"Dave Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Steve wrote:
>> 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?
>
>
> It's not good for the fridge to stick a large amount of hot stuff. Stick a
> cover on the pot while it is hot and let it cool down to room temperature.
> Then stick it into the fridge.

With today's modern frost free units it dosen't matter... they constantly
cycle anyway... and it's not like you're putting 40 quarts into a ten cu ft
fridge. The best and safest method for chilling hot foods quickly is to
divide it into shallow containers so that there is more surface area for
cooling (Basic Food Handling 101), and if your fridge has a glass shelf use
a trivet so cold air can circulate on the bottom too. I make large batches
of soup/stew/sauce often, first thing I do is decide on how much I want to
freeze and fill that many pint containers and place them directly in my
freezer... don't just pile them one atop the other... strew them about so
there is good air circulation, sort them out later. How can ALL of yoose
not know this most basic kitchenese. duh