Yay or Nay on warm fridge food

[pacanis]

OK, so like I said in another thread, my fridge fizzled again last weekend and was at 50F for probably three days. So today various food items hit the trash and some I thought should still be OK.
Without going over the stuff already in the trash, things I saved (but could still be chucked of course) are:
My salad dressings, either vinegar or tomato based. Ranch and the like were tossed.
BBQ sauces.
Catsup, mustard, spicy mustard. Mayo was tossed.
Vacuum sealed cheddar. Tossed the Am cheese.
Unopened pop-up biscuit container.
Jarred spaghetti sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Butter
Pickles
Carrots

Watchya think?

 

[babetoo]

OK, so like I said in another thread, my fridge fizzled again last weekend and was at 50F for probably three days. So today various food items hit the trash and some I thought should still be OK.
Without going over the stuff already in the trash, things I saved (but could still be chucked of course) are:
My salad dressings, either vinegar or tomato based. Ranch and the like were tossed.
BBQ sauces.
Catsup, mustard, spicy mustard. Mayo was tossed.
Vacuum sealed cheddar. Tossed the Am cheese.
Unopened pop-up biscuit container.
Jarred spaghetti sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Butter
Pickles
Carrots

Watchya think?

the only thing i see that might be a problem is the spaghetti sauce. not sure why, just would bother me. do u have fridg. fixed

babe

 

[QSis]

I think you were a lot more conservative than I would have been.

You're fine.

Lee

 

[pacanis]

Thanks. I'll toss that, too.
I was thinking that because it seems to last so long it would still be good, but it was opened for a week prior, so probably not

Yeah, it's fixed. Seven years old and four fan motors already. Next time it's outta here

 

[mcnerd]

I think you should be okay with most of the condiment items since they contain enough preservatives, but keep an eye on them in the coming days/weeks for any discoloration or growths.

If the jar of spaghetti sauce was never opened then it would be okay, but if opened then toss.

 

[pacanis]

I think you were a lot more conservative than I would have been.

You're fine.

Lee

Tossing all that bacon I had killed me (so to speak).
I just wish I had payed more attention to the warm temps, but it has always fluctuated a lot.

Thanks for your input, Lee

 

[pacanis]

I think you should be okay with most of the condiment items since they contain enough preservatives, but keep an eye on them in the coming days/weeks for any discoloration or growths.

If the jar of spaghetti sauce was never opened then it would be okay, but if opened then toss.

So in other words, I may receive "culture"?
Nice sig

 

[suziquzie]

Had the same problem 2 months ago.
Threw out nothing.... but kept everything in a cooler on ice for 3 days.
WE LIVED.
Nothing growing yet but I'm still paranoid.
You'll know if you don't hear from me next week...........

 

[MexicoKaren]

Because it is so humid here, the refrigerator occasionally goes crazy and the evaporator thing that does the automatic defrosting freezes up, especially if it sits open for too long. So I have to go through the whole drill, emptying the frig and letting it sit unplugged for about 12 hours to defrost (or I can hurry it along with a hair dryer.) Fortunately, I have another refrigerator on the back service porch just for beverages, but it is much smaller, and I have to cram stuff in there. I usually have a few casualties, so I have to "triage" carefully. "Yes" to the bacon, "sorry about that" to the tortillas. Fortunately, the dogs all love tortillas.

 

[pot clanger]

Food safety sez not to let temp go above 38 degrees F.... but I think my fridge is at 42 and I ain't dead YET!

.....And when all else fails, "the nose knows..."

 

[mcnerd]

but I think my fridge is at 42 and I ain't dead YET!

Give it time. It is said that 94% of claimed flu symptoms are actually food poisoning.

 

[jkath]

I'm really overly cautious on stuff like that - I probably would have chucked it all.

Question - why is there ketchup in the fridge? Check the bottle - most big brand types need no refrigeration.

 

[pacanis]

Question - why is there ketchup in the fridge? Check the bottle - most big brand types need no refrigeration.

I don'y have any relatives, family, friends who do not keep catsup in the fridge. Just the way I was brought up I guess..... but I know I read about room temp catsup being OK here. That's why I figured my tomato based stuff would be OK, because of the acidity.
Plus I love cold catsup. It doesn't taste as "tomatoey" as room temp catsup. A hot french fry, a dip into cold castup, mmmm, the best of both worlds

Obviously your taste may vary

 

[mozart]

I don'y have any relatives, family, friends who do not keep catsup in the fridge. Just the way I was brought up I guess..... but I know I read about room temp catsup being OK here. That's why I figured my tomato based stuff would be OK, because of the acidity.
Plus I love cold catsup. It doesn't taste as "tomatoey" as room temp catsup. A hot french fry, a dip into cold castup, mmmm, the best of both worlds

Obviously your taste may vary

Spaghetti sauce may well have a Ph above the magic 4.6 number. Your list looked very good to me.

 

[LadyCook61]

I was wondering if you have a big cooler , you get some ice from the store and try to keep the stuff cold in there temporarily.

 

[pacanis]

Spaghetti sauce may well have a Ph above the magic 4.6 number. Your list looked very good to me.

"OH, NOOOOOO", I threw it out already

 

[mcnerd]

Spaghetti sauce may well have a Ph above the magic 4.6 number. Your list looked very good to me.

Actually you want a number BELOW that number. Lower numbers means acidic.
Though tomato sauce might be acidic enough to survive room temperature, the other non-acidic ingredients would bring the acidic level way down.

 

[mozart]

Actually you want a number BELOW that number. Lower numbers means acidic.
Though tomato sauce might be acidic enough to survive room temperature, the other non-acidic ingredients would bring the acidic level way done.

What mcnerd said

 

[Michael in FtW]

You did good, pacanis! The only iffy thing on the list would be the jarred spaghetti sauce ... especially if it had been opened for 3-4 days. Once opened the pH doesn't mean squat - it will mold given time and temp (even at 38ºF)!

I can think of few things in life as painful as having to throw away bacon ...

Now, if by "Unopened pop-up biscuit container" you mean a can of biscuits - you may want to use these in the very near future. They will not be bad - but they might pop the can open.

 

[VeraBlue]

The question you need to ask yourself is this: Would you eat any of this stuff if you left it on the counter for three days? Regardless if the fridge temperature was 50 or 85, your window of opportunity closed 2 days and 22 hour ago.

50 is the same as room temperature. In other words, anything that isn't 40 is bad and wrong. From what you mentioned, the only thing I'd have kept would have been the ketchup.