Refridgerating Leftovers

[Marlene]

What is the current thinking on refrigerating leftovers? I was always taught that food had to cool down before sticking them in the fridge. Hubby says they should go in right away. What's right?

[Human Bean]

The "Food Safety Danger Zone" is generally considered to be in the range of 40F to 140F. Don't keep food in that range for more than 1 - 2 hours. At least, that's what the Food Safety Nazis say.

It's your option for what to do, given the limitations above. And don't put a really large, really hot item in the fridge - it may heat the inside of the fridge faster than the fridge can cool itself down.

Edit: Just 'cuz I felt like it.

Edited December 27, 2002 by Human Bean (log)

[Suzanne F]

The basic rule is that high-risk foods (proteins, potatoes, rice, dairy) should not be in The Danger Zone between 40ºF and 140ºF for more than 4 hours. But that time is cumulative -- so out of the fridge, into the fridge, out of the fridge, etc. has to be considered (just the time out, but add ALL the times it was out).

Another basic rule is that you don't want to raise the temperature inside the refrigerator, or cause it to "work too hard" to stabilize back where it should be. So no, you don't want to put a couple of gallons of boiling hot soup directly into the fridge. You DO need to cool it down before you put it away.

What professional kitchens do is chill down the container of food as rapidly as possible -- buckets of stock, for example, are placed in deep sinks full of ice and water, and stirred frequently, until they are cool enough to refrigerate. Pans of solid food are placed on top of ice. If the food is covered with plastic wrap, you poke holes in it to let the heat out -- otherwise it takes a lot longer to cool down.

Hope this helps.

[Marlene]

The basic rule is that high-risk foods (proteins, potatoes, rice, dairy) should not be in The Danger Zone between 40ºF and 140ºF for more than 4 hours.  But that time is cumulative -- so out of the fridge, into the fridge, out of the fridge, etc. has to be considered (just the time out, but add ALL the times it was out).

Another basic rule is that you don't want to raise the temperature inside the refrigerator, or cause it to "work too hard" to stabilize back where it should be.  So no, you don't want to put a couple of gallons of boiling hot soup directly into the fridge.  You DO need to cool it down before you put it away. 

What professional kitchens do is chill down the container of food as rapidly as possible -- buckets of stock, for example, are placed in deep sinks full of ice and water, and stirred frequently, until they are cool enough to refrigerate.  Pans of solid food are placed on top of ice.  If the food is covered with plastic wrap, you poke holes in it to let the heat out -- otherwise it takes a lot longer to cool down.

Hope this helps.

Yes this makes a lot of sense, and it's what I try to do. Cool the food down quickly and then pop it into the fridge. Thanks Suzanne!

[snowangel]

What professional kitchens do is chill down the container of food as rapidly as possible.

Home cooks in Minnesota, in the winter, just stick it out on the back stoop. A late afternoon THanksgiving Day walk in my neighborhood (it was about 18 outside) revealed back stoops full of pots and pans.

[mamster]

My trick for cooling big pots of stock is to stick a bunch of ice cubes in a Ziploc and toss it in the pot and stir until the ice melts. It's pretty quick and also a lot of the fat ends up sticking to the outside of the bag.

[Suzanne F]

In restaurant-supply catalogues, I've seen heavy-duty food-grade plastic bottles that you fill with water and freeze. Then you stick them in the pot of stuff to cool. Same idea -- but reusable.

[snowangel]

In restaurant-supply catalogues, I've seen heavy-duty food-grade plastic bottles that you fill with water and freeze.  Then you stick them in the pot of stuff to cool.  Same idea -- but reusable.

Great idea to both bags and bottles. Seems to me that you could just wash and use those plastic milk jugs. ANd, if your freezer weren't very full, they'd be a great addition because a full freezer runs less and your stuff is less subject to freezer burn than an empty one.

[Nick]

Home cooks in Minnesota, in the winter, just stick it out on the back stoop.  A late afternoon THanksgiving Day walk in my neighborhood (it was about 18 outside) revealed back stoops full of pots and pans.

That's the way I do it here in Maine. With my new little house and its attached woodshed I'm in hog heaven when it comes to this. The concrete slab in the woodshed holds right around 32-34F in the winter. I just put the covered pot or pan out there on the floor and let it cool off. Many nights, like last night (outside temp 12F), I just leave it there all night - in fact I left it there all day today. Why bother with the fridge?

Looking at some of the other posts - I think the gov't guidelines have to be written for people who can't think or don't want to do anymore than follow guidelines from the "authorities." Some things, such as rice and some vegetables (and even some meats), will keep fine even if left on the counter over night. Though not if your house is 80F+.

As far as putting something in the fridge that's more than warm, plus wet - you're making your fridge work overtime and you're not doing any good for the stuff that's already in there.

I've lived a significant part of my life without electricity and from that learned to be inventive. And, I've never suffered food-poisoning from my own food. Once in awhile some off-flavors, but that's it.

[Kikujiro]

The basic rule is that high-risk foods (proteins, potatoes, rice, dairy) should not be in The Danger Zone between 40ºF and 140ºF for more than 4 hours.

Rice? What happens to rice?

[Nick]

Rice? What happens to rice?

In the case of brown rice, it gains flavor if left out overnight. But then I'm the guy that likes to age cod and scallops.

[mamster]

As someone who works in a lab with microorganisms and watches just how fast they grow, I'm going to defend the government guidelines. Of course the guidelines are overcautious--they're like engineering standards. If you're building an office for ten people, you don't build a floor that can hold the weight of eleven people, you build it to hold fifty people or more.

In your house, you can do what you want--it's your body--and I can be as lax as anyone. But the guidelines are written for commercial establishments and the people. If a restaurant is letting food sit out in the "danger zone" they're putting a lot of people at risk.

The State of Washington did a study a few years ago about the causes of food poisoning in restaurants. The top two were not washing hands properly and not cooling hot foods fast enough.

Here in the lab a bottle of warm "broth" goes from a microscopic number of bacterial cells to a swarming, stinking mess in a few hours.

I'm not saying you should all be terrified of germs, but c'mon, don't you want the restaurants you eat in to be covered by regulations that are a little stronger rather than a little weaker than necessary? We're not talking about something like banning raw-milk cheeses, where you're cutting into the quality of the food--not letting food sit out at room temperature improves quality.

[Nick]

Mamster - What's the temp in your average restaurant kitchen?

[Bux]

last night (outside temp 12F)

Why am I not envious at your good fortune?

Credit to this site that the first few answers were on the mark and there were no misleading and dangerous old wives tales. I think the one thing that may not have been clearly covered is that hot, even warm, food that's sealed in a closed container--or even plastic wrap, can breed toxic bacteria quickly. The reason for not covering the food tightly while it's warm is not only to let it cool quicker, but to have it exposed to oxygen/air.

[mamster]

Mamster - What's the temp in your average restaurant kitchen?

Probably about the hundred degrees that E. coli loves.

Bux, as far as I know, the only reason to keep hot food uncovered is so it cools faster. The bacteria you're worried about here are at least facultatively aerobic, and the more oxygen they get, the faster they grow. But temperature has a much larger effect.

[Suzanne F]

Kikujiro: The threat with rice is Bacillus Cereus Gastroenteritis, caused by Bacillus cereus, which can result in both infection, in which the bacteria themselves disrupt the functions of the human system and intoxication in which they toxins they produce cause the trouble. This bacterium is present in soil, so contamination is likely to be at the initial processing.

Does this stop me from eating in Asian restaurants that leave their rice sitting around? Hell, no. But I just thought I'd mention the potential problem (I just LOVED my sanitation training ).

[mamster]

Kikujiro:  The threat with rice is Bacillus Cereus Gastroenteritis, caused by Bacillus cereus, which can result in both infection, in which the bacteria themselves disrupt the functions of the human system and intoxication in which they toxins they produce cause the trouble.

I try to avoid ingesting anything that causes intoxication.

[Suzanne F]

I try to avoid ingesting anything that causes intoxication.  

Oh yeah? That's not what I've heard.