The Easiest Way To Prevent Gross Fridge Odor From Happening After Your Power Goes Out

If there is a storm bearing down on you and you know there's a high chance of the power going out, you know a fridge full of warming food is a possibility, but there are important steps you can take ahead of time to prepare for food odors and spoilage. Loading your fridge with frozen ice packs ahead of time can help keep it cool if the power shuts down, and grouping cold food together can help it stay cool even as the temperature warms. It also helps to have a separate cooler ready to move any perishable items into during a prolonged outage. But no matter how else you prepare, you should also stave off odors by using a sponge.

It seems almost too simple to be true, but a basic sponge can absorb odors from warm and spoiling food in your fridge. That's because the odors from food spread more in moist environments. A dry sponge sitting in the fridge will slowly absorb excess moisture, preventing odors from getting worse. You can even make the sponge trick more effective by using baking soda. You probably already use it to absorb odors in other areas, and baking soda sprinkled lightly on a sponge will absorb some of the odors naturally drawn to the sponge through the moisture in your fridge. If you are extra worried about odors, you can also increase the odor-absorbing power by putting multiple sponges throughout your fridge.

The sponge trick will give you some peace of mind around bad food smells, which means you'll have less of a reason to open your fridge to check on your food when the power goes out. When that happens, you should never open your fridge and freezer if you don't have to. It can help to have shelf-stable snacks and meals prepared, if that will prevent you from doing so as well. Even when closed, a fridge will only stay cold for about four hours after losing power, and opening it in between will drastically cut down on that time.

One of the other big steps you can take to prepare perishable foods for power outages is freezing them ahead of time. You should especially prioritize meat, dairy, seafood, and leftovers, which will go bad faster than fruits and vegetables. Well-packed freezers will also actually stay cold longer, so getting as much food in there as possible is a good thing. Full freezers will stay cold much longer than your fridge, up to 48 hours, as long as you don't open them. However, freezers that are only half full may only stay cold for up to 24 hours. With the proper preparation, you can keep most of your food safe after a power outage for quite a while, and for what doesn't survive, you'll have your trusty sponge and baking soda to back you up.