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
A Viking built-in’s control holds the compressor off for at least six minutes between runs. A few minutes of silence after the power returns can be that, 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 August 8, 2024. The full chart lists every item.
Frozen Food After a Power Outage
Frozen food is judged by ice crystals rather than by the clock: food that still has them, or reads 40°F or below, can be refrozen, sometimes with a loss of quality. The chart below comes from the same USDA source.
| 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, and a Sub-Zero Built-In 600-2 can say only part of it. Its control stores average compartment temperatures in two-hour intervals, fourteen days of them, and marks the two-hour interval in which the power was interrupted. It records nothing while the power is off, so it cannot say how long the outage lasted or how warm the food got; for that, the USDA rules and an appliance thermometer decide.
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: its control holds the compressor off for at least six minutes between runs, so a unit that seems dead in the first minutes after the power returns may simply be 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. That is the machine’s range, not the food’s: the USDA line for food stays at 40°F. 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 June 15 to September 30 by the National Weather Service’s definition, and its storms can take the power. Built-in repair in Phoenix · what the heat does the rest of the summer.
While the Power Is Out, and After
Six things decide how much food survives an outage, and the first of them costs nothing: keep the doors shut. The rest are about measuring what actually happened rather than guessing at it once the power returns.
- 01 Keep the doors shut: every opening spends some of the four hours USDA
- 02 Do not open the door to check; read an appliance thermometer when the power returns 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 holds its compressor off for at least six minutes between runs 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 can be 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. 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, with exceptions the USDA chart lists: hard cheeses, fruit, breads and a few dry goods can still be refrozen, and vegetables are discarded only after six hours above 40°F.
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 holds the compressor off for at least six minutes between runs, so a few minutes of silence can be 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.
The power came back, but the refrigerator stayed off. Why?
Sub-Zero designs its units to turn back on when power is restored, but a surge protector, an AFCI or a GFCI may keep power from reaching the unit, so it can stay off after an outage; where storms and outages are frequent, Sub-Zero suggests asking an electrician. On a generator, Sub-Zero says to consider one of at least 2,800 watts that delivers at least 104 volts continuously, and not to rely on it long term.
Sources
- FoodSafety.gov, “Food Safety During Power Outage”: the refrigerated and frozen food charts, and checking an appliance thermometer when the power comes back on, last reviewed August 8, 2024.
- Sub-Zero Built-In (600-2) Series technical service manual: the temperature log of 168 two-hour intervals, the marker for an interval in which the power was interrupted, 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 technical service guide 31-9091 (2002) for Monogram side-by-side refrigerators, normal operating temperatures.
- National Weather Service Phoenix, monsoon awareness: the monsoon season, June 15 to September 30.
- Sub-Zero, internal surge protectors: a unit designed to turn back on when power returns, and a surge protector, AFCI or GFCI that may keep it off. Sub-Zero, generator considerations: 2,800 watts, 104 volts, not for long-term use.
Written from these sources and reviewed on (checked again ) by Aphelion Appliance Repair, Phoenix. Nothing here is a manufacturer’s instruction; procedures inside a sealed system are a technician’s work.
Read Next
- What a Phoenix summer asks of a refrigeratorRoom heat, condenser dust and monsoon outages, and five checks before you call.
- Error codes, and what they meanSub-Zero 600-2 codes and Viking VCC3 flash codes, from the manuals.
- Sub-Zero, Viking, Monogram: side by sideTwelve rows from the service manuals, three built-ins compared.
- Not cooling at all, before anyone says compressorWarm on both sides, or silent: what the three makers check first, and why the compressor comes late, if at all.
- Away for the summer: the refrigerator, on or offSub-Zero says off, empty and doors open past a week; GE past a month. The vacation modes, the ice maker, monsoon outages and the first day back.
- Home warranty on a Sub-Zero, Wolf or Viking: what the contract paysArizona contracts read line by line: the limits, who picks the technician, and what homeowners insurance covers.
Warm after the storm?
Tell us what the display says and when the power returned. We answer every day, 7am–6pm.