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Why You Should Always Put A Coin In The Freezer Before You Leave Home
There’s a surprising reason why you should always put a coin in your freezer before you leave home.
Getting ready to go on holiday can often feel more stressful than the trip itself.
There are passports to find, suitcases to pack, flights to check in for, neighbours to update, pets to organise and seemingly endless chores to tick off before you finally walk out the front door.
Most people remember to turn the heating down, lock the windows and use up food that’s close to its expiry date.
But according to thousands of people online, there’s one simple task that many homeowners are completely overlooking, and it could save you from returning to a freezer full of spoiled food without even realizing it.
All it requires is something you almost certainly already own: a coin, a cup and a little bit of water.
The surprisingly clever trick has gone viral after people discovered it can reveal whether your freezer lost power while you were away, even if the electricity came back on before you got home.
Many people have admitted they were amazed they’d never heard of it before.
One Reddit user wrote: “It’s a great tip and I use it all year.”
Another commented: “This is actually amazing.”
A third added: “Why have I never thought of this before? Hopefully I don’t need to leave town, but if plans change then I am definitely doing this.”
For a hack that takes less than five minutes to set up, people say it offers valuable peace of mind while travelling.
Why power cuts can be a bigger problem than you think
Most of us don’t think twice about what’s happening inside our freezer while we’re away.
After all, if the lights are back on when we return home, it’s easy to assume everything stayed frozen the entire time.
But that’s not always the case.
If your home suffers a prolonged power outage while you’re on holiday, the food inside your freezer could begin to thaw.
If electricity is restored before you get back, everything may freeze again—making it almost impossible to tell whether your food partially defrosted days earlier.
That can be a serious issue because some foods may no longer be safe to eat after thawing, even if they’ve been refrozen.
The problem has become increasingly relevant in recent years as extreme weather events, including storms, hurricanes, flooding and heatwaves, continue to cause widespread power outages across many parts of the world.
Without someone checking your home, you might never know the electricity went off.
That’s exactly why so many people swear by this simple freezer trick.
The surprisingly simple freezer hack
Despite going viral online, the method couldn’t be easier.
Before leaving for your trip, fill a cup with water and place it in your freezer without covering it.
Once the water has frozen completely solid, simply place a coin on top of the ice.
Leave the cup inside your freezer for the duration of your holiday. That’s it.
The coin effectively becomes a marker that can show whether the ice melted while you were away.
What the position of the coin actually tells you
When you return home, the first thing you’ll want to do is check where the coin is sitting.
If it’s still resting on top of the frozen ice, that’s the best possible outcome.
It suggests your freezer remained frozen throughout your time away, meaning your food is likely still safe.
However, if the coin has sunk all the way to the bottom of the cup, it could indicate the freezer completely thawed before freezing again, according to Bright Side.
As the ice melted, the coin would have dropped through the water before becoming trapped once everything froze for a second time.
If that has happened, much of the food inside your freezer may no longer be safe to eat.
There’s also a middle ground.
If the coin has only sunk halfway through the ice, it could suggest the freezer temporarily warmed up before the power returned.
That doesn’t automatically mean everything must be thrown away, but experts recommend checking food carefully before deciding whether it’s safe to eat.
When frozen food becomes unsafe
Many people assume that because food has refrozen, it’s automatically safe.
Unfortunately, that isn’t always true.
According to guidance from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), bacteria can multiply rapidly once perishable food reaches room temperature.
The USDA warns: “Throw away all perishable foods that have been left in room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if the temperature is over 90° F, such as at an outdoor picnic during summer).”
Although freezers generally stay colder than room temperature for some time during a power cut, prolonged outages can eventually allow foods to thaw enough for bacteria to grow.
If you’re unsure whether food remained frozen, experts advise looking for warning signs such as unusual smells, changes in colour, damaged packaging or leaked meat juices.
When in doubt, food safety specialists generally recommend throwing questionable items away rather than risking food poisoning.
Other people have their own versions of the trick
The coin method isn’t the only freezer hack that has impressed social media users.
After hearing about it, many people shared alternative methods they use to detect power outages.
One Reddit user explained: “I take a water bottle, pour out half, and freeze it.
“Once it’s frozen, turn it upside down in the freezer. Same basic effect. If you get back and the ice is in the bottom of the bottle, throw everything out.”
Others said they use small containers, freezer bags or ice cube trays in similar ways.
While the methods differ slightly, the principle remains the same: creating a visible way of showing whether frozen water melted while nobody was home.
People say it’s worth doing all year round
Although the hack often resurfaces during the summer holiday season, many people say they now leave a cup in their freezer permanently.
Unexpected power cuts can happen at any time of year, whether they’re caused by storms, equipment failures or electrical work.
Because the trick costs virtually nothing to set up, many homeowners believe it’s worth leaving in place all year as an added layer of reassurance.
For people who regularly travel for work or spend long periods away from home, it can also help avoid wasting large amounts of food, or unknowingly eating food that may no longer be safe.
Considering how expensive grocery shopping has become, some say the tiny amount of effort could end up saving both money and illness.
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