According to, there is a simple hack that can help you determine whether it's safe to eat your frozen or refrigerated food after losing power.

I know that there have been many times that we've lost power when I worried that maybe I needed to toss everything from my freezer and fridge. Some folks who have a camp might not even know when they've lost power, and could return to food that had thawed, spoiled and then was frozen again when power returned.

Here's a super simple, wish-I-had-thought-of-that hack:

Fill a glass with water and put it in your freezer until it is frozen. Take it out of the freezer and put a quarter on top of the ice. Put it back into the freezer.

If the ice in the glass melts because you've lost power, the quarter will sink in the glass. If you return to camp and the quarter is in the bottom of the glass, then I would toss those previously frozen venison steaks and sausages. If the quarter is half way down the glass, your food is probably good to go. But my motto is, "If in doubt, throw it out!"

Do you have any good hacks for when summer storms cause a power outage? Comment on our Fan Page.