Cottage freezers can be a challenging thing. Say, you're away from the cottage for a while, for example, but you decide to leave some frozen meat in there to lower your next load of food. How long is the food safe to eat? Here's how you can decide if your freezer's food is still healthy or not.

When a freezer either breaks down or temporarily shuts down and then refreezes due to a power outage, there are a few signs. You may start to notice a new presence of unusual odors, a change in the texture and colors of the food, and even see some food transform into frozen blocks.

But what actually happens to the food after it thaws and refreezes depends on how long before refreezing your food is thawed. The food could lose its natural texture if it was only a short period of time. But after 1-2 days of being thawed, the odor can appear. Refreezing food can cause food items to freeze into blocks in both cases rather than individual pieces of frozen food.

Think of the peas. Each pea should be frozen individually inside the package in a normal frozen process. But if you find that there is a chunk of peas clumped together, this could be a sign that they've been refrozen.

Another common factor in why food can go bad while in the freezer is freezer burning. Freezer burning happens mainly when too much air enters the goods, resulting in them being dried out and burned. Remembering to properly seal your frozen food in airtight packaging will quickly mitigate this.

But how do you identify burnt food for freezer? What was once a bright red piece of beef on meats like beef could now be covered in gray and brown spots— it doesn't sound too appealing. While these meats may still be safe to eat, they will definitely compromise their taste.

The same applies to your tasty veggies and fruits. If your freezer was once filled with bright fruits and vegetables and is now replaced with dull and slimy ones, these foods won't taste as good as you know they should.

The best thing to do during a power outage is to keep the freezer locked, says Jeffrey Farber, director of the Canadian Food Safety Research Institute. A fully closed freezer should be able to maintain the cold temperature for about two days, while a half-full freezer will retain its temperature for about a day. If you know the power will be out for an extended period of time, Farber recommends that you buy dry or block ice to keep the fridge as cold as possible.

If the temperature of the freezer reaches approximately 4 degrees celsius for more than two hours at any point, you are now entering the danger zone and should discard your food, specifically proteins including meat and fish, says Farber.

While foods spoil at lower temperatures, Warriner explains, bacteria will produce toxins that can not be destroyed by cooking once the temperature rises to more than 10 degrees celsius.

He says this is one risk of defrosting poultry on your kitchen counter, which becomes extremely relevant during Thanksgiving, when turkey is held at room temperature long before cooking and serving.

Therefore, if a power outage happens and the temperature of your freezer increases at any point during the power outage (4 degrees celsius to be extra safe), then there is a strong possibility that bacteria have already started to develop and multiply.

In this scenario, most people may choose to buy devices that track their refrigerator and freezer temperatures, while some may choose the more homey and DIY methods.

The penny method is to fill with water a shot glass, let it freeze, and then place a penny on top. When you come back to your freezer and notice that the penny is still sitting at the top, then it's likely that there was no power outage long enough to raise the temperature, making your food safe to eat.

Warriner says this method makes sense because if the ice is thawed, "then the penny drops — literally." The only other consideration is if the temperature drops to 0 degrees celsius, which causes the penny drop. But 0 degrees is not the most important in terms of temperature in this example, which does not make this technique fully accurate. Farber feels the penny trick isn't accurate either.

So, you may want to look at your food before you decide to use it for your next meal the next time you've been away from your freezer for a while. Try to find signs of dark spots on your red meat, slimy and dull in your fruits and veggies, chunks of frozen food formed, and even strange odors. Also, you might want to consider throwing a thermometer in with your frozen food to get a better reading. This may just help you avoid a doctor's visit or a bedtime night for the remainder of your cottage weekend.