Does food need to be kept colder in winter than in other seasons? Are your needs for winter refrigeration different than they are the rest of the year? How do you ensure your food is safe to eat during unexpected weather conditions? Here’s what you need to know about winter refrigeration.
Ideal Refrigeration Temperatures
No matter how cold or warm the weather gets, your food needs the same basic temperature to remain safe. Refrigerated foods must be kept at a maximum of 40 degrees. Any higher, and you risk bacteria growth. It also needs to be above 32 degrees or your food will start to freeze.
Your freezer, meanwhile, should be kept around 0 degrees. This is the temperature required to neutralize the bacteria in the food and keep it from rotting, spoiling, or growing mold. Also, be aware that this doesn’t kill the bacteria; it merely renders them temporarily harmless. As the food warms up again, the risk of spoiling returns.
Power Outages and Winter Refrigeration
While Arizona doesn’t get very cold, it can get windy, which can knock out your power. In colder climates, residents can remove the food from their refrigerators during an outage and put it in the garage to keep it cold. Unfortunately, that only works if the temperature remains consistently below 40 degrees, which in Yuma isn’t something you can count on.
How do you keep food from rotting when the power is out, then? The best way is to keep the doors closed. Even without power, your refrigerator can retain the cold air for about four hours, while your freezer can remain cold for as long as 48 hours.
However, every time you open the refrigerator or freezer doors, you let warm air in and speed up the rotting process. If the power goes out, eat nonrefrigerated foods. If it’s out for more than a few hours, take out some of the more perishable foods and put them in a cooler.
We do not work on residential refrigerators, call your appiance repair for those needs. For help with your winter heating and summer air conditioning at any time of year, contact us at Hansberger Refrigeration and Electric Company. We proudly serve all of Yuma’s home-comfort needs.
