"Too hot to put into the fridge"?

[SylviaLovegren]

I've never ruined a quart of milk putting hot things in the fridge, but I, too, had a glass shelf shatter when a too hot pot was put on it. Never did that again.

[ScoopKW]

We cool our house with an evaporative cooler. For those of you who don't live in the desert, it's a big honkin' humidifier with a squirrel cage fan to blow the moist air into the house. The moist air hits the dry air inside, and bam -- 20 degrees cooler almost instantly.

We put hot things in front of the cooler. We can get a pot of simmering liquid down to a reasonable temperature in half an hour or so.

"Thermodynamics: It's not just a good idea, it's the law."

[David A. Goldfarb]

If I have a large amount of liquid, like 12 quarts of stock that I need to cool, I put the pot in an ice bath, and I have some frozen bottles of water that I use to cool it, like the ice paddles that are used in commercial kitchens, but the commercial models are usually kind of large for the quantities I use at home, not to mention the amount of freezer space they require. Maybe someone is making smaller ones for home use these days, but a frozen bottle of water combined with an ice bath seems to do the job. The ice bath isn't necessarily an option in, say, an 80-quart steam kettle, so the restaurants need those big ice paddles.

[Country]

So it happened again. This morning I got up to discover a big pot of charro beans still sitting on the stove from last night's dinner. I had gone to bed early, and my daughter and her husband said they'd clean up the kitchen. When I expressed surprise (and regret) that the beans had been left out all night long, my daughter said, "Oh no. They were too hot to put into the fridge, so I decided to let them cool off and I forgot about them."

Back to the beginning... Jaymes, were the beans spoiled by being out overnight? I've left out pintos, rice, even some stews and braises (covered), without any problems.

I never put hot, or even very warm, food in fridge.

[Jaymes]

So it happened again. This morning I got up to discover a big pot of charro beans still sitting on the stove from last night's dinner. I had gone to bed early, and my daughter and her husband said they'd clean up the kitchen. When I expressed surprise (and regret) that the beans had been left out all night long, my daughter said, "Oh no. They were too hot to put into the fridge, so I decided to let them cool off and I forgot about them."

Back to the beginning... Jaymes, were the beans spoiled by being out overnight? I've left out pintos, rice, even some stews and braises (covered), without any problems.

I never put hot, or even very warm, food in fridge.

The main reasons I was a little worried about that pot of beans were because they started off pretty hot, the kitchen has been warmer than usual in this heat wave, those charro beans are full of bacon and chopped pork butt, and we have a household that includes several very small children (under the age of three).

So I did my "usual" checking routine (that we discussed in another thread), which involves me looking, smelling and, finally, eating whatever it is that I'm worried about. I was afraid that the bacon and pork in the beans might have gone a little sour overnight. But they looked, smelled and tasted fine, and when, by dinnertime, I still felt fine, I just served them up. Although I was careful to bring them to a pretty good boil before I ladled them into everyone's bean bowls and passed around the tortillas.

[Lisa Shock]

If I have a large amount of liquid, like 12 quarts of stock that I need to cool, I put the pot in an ice bath, and I have some frozen bottles of water that I use to cool it, like the ice paddles that are used in commercial kitchens, but the commercial models are usually kind of large for the quantities I use at home, not to mention the amount of freezer space they require. Maybe someone is making smaller ones for home use these days, but a frozen bottle of water combined with an ice bath seems to do the job. The ice bath isn't necessarily an option in, say, an 80-quart steam kettle, so the restaurants need those big ice paddles.

The ice paddle I own has a wide-mouthed screw-on cap so that you can toss ice cubes into it. You don't need to store it in the freezer. I keep mine hanging off the side of a metro rack in my kitchen.

[Regina3000]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to get ideas on cooling a boneless pork shoulder quickly. I put one in a crock pot, the other day, and when it was finished, I wanted to chill it before removing the fat and whatever else. I find it easier to do that when the meat is cold.

 

I left the crock out on the cold stove for an hour or two to cool down, but needed it to get much colder before sticking it in the fridge. I was at a loss. I finally ended up lining an Igloo cooler with blue ice blocks and putting the crock in there, with blue ice blocks on the lid, too. It cooled down to room-ish temperature within another hour, and the blue ice was still frozen.

 

I did not measure the internal temperature of the roast. Perhaps I should have. In any case, it's going to be reheated before we eat on it, so I'm not too worried.

 

I probably should have transferred the whole thing to a non-ceramic dish, which would have helped, but other than that, I have no good ideas.

[Smithy]

You could have added water to fill the spaces between the blue ice blocks.  That would have pushed air out of the spaces and provided better heat conduction away from the crock.  I probably would have transferred it all to a plastic storage container (like Tupperware^TM) to cool it more quickly still, but I admit that sometimes just leave it all in the crock and take minimal steps to hurry the cooling. We in my household aren't necessarily as diligent in quick-cooling of meat as the experts say we should be.

 

I've also been known to just stick the crock in a convenient snow bank, but that suggestion isn't much help right now. 

[chefmd]

I sometimes put ice in zip lock bag and place bag directly into the pot.  Ice melts inside the bag without diluting your food.

[MelissaH]

This probably won't help, but when we make that kind of food, we usually do so when it's cold enough out to either stash the pot on the deck, or (if we won't be around to keep an eye on it) stick it downstairs in the garage, where the winter temperature is not far off from fridge temperature.

 

When it's warmer, if it's something that can be divided into smaller portions, we'll do that (bigger surface area:volume ratio means faster cooling). And if necessary, we'll buy bags of ice.

[Alex]

3 hours ago, Regina3000 said:

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to get ideas on cooling a boneless pork shoulder quickly. I put one in a crock pot, the other day, and when it was finished, I wanted to chill it before removing the fat and whatever else. I find it easier to do that when the meat is cold.

 

I left the crock out on the cold stove for an hour or two to cool down, but needed it to get much colder before sticking it in the fridge. I was at a loss. I finally ended up lining an Igloo cooler with blue ice blocks and putting the crock in there, with blue ice blocks on the lid, too. It cooled down to room-ish temperature within another hour, and the blue ice was still frozen.

 

I did not measure the internal temperature of the roast. Perhaps I should have. In any case, it's going to be reheated before we eat on it, so I'm not too worried.

 

I probably should have transferred the whole thing to a non-ceramic dish, which would have helped, but other than that, I have no good ideas.

 

I'm probably going to catch hell from certain eG'ers about this, but here goes. Transferring the whole thing right away to another container is a good idea. After that, my good idea is to make yourself a negroni or other beverage of your choice; sit back in your favorite chair for that hour or two and read, nap, or otherwise productively occupy yourself; then put the roast in question right into the fridge. I see no need to let it cool down further; at that point, the effect on the fridge's internal temperature will not significantly affect the food that's already in there. To help things along, you can do the clever ice/ziploc thing that chefmd suggested, only in the fridge.

[pastrygirl]

http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2016/10/smart-cooling.html

 

@smithy is right, ice and water transfers heat much more rapidly than ice and air.

 

Also best to cool in a vessel that conducts heat well, do not cover, and stir occasionally.  Stainless steel in an ice and water bath will cool rapidly. 

 

You can also spread it in a thinner layer to cool faster.  Though that may not apply to pork shoulder unless it is already falling apart. 

[Toliver]

17 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

http://blog.ideasinfood.com/ideas_in_food/2016/10/smart-cooling.html

 

@smithy is right, ice and water transfers heat much more rapidly than ice and air.

 

Also best to cool in a vessel that conducts heat well, do not cover, and stir occasionally.  Stainless steel in an ice and water bath will cool rapidly. 

 

You can also spread it in a thinner layer to cool faster.  Though that may not apply to pork shoulder unless it is already falling apart. 

Yes to this. With the cover off, it allows for larger/faster heat dissipation. 

You shouldn't let it remain out of refrigeration past 2 hours (food handling 101).

You could also transfer the roast to a plastic bag, seal it/zip it, then submerge that in an ice bath which eliminates the container needing to be cooled before the roast cools.

 

edited for clarity

Edited November 9, 2016 by Toliver (log)

[chromedome]

The rules we teach in food safety training are to separate into shallow, small containers (less thermal mass, more surface area for evaporative cooling) and for larger quantities to use a water bath or chilling instruments of some sort (gel packs, etc) to bring down the temperature quickly. I keep a large number of gel packs in the freezer, and will drop anywhere from 1 to 8 into a pot (depending on its size) to cool it in a hurry. Stirring is important, btw, whether you nestle your pot into an ice water bath or drop cooling gel packs directly into the food. 

 

I've taken a Dutch oven full of stew from a simmer to room temperature in about 5 minutes, that way. At room temp, you're not going to overwork your refrigerator even if you put the whole pot in there. If you plan to portion some or all of it for leftovers or freezing, of course it makes sense to do this first and distribute the containers around your fridge so the (relative) warmth isn't concentrated in one spot. Don't stack them, because they'll keep each other warm. 

 

[Regina3000]

On 11/8/2016 at 2:49 PM, Smithy said:

You could have added water to fill the spaces between the blue ice blocks.  That would have pushed air out of the spaces and provided better heat conduction away from the crock.  I probably would have transferred it all to a plastic storage container (like Tupperware^TM) to cool it more quickly still, but I admit that sometimes just leave it all in the crock and take minimal steps to hurry the cooling. We in my household aren't necessarily as diligent in quick-cooling of meat as the experts say we should be.

 

I've also been known to just stick the crock in a convenient snow bank, but that suggestion isn't much help right now. 

Didn't think of filling with water, and didn't have another container to put it into, at the time, but thanks for the ideas!

[Regina3000]

Thanks, everyone! I will move the thing to a different container, next time, and add water to the cooler full of blue ice.

 

I didn't think about the water part, and frankly didn't want to deal with the container-changing, plus I was in a hurry to be somewhere. Next time, I'll be better prepared.