Before heading out, place a coin in your freezer.

Before leaving your home unattended, it’s important to take steps to ensure that the food in your freezer stays safe in case the power goes out. A simple trick using a mug of water and a penny can help you determine whether your frozen items remained solid while you were away. In this revised guide, we’ll look at how this clever method works and why it’s so useful for protecting your frozen food.

Keeping Frozen Food Safe

Unexpected power outages can happen while you’re traveling or away from home. When the electricity cuts off, the food in your freezer may thaw—and if it refreezes, it can be difficult to know whether it’s still safe to eat. Sheila Pulanco Russell shared an easy technique that helps you identify whether a thaw occurred.

Sheila’s Simple Trick

Sheila Pulanco Russell’s idea requires only two items: a mug of water and a penny. With this quick method, you can check the status of your frozen food as soon as you get home.

1. Fill a mug with water and place it in your freezer.
2. After the water is completely frozen, set a penny on top of the ice.

Why This Works

The concept is straightforward. If the power goes out while you’re away, the ice in the mug will begin to melt just like the rest of the freezer’s contents. When the power returns, the water will refreeze—potentially trapping the penny inside or dropping it to the bottom of the mug. If the penny is no longer resting on top of the ice, it’s a sign that the freezer warmed up enough for the ice to melt, meaning your food may have thawed and then frozen again.

This handy test is especially helpful for frequent travelers or anyone who leaves frozen food stored for long periods. It’s an easy way to feel confident about the condition of your food when you return home.

A Popular and Trusted Method

When Sheila posted this tip on Facebook, it quickly gained traction. Tens of thousands of people reacted and shared the idea, praising its simplicity and practicality. Many found it to be a valuable solution for monitoring freezer temperature changes.

More Helpful Advice

Sheila’s “one-cup tip” is also useful for longer trips. By keeping a cup of frozen water with a coin on top, you can instantly see whether the contents of your freezer stayed frozen or melted and refroze—something that can save you from eating spoiled food or spending money on unnecessary appliance repairs.

This method is cost-free, easy to set up, and extremely effective for anyone who has dealt with food spoilage due to power outages or unreliable refrigerators.

Food Safety Reminders

Knowing whether food has thawed fully is essential for preventing foodborne illness. The coin-in-a-cup trick can help:

• If the coin has sunk to the bottom of the cup, the ice melted completely—meaning the food likely thawed and should be thrown out.
• If the coin is near the top or only slightly below the surface, your food likely stayed cold enough to remain safe.

When in doubt, prioritize your health. If you’re uncertain whether the food is still safe, the safest choice is to discard it. Using this method makes it much easier to judge whether your frozen items stayed properly chilled.