"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:31:08 +0000 (UTC), Steve Pope wrote:
>
>> My intuition, and also what I have read, is that lid-on slows
>> cooling therefore the food spends more total time in the danger zone.
>
> But unless you're in a cleanroom, there are all sorts of airborne
> bacteria that can get in there with the lid off. If you leave
> the lid on, the foods inside is already sterilized where there
> are no bacteria to introduce and multiply.
>
> Had that same pot of soup been in my mother garage without the
> lid off for 6 months, it would have been discovered after a few
> days. But with the lid on, there was very little deterioration.
>
> -sw


Did you eat any of that soup from the garage? And, what kind of soup was it?