Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?

My wife insists that just cooked food must be left on the counter to
cool down before it is put in the fridge, otherwise it is prone to
spoil. She says this is a well known fact amongst all fine people who
cook. In fact, she claims, "any culinary school will tell you this,
it's common fact and just plain common sense."

Personally, this completely contradicts what I consider to be common
sense. Heck - I was just trying to make room on the counter!

This topic has come up a few times now and I'm hoping to get someone to
back me up, or set me straight.

-Colman

Colman
As an old Navy cook I suggest you follow your lady's advice. If you
place hot food in the fridge you lower the temp. You may not see of
smell any probs immediately but, if you continue you run the risk of
allowing bacteria to grow on other food. Let the new food cool to just
warm, wrap in plastic (airtight as possible) and stow above cooler
food. (as per the U.S. Navy Operation Manual) LOL

Tnguy

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?
>
> My wife insists that just cooked food must be left on the counter to
> cool down before it is put in the fridge, otherwise it is prone to
> spoil. She says this is a well known fact amongst all fine people who
> cook. In fact, she claims, "any culinary school will tell you this,
> it's common fact and just plain common sense."
>
> Personally, this completely contradicts what I consider to be common
> sense. Heck - I was just trying to make room on the counter!
>
> This topic has come up a few times now and I'm hoping to get someone to
> back me up, or set me straight.
>
> -Colman

There are several variables.

It important to remember refrigerators don't cool food they remove the heat
from the interior. Yes there is a difference.

The variables a

The size of the interior of the fridge.
The mass of the food now in the fridge and its temperature.
The mass of the cooked food and its temperature.

Is it possible to raise the temperature of the food inside the fridge? Sure
it could happen if you were to overload the fridge with a massive amount of
food at a high temperature IMHO its not very likely.

If you are dealing with the old "Icea Boxa" that used a 50 pound block of
ice

The risk here is leaving the food out too long and allowing the temperature
to get into the danger range where bacteria grows. the FDA defines that zone
as being from 40 to 140 degrees.

Look he
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets...eets/index.asp

Dimitri

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?
>
> My wife insists that just cooked food must be left on the counter to
> cool down before it is put in the fridge, otherwise it is prone to
> spoil. She says this is a well known fact amongst all fine people who
> cook. In fact, she claims, "any culinary school will tell you this,
> it's common fact and just plain common sense."
>
> Personally, this completely contradicts what I consider to be common
> sense. Heck - I was just trying to make room on the counter!
>
> This topic has come up a few times now and I'm hoping to get someone to
> back me up, or set me straight.
>
> -Colman

I think your wife is mostly wrong. I wouldn't leave a roast out until it
reaches room tempertaure.

If it's a soup, stock or maybe stew, you can expedite the cool-down by
filling a ziplock bag with ice cubes and submerging it. Then, put it in the
refigerator. It won't be so warm as to overwhelm the fridge. I think this is
Alton Brown's suggestion for when he makes lots of stock.

-T

In rec.food.cooking, wrote:
> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?

No. If you do this, you will surely die.

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

In rec.food.cooking, wrote:
> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?

No. If you do this, you will surely die.

--
In the councils of government, we must guard against the
acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
-- Dwight David Eisenhower

"skoonj" > wrote in message
m...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?
>>
>> My wife insists that just cooked food must be left on the counter to
>> cool down before it is put in the fridge, otherwise it is prone to
>> spoil. She says this is a well known fact amongst all fine people who
>> cook. In fact, she claims, "any culinary school will tell you this,
>> it's common fact and just plain common sense."
>>
>> Personally, this completely contradicts what I consider to be common
>> sense. Heck - I was just trying to make room on the counter!
>>
>> This topic has come up a few times now and I'm hoping to get someone to
>> back me up, or set me straight.
>>
>> -Colman
>
> I think your wife is mostly wrong. I wouldn't leave a roast out until it
> reaches room tempertaure.
>
> If it's a soup, stock or maybe stew, you can expedite the cool-down by
> filling a ziplock bag with ice cubes and submerging it. Then, put it in
> the refigerator. It won't be so warm as to overwhelm the fridge. I think
> this is Alton Brown's suggestion for when he makes lots of stock.
>
> -T
>

Placing food in the fridge right after cooking is perfectly safe but wastes
energy (the fridge has to work hard to cool it down) and may adversely
affect other food in the fridge. Leaving it on the counter to cool is also
perfectly safe, despite the hand-waving hysterics of some who are convinced
it is a one-way ticket to the boneyard.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"skoonj" > wrote in message
m...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Is it safe to put food in the fridge shortly after cooking?
>>
>> My wife insists that just cooked food must be left on the counter to
>> cool down before it is put in the fridge, otherwise it is prone to
>> spoil. She says this is a well known fact amongst all fine people who
>> cook. In fact, she claims, "any culinary school will tell you this,
>> it's common fact and just plain common sense."
>>
>> Personally, this completely contradicts what I consider to be common
>> sense. Heck - I was just trying to make room on the counter!
>>
>> This topic has come up a few times now and I'm hoping to get someone to
>> back me up, or set me straight.
>>
>> -Colman
>
> I think your wife is mostly wrong. I wouldn't leave a roast out until it
> reaches room tempertaure.
>
> If it's a soup, stock or maybe stew, you can expedite the cool-down by
> filling a ziplock bag with ice cubes and submerging it. Then, put it in
> the refigerator. It won't be so warm as to overwhelm the fridge. I think
> this is Alton Brown's suggestion for when he makes lots of stock.
>
> -T
>

Placing food in the fridge right after cooking is perfectly safe but wastes
energy (the fridge has to work hard to cool it down) and may adversely
affect other food in the fridge. Leaving it on the counter to cool is also
perfectly safe, despite the hand-waving hysterics of some who are convinced
it is a one-way ticket to the boneyard.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> Placing food in the fridge right after cooking is perfectly safe but
> wastes energy (the fridge has to work hard to cool it down) and may
> adversely affect other food in the fridge. Leaving it on the counter to
> cool is also perfectly safe, despite the hand-waving hysterics of some who
> are convinced it is a one-way ticket to the boneyard.
>
>
> --
> Peter Aitken

You have to use a little common sense. I'd not put a boiling pot of soup in
the fridge, but I'd not leave a casserole sit out for five hours either.

As a kid, I remember the leftover pork chop from dinner was often sat on the
stove in case someone wanted it later. Sometimes it would sit a few hours.
No one ever got sick from it.

Thank you all for your responses!

Our fridge is a standard size - i guess "medium" - residential kitchen
fridge. I understand that putting, say ... a large pot of boiling
water in there would bring the overall temperature of the fridge down
considerably for a short period of time, thus giving bacteria in the
other fridge items a chance to grow. This kind of event (squabbling
over whether or not I can put something warm in the fridge) has only
happened a handful of times during our six year marriage. So it's not
like the fridge is constantly undergoing massive temperature shifts.

I guess the heart of the matter is that my wife is standing by a "rule"
she learned somewhere without understanding the cumulative knowledge
that led to that conclusion. Interestingly, if this was a constant
occurrance, then yes, food might spoil, but NOT the the most recent
food causing the temperature decrease (which is the food she claims
will spoil), but instead some food that had been in the fridge long
enough to experience multiple temperature shifts.

So in such extreme circumstances my wife is correct. But as I said,
this event happens RARELY. So ... it's a draw as far as I'm concerned.
I'll show my wife your posts and we'll see what she says!
Thank you all!

-Colman