After a power outage: keep it, or throw it out.
By USDA guidance a closed refrigerator keeps food safe for up to four hours without power. A full freezer holds for about 48 hours, a half-full one for 24. Perishable food that has spent more than two hours above 40°F is discarded — and never tasted to find out.
The Numbers
The refrigerator
How long a closed refrigerator keeps food safe without power, by USDA guidance. Every opening to check shortens it.
A full freezer
How long a full freezer holds a safe temperature with the door shut. Half full, about 24 hours.
The line
Perishable food held above 40°F for more than two hours is discarded. Frozen food that still has ice crystals, or reads 40°F or below, can be refrozen.
A Viking’s pause
When the power returns, a Viking built-in’s control waits six minutes before it lets the compressor restart. Silence in those minutes is design, not a fault.
Refrigerated Food After a Power Outage
The USDA chart, condensed: what to do with refrigerated food that has been above 40°F for more than two hours. Never taste food to decide; when in doubt, throw it out.
| Food | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Meat, poultry, seafood | |
| Raw or cooked meat, poultry, fish or seafood, including leftovers and soy substitutes | Discard |
| Thawing meat or poultry | Discard |
| Meat, tuna, shrimp, chicken or egg salad | Discard |
| Gravy, stuffing, broth; casseroles, soups, stews | Discard |
| Lunch meats, hot dogs, bacon, sausage; pizza with any topping | Discard |
| Dairy and eggs | |
| Milk, cream, sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, eggnog, soy milk | Discard |
| Butter, margarine | Keep |
| Fresh shell eggs, hard-cooked eggs, egg dishes; custards, puddings, quiche | Discard |
| Opened baby formula | Discard |
| Cheese | |
| Hard cheeses: Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, provolone, Romano; processed cheeses | Keep |
| Soft cheeses: Brie, Camembert, cottage, cream, mozzarella, ricotta, queso fresco and the like | Discard |
| Shredded cheeses; low-fat cheeses | Discard |
| Fruit and vegetables | |
| Fresh fruit, uncut; opened fruit juice; opened canned fruit; dried fruit | Keep |
| Fresh fruit, cut; sliced or shredded coconut | Discard |
| Fresh vegetables, uncut; fresh mushrooms, herbs, spices | Keep |
| Fresh vegetables, cut; pre-cut packaged greens; cooked vegetables; baked potatoes; potato salad | Discard |
| Sauces, spreads, condiments | |
| Peanut butter; jelly, relish, mustard, ketchup, olives, pickles; Worcestershire, soy, barbecue and hoisin sauces; opened vinegar-based dressings | Keep |
| Opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, horseradish | Discard if above 50°F for more than 8 hours |
| Fish and oyster sauces; opened creamy dressings; opened spaghetti sauce | Discard |
| Bread, pasta, pastry | |
| Bread, rolls, cakes, muffins, tortillas; waffles, pancakes, bagels; fruit pies | Keep |
| Refrigerator dough; cooked pasta, rice, potatoes; fresh pasta; pasta salads | Discard |
| Cheesecake; cream-filled pastries; pies with egg or milk fillings | Discard |
Condensed from the USDA chart on FoodSafety.gov, “Food Safety During Power Outage”, last reviewed by the agency on 8 August 2024. The full chart lists every item.
Frozen Food After a Power Outage
The same source for the freezer. The test is ice crystals: food that still has them, or reads 40°F or below, can be refrozen — sometimes with a loss of quality.
| Food | Still has ice crystals, cold as if refrigerated | Above 40°F for more than 2 hours |
|---|---|---|
| Meat, poultry, seafood; soups and stews | Refreeze | Discard |
| Milk | Refreeze (some loss of texture) | Discard |
| Ice cream, frozen yogurt | Discard | Discard |
| Hard cheeses | Refreeze | Refreeze |
| Soft and shredded cheeses; cheesecake | Refreeze | Discard |
| Fruit and fruit juices | Refreeze | Refreeze unless mold, a yeasty smell or sliminess |
| Vegetables and vegetable juices | Refreeze | Discard after 6 hours above 40°F |
| Breads, rolls, muffins, cakes without custard | Refreeze | Refreeze |
| Pies and pastries with custard or cheese filling | Refreeze | Discard |
| Casseroles; frozen meals and pizzas | Refreeze | Discard |
| Flour, cornmeal, nuts; waffles, pancakes, bagels | Refreeze | Refreeze |
Never taste food to judge it. Quality may suffer after refreezing; safety is what the chart is about.
What the refrigerator can tell you.
Most refrigerators cannot say how warm they got or for how long. Some of the built-ins in our kitchens can. The control in a Sub-Zero Built-In 600-2 stores average compartment temperatures in two-hour intervals for more than a week and marks every interval in which the power was interrupted; a technician can read the log back and see exactly when the outage began and how far the temperatures climbed.
The same control lights a SERVICE indicator when it has logged a fault — and a power cycle clears it. So when the power comes back, write down anything on the display before the unit is switched off and on. It is the most useful thing you can tell us.
A Viking built-in behaves differently after the power returns: its control will not restart the compressor for six minutes. A unit that seems dead in those minutes is waiting. Monogram’s guide gives the temperatures to expect once a side-by-side has recovered in a 70°F room — fresh food between 36°F and 46°F, frozen food between −6°F and 6°F at the factory settings. If a cabinet is not back inside those ranges within a few hours of the power returning, something else has happened.
The Phoenix monsoon runs from 15 June to 30 September by the National Weather Service’s definition, and its storms are when most outages here happen. What we see in Phoenix after a storm · what the heat does the rest of the summer.
While the Power Is Out, and After
- 01 Keep the doors shut — every opening spends some of the four hours USDA
- 02 Do not open the door to check; an appliance thermometer inside answers the question 40°F line
- 03 When the power returns, write down what the display shows before anything is switched off Sub-Zero log · SERVICE light
- 04 Give it time: a Viking waits six minutes before the compressor restarts restart dwell
- 05 Sort the food by the chart, not by smell, and never by taste USDA chart
- 06 Not cooling a few hours after the power came back? Note the display and tell us request a visit
If the cabinet is cold again and the food passes the chart, nothing else needs doing. If it is not, the fault is usually one of a short list — a control that lost its settings, a board damaged as the power returned, a door left ajar in the dark — and the $119 visit tells you which.
Power Outage Questions
How long does food last in a refrigerator without power?
By USDA guidance, up to four hours if the door stays closed. After four hours without power, discard perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs and leftovers. A full freezer holds a safe temperature for about 48 hours; a half-full freezer for about 24.
Can I refreeze food that thawed during an outage?
Yes, if it still contains ice crystals or reads 40°F or below; its quality may suffer but it is safe. Food that has been above 40°F for more than two hours is discarded — the exceptions are hard cheeses, fruit, breads and a few dry goods, which the USDA chart lists as safe to refreeze.
The food looks and smells fine. Is it safe?
Looking and smelling fine proves nothing, and the USDA is explicit: never taste food to determine its safety. Judge by time and temperature — more than two hours above 40°F — and by the chart. When in doubt, throw it out.
My refrigerator is silent after the power came back. Is it broken?
Not necessarily. A Viking built-in’s control enforces a six-minute wait before the compressor may restart, so silence in the first minutes is normal. If it has not started cooling within a few hours, or the display shows an error, note what it says and request a visit.
Sources
- FoodSafety.gov, “Food Safety During Power Outage” — the refrigerated and frozen food charts, last reviewed 8 August 2024.
- Sub-Zero Built-In (600-2) Series technical service manual — the temperature log and the SERVICE indicator.
- Viking Preferred Service manual for the built-in all-refrigerator VCRB5301 / VCRB5361 (2012) — the six-minute compressor dwell.
- GE Consumer Home Services training guide 31-9091 for Monogram side-by-side refrigerators — normal operating temperatures.
- National Weather Service — the monsoon season dates.
Written from these sources and reviewed on 17 September 2026 by Aphelion Appliance Repair, Phoenix. Nothing here is a manufacturer’s instruction; procedures inside a sealed system are a technician’s work.
Warm after the storm?
Tell us what the display says and when the power returned. We call you back to set a time.