Which foods in emergency supplies can be preserved longer by refrigeration?
Created: 05.12.2022, 18:30
By: Janine Napirca
Refrigeration is a method of making food last longer.
But how do you cool with no power in a blackout?
Are you and your groceries well prepared for a possible power outage?
If there is a crisis and a blackout, the refrigerator will also fail.
In the following you can read why refrigeration is a preservation method to make food last longer, what other options there are and what to do with refrigerated food without electricity.
What foods do you keep in the fridge to make them last longer?
© Kiko Jimenez/Imago
There are also dishes that do not require electricity at all to store and prepare.
Do you already know Chili sin Carne with ingredients that all come from the can?
Stock up on emergency supplies: why does food last longer in the fridge?
Certain foods in your emergency supply can and should be kept in the refrigerator to extend their shelf life.
On the one hand, cooling prevents bacteria and fungi from growing, and on the other hand, the degradation processes provoked by the enzymes contained in food are slowed down.
However, make sure that the packaging and storage boxes are well sealed so that one product does not take on the taste of another or your entire fridge suddenly smells of cheese.
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Which foods last longer if you keep them in the fridge?
What you store where in the fridge depends on the different temperatures that prevail in the fridge:
4 to 5 degrees Celsius: It is coldest on the lowest shelf in the refrigerator.
This is where you should keep meat, fish and home-cooked food.
6 to 7 degrees Celsius: The other shelves are suitable for dairy products, smoked products and open tins.
8 to 10 degrees Celsius: As the name suggests, you can store vegetables and fruit in the vegetable drawer.
Examples of vegetables that you can store in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator include artichokes, leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, chicory, endive, peas, herbs, green beans, spring onions, cabbage, leeks, carrots, mushrooms, radishes, radishes, beets, Lettuce, lettuce mixes, celery, asparagus, spinach and sweet corn.
Apples, apricots, blackberries, strawberries, figs, blueberries, raspberries, cherries and grapes also belong in the vegetable drawer.
10 to 12 degrees Celsius: The doors of the refrigerator are the warmest.
Use it to store drinks, butter, eggs, salad dressing, sauces or tubes.
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Blackout: How to cool food during a blackout without power?
If the power goes out for a short time in an emergency, you can bridge at least two days if you take the necessary precautions.
Incidentally, this is not only recommended for a possible blackout.
Your refrigerator can also break down or you want to make preparations for a move.
After transport, you must not immediately reconnect the refrigerator to the power supply.
How to cool food during a power outage?
Always keep cool packs (alternatively plastic bottles filled with still water) ready in your freezer, which you can put in a cool box in an emergency.
This is where you temporarily store the food from your fridge.
In winter you can also store groceries on the balcony or terrace.
What foods should you not refreeze after defrosting?
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Stock up on emergency supplies: What other methods are there to make food last longer?
If the refrigeration fails, you have to resort to alternative preservation methods.
In the following table from the
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
you will find various ways to make food last longer.
Overview of methods for preserving food and their possible storage duration:
procedure | Food | storage duration |
|---|---|---|
Cool | butter, eggs, milk, fish, meat, fruit, vegetables | one day to several months |
Freeze | Vegetables, fish, meat, fruit, baked goods, home-made meals | a few months to a year |
Sugar | Jam, marmalade, jelly, fruit syrup, candied fruit | a few months to a year |
boil down | Fruit and vegetable juices, jams, marmalades, jellies, chutneys | up to one year |
drying | Dried fruit, legumes, herbs, cereals | up to one year |
Salt | Fish, meat, meat products | weeks to months |
salting | meat, meat products | some weeks |
fumigation | Meat fish | weeks to months |
acidify | Cucumbers, mixed pickles, fish, sweet and sour pickled fruit and vegetables | some months |
lactic acid fermentation | Sauerkraut, sour beans, pickles | some months |
pickling in alcohol | Rumtopf, fruits in alcohol | some months |
Soaking in preserving solutions | Eggs, herbs, feta cheese | weeks to months |
Source: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture
You can extend the shelf life of fruit in emergency supplies, for example, by drying or dehydrating it, then you don’t need a refrigerator for that either.
But candying is also a good way to make fruit last longer.
While you can preserve meat and fish by smoking, you can ferment sauerkraut and vegetables to extend their shelf life.
Do you know Korean Kimchi?
The fermented vegetable dish is very easy to prepare.
