Keep Fridge Cold Without Power
While you can never fully plan for a power outage, the right preparation can help your fridge stay colder until power is restored.
Use these tips to keep your refrigerator cool during a power outage :
- Keep ice handy : Storing a ready supply of ice at all times can help maintain freezer temperatures longer during an outage.
- Group items close together : Contact enables food to maintain a shared coolness. Since heat rises, storing items closely together at the bottom of the freezer or refrigerator can also keep them colder, longer.
- Keep the doors closed : With closed doors, a stocked refrigerator can stay cool for 4 hours, while a full freezer remains cold for 2 days.
Knowing how to keep food cold when the fridge is broken can preserve your wallet as well as your food supply. Whether you need a rapid repair or the best-refrigerated trailer rentals in Sacramento, call Authorized Appliance for fast and professional service!
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