Allan wrote:

> I just stocked up on food for the holidays last night, but unfortunately it
> seems I over-did it, because when I got up this morning, I noticed the
> fridge has been open, just slightly ajar, since 2am last night, so that's
> about 6-7 hours. With quite a bit of fresh meat in there, as well as milk
> and lots of deli stuff with a best-before-date of Jan 4th, I wonder how long
> it will now stay fresh? The temperature had dropped to 19 degrees Celsius by
> the time I noticed it. I was planning to freeze some of the steaks and
> chicken I have in there, but not sure what to do now. Any advice/thoughts?
>
> Thanks.
>
>

I hate that! I've had it happen a few to times. The fridge was still
cooling even though it was open just a crack so I'm sure it wasn't very
good for the electric bill. If your house gets cooler at night as ours
does during the winter - thermostat turned down low - it would be less
of a concern than if you are experiencing warm or humid conditions.
Anyway, if your deli stuff and meat were in the back of the fridge or
the meat keeper they should be ok. I'd pay particular attention to any
change in colour or smell though especially with the chicken. Cheeses
should be fine. Milk might be iffy. My rule of thumb is if there is
any change in colour or smell enough to give doubt, I toss. Thank
goodness this has only happened few times with this fridge mainly due to
a levelling problem but at least once because something was sticking out
far enough to prevent the door from shutting completely.