Well, it turns out this trickdoesnt workand could actually hide the fact that your power went out.
What is the penny in the freezer trick?
The idea is that when youre away for weeks, your freezer could lose power without you knowing.
If the penny is still on top, all was well.
First: Ice floats.
I used an IKEAKALAScup, which holds about eight ounces of liquid.
Surprisingly, I found it took less than two hours for the water to freeze.
11 a.m.: I remove the cup from the freezer.
I keep the cups on my desk, so I can watch them throughout the day as I write.
12 p.m.: I am out to lunch.
1:02 p.m.: The ice has melted all around the edge of the cup.
There is now a puck of ice, with the penny still on top, floating(?)
I hear a clink.
There you have it: For the first two hours, the penny stayed at the top.
And then, in the blink of an eye, the penny was at the bottom.
So this trick is useless at telling youhow muchmelting occurred, and is unreliable at telling youwhethermelting occurred.
But theres a better way to get that information.
If they melt, youll find a block of solid ice when you return.
TheUniversity of Nebraska suggestskeeping a zip-top baggie of ice cubes in your freezer.
(A closed cup or container would also be fine.)
They recommend the baggie or closed container because ice can evaporate slowly over time.
In an open cup, your ice cubes might get smaller or even disappear without having melted.
Or is it a rock-hard block of refrozen ice cream soup?
Thats because it was never their idea in the first place.
A brief outage of just a few hours isnt going to ruin your food.
If the power is still out, you’ve got the option to refer tothis chart from foodsafety.gov.
Items that are only partially thawed, with ice crystals still present, can often be refrozen.
Items that were fully thawed should almost always be discarded.
The exceptions are things like muffins or hard cheeses that are safe to eat at room temperature normally.
