blake murphy > wrote:

> On Wed, 3 Dec 2008 05:01:51 -0600, Sqwertz wrote:
>
>> Paco > wrote:
>>
>>> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> Welsh Dog > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Back in the UK Master Chef Delia Smith recently advocated leaving a
>>>>> dish of cooked turkey legs in the car boot *overnight* to cool before
>>>>> being properly refrigerated if eaten cold!
>>>>
>>>> Every serious cook, and anybody who knows anything about food
>>>> hygeine, knows that even the hottest foods should get refrigerated
>>>> as soon as possible. They should be left to "cool down" anywhere
>>>> except in the fridge or freezer.
>>>
>>> Somebody is having a "Jerry" moment.
>>
>> <yawn> I see you don't know anything about food safety either.
>> Care for some credible cites? For $20 I'll provide you with 10.
>> $40 will buy you 25.
>
> i'm thinking that the u.s.d.a. and other sources are very conservative on
> this matter. (i'm also thinking you left out a 'not' in 'They should be
> left to "cool down".') but i see no real harm in letting them cool down *a
> little* at room temp before jamming in the refrigerator. not hours and
> hours, though.

I may be enforcing restaurant rules too much here. I ate two Jimmy
Dean breakfast biscuits with Sausage 'n Egg this morning that had
been left out for 24 hours on my drafting table yesterday (after
microwaving for 45 seconds).

But I don't think a TV program/host should be suggesting anything so
obnoxiously out of the bounds that any health inspector would frown
upon. Even these pygmy backwoods folks.

All Health inspectors in the US will insist that foods not in
immediate service be stored and served at below 41F or above 140F.

I have no problem eating many processed foods that have been without
proper fridgeration for many hours. But I would never suggest or
feed home-cooked foods without preservatives to people I care about
that have been kept in the trunk of my car for 12 hours at
indeterminate temps.

-sw