On Feb 11, 12:51 pm, (Steve Pope) wrote:
> Sqwertz > wrote:
> >Always put food in the refrigerator as soon as possible - no
> >matter how hot it is. This is what all food safety
> >courses/guidelines will tell you, and what health departments
> >enforce at restaurants.
>
> Restaurant refrigerators have a lot more thermal mass than
> a home refrigerator so the answer may not be the same in both
> cases.
>
> I've read that food which has been cooked in a pot (soup,
> stew, chili) should be uncovered for a short while, then
> covered and placed in the refrigerator. To me, this makes
> sense -- you don't want uncovered food in your refrigerator,
> nor do you want to place something so hot in there it
> will warm up everything. A typical pot of food will cool
> substantially if left uncovered for 30 minutes, and this is
> considerably less time than the 2 hour limit for leaving
> something at room temp.
>
> The worst thing to do, I think, is to take it off the heat
> and just leave it covered. Then it spends a lot of time
> ramping through near-room-temperature.

But if you have it at the boiling point, which kills all the bacteria,
then turn the heat off and leave it covered, how the heck are bacteria
going to get into the covered pot to set up a breeding program? If I
make a big pot of soup, I return it to boiling, cover it and simmer a
few minutes, then turn it off and leave it out all night to cool,
putting it into the fridge in the morning. Again, how are bacteria
going to even get in?
>
> Steve

--Bryan
np: Mott the Hoople - All the Young Dudes