"Steve" > wrote in message
...
> If I'm going to be refrigerating homemade soup, should it go into the
> fridge immediately after cooking, or should I wait until it cools off
> a little? Or does that just allow bacteria to multiply?


putting it in the fridge hot just lets the other stuff in the fridge get
warm.

best to chill it as best you can before putting in the fridge. Use an ice
bath, or just cold water in your sink to get the temp down as quickly as
possible. This will likely also get your soup cool faster than just putting
it in the fridge.

cooling in small batches helps; cooling in stainless steel helps the heat
transfer vs. plastic.