Why Everybody In Texas Needs A Quarter In Their Freezer Right Now

Just about everybody in Texas needs a quarter in their freezer. I'm talking about the, (mostly), silver coin, ok? Not a bunch of marijuana.

Granted, keeping your mota in the freezer can help keep it fresher ... it can also screw it up, don't ask me how I know this ... but, for now, that's not where I'm going here. Texas is about to get its 1st taste of real winter for 2024 and this little ol' quarter trick could keep Texans from eating tainted food. Or, smoking tainted weed. Maybe.

Back to the food, this freezing quarter trick goes way back but it's simple and it works. C',mon now, frozen quarters don't lie.  With some parts of Texas expecting a serious winter ... 2021 ring a bell anyone? ... this life hack could save yours.

If the power fails, don't keep opening the fridge and freezer to see if things are still cold/frozen. That's just letting heat in and thawing/warming your food quicker. Here's how to tell, in the event you lose power or, (even worse), have to evacuate, whether or not your food survived the outage.

Put a quarter on top of a frozen cup of water and leave it in the freezer. In the event you lose power, have to leave home, etc; this will tell you how your food fared in the meantime. If the quarter is still on top, life is bueno. Otherwise, toss your cookies ... so to speak.

Old Recipes That Stir Childhood Memories says this will tell you whether or not your food fully defrosted and then refroze .. which could make it unsafe to eat ... or stayed frozen. It works like this:

If the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup that means all the food defrosted and you should throw it out. But if the quarter is either on the top or in the middle of the cup then your food may still be ok. - Old Recipes

If you prefer to keep that quarter in your pocket, you can do the same thing with a ziplock bag. Fill it with water, lay it flat and freeze it. Then stand it on end and if you later find it flat again or "lopsided", food, (probably) got defrosted and you should, (probably) get rid of it.

You're (probably) welcome.