Power Out 8 Hours? What Food to Throw Away and Keep

The power went out at ten last night and came back at six this morning. The fridge is humming again, the milk feels cold, and you're standing in the kitchen with the door open, trying to decide what stays and what goes.

It's one of the most common questions after an outage, and one of the most confusing, because the answer depends on three things: how long the power was out, whether the doors stayed closed, and whether you're talking about the refrigerator or the freezer. They follow very different rules.

Here's how to sort it out calmly, one shelf at a time.

How long is food good in the refrigerator without power?

Those numbers only hold if the doors stay shut. Every time the refrigerator opens, cold air spills out and the clock speeds up. That's the single most useful thing to remember in the first minutes of an outage: take out what you need in one trip, then leave the doors closed.

The other number that matters is 40°F. Refrigerated food is considered safe at or below that temperature. Above it, bacteria that cause foodborne illness multiply much faster, which is why the rules are built around how long food spent above that line.

A timeline: 2 hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, overnight, and beyond

Power out 2 hours

If the doors stayed closed, both the refrigerator and freezer should be fine. Carry on as normal once the power returns.

Power out 4 hours

This is the refrigerator's limit. If the outage looks like it will keep going, this is the moment to move perishables into a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs, keeping them at 40°F or below. The freezer is still fine.

Power out 8 hours

Refrigerated perishables that stayed in a warming refrigerator should be thrown out. That includes the milk that still feels cold, because cold to the touch isn't the same as 40°F or below. Food you moved to a cooler with ice in time, and kept cold, is a different story. The freezer is still fine if the door stayed closed.

Eight hours is also the line for one specific item: opened mayonnaise, tartar sauce, and horseradish should be discarded if they sat above 50°F for more than 8 hours.

Power out overnight, 10 to 12 hours

Same answer as 8 hours for the refrigerator. The freezer should still be holding, especially a full one.

Power out 24 hours or more

A half-full freezer reaches its limit around the 24-hour mark, and a full one around 48. From here on, check freezer items individually for ice crystals or use a thermometer (more on both below). Refrigerated perishables should have been moved to coolers with ice many hours ago, or discarded.

What to throw out after 4 hours in a warm refrigerator

These are the foods FoodSafety.gov lists as discards once they've been held above 40°F for more than 2 hours, which a refrigerator without power passes somewhere after the 4-hour mark:

• Meat, poultry, fish, and seafood, raw or cooked, including thawing meat.
• Lunch meat, hot dogs, bacon, and sausage.
• Milk, cream, yogurt, sour cream, and soy milk.
• Soft cheeses such as mozzarella, brie, cottage cheese, cream cheese, and ricotta, plus shredded and low-fat cheeses.
• Eggs, including hard-boiled eggs and egg dishes.
• Leftovers, including casseroles, soups, stews, pizza, and cooked pasta or rice.
• Opened spaghetti sauce and creamy dressings.
• Cut fresh fruit and pre-cut, pre-washed greens.
• Opened baby formula.
• Anything that raw meat juices may have dripped onto.

What's usually still fine

This list surprises most people. According to the same FoodSafety.gov chart, these are generally safe to keep even after the refrigerator warms up:

• Hard cheeses such as cheddar, Swiss, Parmesan, and provolone, plus processed cheese.
• Butter and margarine.
• Whole, uncut fresh fruit and raw vegetables.
• Opened fruit juice and opened canned fruit.
• Peanut butter, jelly, mustard, ketchup, relish, pickles, and olives.
• Soy, barbecue, and Worcestershire sauces, and opened vinegar-based dressings.
• Bread, rolls, and dried fruit.

Even on the keep list, trust your eyes and nose in one direction only: if anything has an unusual color, texture, or odor, throw it out. A normal smell, though, doesn't prove food is safe.

Your freezer: when can you refreeze food?

The freezer is the good news in most outages. Food that partially or completely thawed can be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40°F or below. Its texture and flavor may suffer, but it's safe.

If a freezer item has fully thawed and sat above 40°F for more than 2 hours, it follows the same rules as the refrigerator list above.

A full freezer holds its temperature longer than a half-empty one, because frozen food keeps other frozen food cold. If yours is only partly full, grouping packages together helps them protect each other.

"I don't know how long the power was out. Now what?"

Maybe it happened while you were at work, away for the weekend, or asleep. This is where most food safety advice gets vague, so here's a practical order to work through.

First, try to find out. Your utility's outage map or app often shows when an outage started and when power was restored in your area. Smart devices can help too: a thermostat, doorbell camera, or home hub app will usually show when it went offline and came back.

Second, check the freezer. Look for ice crystals in each item. Anything with ice crystals, or reading 40°F or below on a thermometer, can be refrozen.

Third, check the refrigerator. A thermometer only shows the temperature right now. Once the power is back, the refrigerator starts cooling down again, so a 40°F reading can't tell you how long food sat warmer while the power was off. If you can't establish that the outage was under 4 hours, treat the perishables as discards.

About the coin trick. You may have seen the tip about freezing a cup of water with a coin on top: if the coin sinks, the freezer thawed. It can tell you that the ice melted completely. What it can't tell you is that food stayed safe, because the ice can melt partway and refreeze without the coin moving. It's a helpful clue, not a guarantee. A thermometer is the more reliable tool.

And when you've gone through all of that and still aren't sure, the official guidance is simple: when in doubt, throw it out.

Why you should never taste food to test it

It's a natural instinct. The chicken looks fine, it smells fine, a tiny bite would settle it.

But the bacteria that cause foodborne illness usually don't change how food looks, smells, or tastes. Some also produce toxins that cooking won't destroy, so heating it up doesn't make it safe either.

Your senses can tell you when food has spoiled. They can't tell you when food is safe.

That's why every official food safety source gives the same instruction: never taste food to decide.

If you have a refrigerator thermometer

An appliance thermometer is the one tool that turns guesswork into an answer. The USDA recommends keeping one in both the refrigerator and the freezer, with the refrigerator at 40°F or below and the freezer at 0°F or below.

Check it the moment the power comes back, before the refrigerator starts cooling down again. If it reads 40°F or below and the outage was under 4 hours, your food is fine. If it reads higher, or the outage ran longer than 4 hours, assume perishables spent more than 2 hours above 40°F and use the discard list. A reading taken later can't tell you what happened while the power was off.

For food in a cooler, keep a thermometer in there too, so you know the ice is actually doing its job.

What about medications and baby formula?

Opened baby formula is on the discard list once it's been above 40°F for more than 2 hours.

Refrigerated medications are a separate question from food. Some can safely sit at room temperature for a period and some can't. Check the label or package insert, and call your pharmacist, who can tell you what applies to your specific medication. If someone in your home relies on a refrigerated medication, that's worth asking about before an outage, not during one.

What to do when the power comes back on

• Check the thermometers first, before opening doors repeatedly.
• Go through the refrigerator item by item using the lists above, and discard anything that doesn't pass.
• Check each freezer item for ice crystals and refreeze what qualifies.
• Clean up any drips from raw meat on shelves and in drawers, and discard anything they touched.
• Let the refrigerator get back down to 40°F before restocking it.
• Write down what you lost. It's useful for restocking and, depending on your policy and the cause, possibly for insurance.

A question worth sitting with

If the power went out while you were away this weekend, how would you know, when you got home, whether the food in your refrigerator was still safe?

If the honest answer is "I'd have to guess," that's the one thing to fix. A thermometer on the top shelf turns that guess into a number.

The short version

A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours. After that, perishables like meat, dairy, eggs, and leftovers should go, unless they were moved into a cooler with ice and kept at 40°F or below.

The freezer is usually fine: about 48 hours when full, 24 when half full, as long as the door stays closed. Anything with ice crystals or at 40°F or below can be refrozen.

Keep the doors shut. Never taste food to test it. Keep a thermometer in both. And when you truly can't tell, throw it out.

For the rest of an outage, our guide to what to eat when the power is out covers no-cook meals once the refrigerator is off-limits, and how to keep your phone charged helps you keep up with outage updates. If you'd like a head start on outage supplies, our power outage kits, including the StayLit kits, are a good foundation to build on.

Frequently asked questions

How long is food good in the refrigerator without power?

About 4 hours, as long as the door stays closed. After that, refrigerated perishables such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, soft cheese, and leftovers should be discarded unless they were moved to a cooler with ice and kept at 40°F or below.

Is food in the refrigerator safe after 8 hours without power?

Most refrigerated perishables should be thrown out after 8 hours without power. Some items are generally safe to keep, including hard cheeses, butter, uncut fresh fruit, peanut butter, jelly, mustard, ketchup, pickles, and bread. Opened mayonnaise should be discarded if it was above 50°F for more than 8 hours.

How long will food last in the freezer without power?

A full freezer holds a safe temperature for about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer for about 24 hours, as long as the door stays closed.

Can I refreeze food after a power outage?

Yes, if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40°F or below. Its quality may suffer, but it is safe to refreeze.

What if I don't know how long the power was out?

Check your utility's outage map or the history in a smart device app to find the start and end times. Check freezer items for ice crystals. A refrigerator thermometer reading taken after the power returns can't show how long food was above 40°F while it was off. If you can't confirm the outage was under 4 hours, discard refrigerated perishables.

Can I tell if food is safe by smelling or tasting it?

No. The bacteria that cause foodborne illness usually don't change how food looks, smells, or tastes, and some produce toxins that cooking won't destroy. Throw out anything with an unusual odor, color, or texture, but never taste food to decide whether it is safe.

Peace of mind, packed and ready.

Sources: FoodSafety.gov, Food Safety During a Power Outage and refrigerated and frozen food charts; U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service, Keep Your Food Safe During Emergencies; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Keep Food Safe After a Disaster or Emergency.