Before the Next Big Minnesota Storm, Try This Freezer Trick

With severe storm season in full swing here in Rochester and across Minnesota, there's a good chance your home could lose power sometime this summer, which is why every Minnesota resident should know about this hack for your freezer!

Does your home have a second freezer? According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 48 percent of households in the West North Central U.S. region, which includes Minnesota, say they have a separate standalone freezer. These are often either a part of a second refrigerator or a separate chest/garage freezer, and are usually located in a basement, garage, or other storage space.

When those powerful thunderstorms knock out power, your second freezers can quickly start to warm up, especially if you open them. That can cause the food inside to thaw and potentially spoil before the power kicks back on and refreezes everything. And if you’re not checking it regularly, you might not even know it happened.

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The Viral One-Cup Freezer Trick Explained

Which is why this viral trick involving a cup of ice and a quarter is something you'll want to check out. The trick works like this, according to Reader's Digest: First, place a cup full of water in your freezer. Then, once it’s entirely frozen, put a quarter on top of the ice. Finally, leave the cup with the quarter in your freezer.

So, what purpose does this cup of ice with a quarter on it serve? Apparently, it can tell you if your freezer stopped working without you knowing it, potentially thawing and ruining everything else that's inside it. According to Reader's Digest, here's what it means:

What the Position of the Quarter Means for Your Food

• If the quarter is on top: The contents of the freezer stayed frozen and are safe to eat.
• If the quarter is in the middle: The contents of the freezer likely began to thaw if your power went out or your freezer stopped working, but then came back on and refroze quickly. You’ll want to check each container of food to be certain.
• If the quarter is at the bottom: Thanks to a power outage or malfunction, the freezer fully defrosted, and the food thawed. Assume the food’s unsafe to eat and throw it out.

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This trick has also been popularized in several other places, as well, as this Facebook post from a few years ago notes:

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But does it work? Well, Reader's Digest says it *might* be a sign that your freezer stopped working or lost power, but that it's not the best judge in determining if any frozen food items you might have stored in it are still safe to eat.

And that's mainly because different foods thaw at speeds that are different than the ice in the cup. So while the quarter might still be in the middle of the cup, it doesn't necessarily mean your other frozen items are still safe to eat.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has an entire set of Freezing and Food Safety guidelines, and recommends using this rule of thumb if you think your food might have thawed and then refroze again in your freezer: When in doubt, throw it out!