"~patches~" > wrote in message
...
>
> 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.

The culprit was a carton of milk that stuck out from the shelf just enough
to be a problem. I don't think there is any immediate problem with any of
the food, but I will probably have to adopt the Seinfeld fridge philosophy
of deducting at least a few days from the "use before" dates.