Should you put your leftovers in the fridge before or after they have cooled down?

[Orang Utan]

Cooking, cooling & reheating | Commerical Food Safety | Northampton Borough Council

What are the guidelines for cooling food?

• Wherever possible serve food immediately and only prepare as much food as is required
• Cool hot cooked food as quickly as possible within one and a half hours of cooking and place under refrigeration immediately. Quick cooling can be better achieved in the following ways:

1. Provision of a blast chiller
2. Keeping the food portion size small eg joints no larger than 6lbs (2.5kilos)
3. Stirring liquid foods frequently with a clean spoon during cooling
4. Immersing the cooking vessel in clean cold water and stirring the contents frequently
5. Spreading the food out into large shallow trays so that heat is lost more quickly
6. Placing the food in a room that is cooler than the kitchen

 

[Spymaster]

Can reheating rice cause food poisoning? - Health questions - NHS Choices

I guess I've just got luck for nearly 50 years. Along with most of the people I know.

 

[Orang Utan]

I guess I've just got luck for nearly 50 years.

I think you got pogofish ' share

 

[wayward bob]

What are the guidelines for cooling food?

• Quick cooling can be better achieved in the following ways:

1. Provision of a blast chiller
2. Keeping the food portion size small eg joints no larger than 6lbs (2.5kilos)
3. Stirring liquid foods frequently with a clean spoon during cooling
4. Immersing the cooking vessel in clean cold water and stirring the contents frequently
5. Spreading the food out into large shallow trays so that heat is lost more quickly
6. Placing the food in a room that is cooler than the kitchen

i don't see 7. domestic fridge in that list

 

[Orang Utan]

Yeah, commercial fridges are huge and often walk in

 

[EastEnder]

yeah cos the fridge is a confined space. Unless you have a SMEG, do you have a SMEG?

or any other of those american style ones which are more like food wardrobes than a fridge of normal sze

I don't know what brand mine is, it was in the flat when I moved in - I know it's a cheapy cos it doesn't even have a logo on!

Unless the thing you're putting in the fridge is so hot it's capable of raising the internal temperature to harmful levels faster than the heat exchanger can remove the heat, it's probably not a problem. Conversely, leaving something to cool externally first allows bacteria to begin multiplying almost immediately. By the time you finally put it in the fridge, all you're then doing is temporarily putting the bacteria to sleep for a bit.

Dangerous Food Safety Mistakes | FoodSafety.gov

Either way, you'll probably be fine, I've left stuff to cool before putting it in the fridge many times, as I don't think any increased risk is worth losing any sleep over. But that doesn't change the fact that, if the objective is strictly to reduce bacterial growth, refrigerating sooner rather than later is a more effective strategy.

 

[Spymaster]

I think you got pogofish ' share

Or all the fuss about Bacillus cereus is a load of old pony.

 

[Orang Utan]

Or all the fuss about Bacillus cereus is a load of old pony.

No, rare, but scary enough to be wary about

 

[Spymaster]

No, rare, but scary enough to be wary about

Load of old pony.

 

[Pickman's model]

No, rare, but scary enough to be wary about

Does it keep you up at night?

 

[fuck seals]

No, rare, but scary enough to be wary about

just put hot stuff in, and move everything else 10cm to the right.

 

[pogofish]

Or all the fuss about Bacillus cereus is a load of old pony.

In my case it was a rather nasty strain of e-coli. Which can also thrive on rice. The secondary toxin issues that went-on for months after were also pretty unpleasant.

Really, for all that rice costs and how easy it is to make, don't risk it..!

 

[pogofish]

Nah - this is also bollocks. I live with some guys from India and they make a batch of rice everyday and just leave it in the rice cooker until it's been eaten. No fridging at all and they seem to get up alive every morning.

My bollocks would strongly disagree with you..!

There is also some suggestion that there may be differing levels of tolerance to Bacillus Cereus between different races - with Asian and Indian at the top of the scale. Research into that is very much in the early days though.

 

[Orang Utan]

In my case it was a rather nasty strain of e-coli. Which can also thrive on rice. The secondary toxin issues that went-on for months after were also pretty unpleasant.

Really, for all that rice costs and how easy it is to make, don't risk it..!

I only reheat rice dishes. if it's just plain rice and i've made too much, i just chuck it in the food bin

 

[editor]

I've always had an utter fear about reheating rice, although I'm never sure quite why. So I'm glad this thread is here.

 

[Spymaster]

In my case it was a rather nasty strain of e-coli. Which can also thrive on rice. The secondary toxin issues that went-on for months after were also pretty unpleasant.

I've met two people who have been struck by lightning, but you're the only person that I'm aware of that has been fucked over by reheated rice. I think I'll risk it!

 

[felixthecat]

I put leftovers in the fridge just before I do the washing up, so I can wash the pot it's been cooked in. It's kinda lukewarm by then.

Like OU, I reheat rice dishes but not plain rice. I try not to cook too much in the first place.

 

[Enviro]

*cough* rice badgers *cough*

 

[Orang Utan]

*cough* rice badgers *cough*

Excuse me?

 

[strung out]

Since starting to live with a Chinese Malaysian girl, I've learnt to give far less of a shit about reheating rice. We quite often leave it in the rice cooker overnight, or put leftovers in the fridge to reheat a few days later. I think my record is a week in the fridge before eating, but it could probably last longer.

 

[Sea Star]

When I was a lodger a few years a go I put a hot thing in the fridge and really pissed my landlord off because it caused one of his glass shelves to shatter with the heat. I didn't think it was that hot tbh - so maybe not all fridges are designed to take hot food. I try to avoid it now.

 

[Sea Star]

Since starting to live with a Chinese Malaysian girl, I've learnt to give far less of a shit about reheating rice. We quite often leave it in the rice cooker overnight, or put leftovers in the fridge to reheat a few days later. I think my record is a week in the fridge before eating, but it could probably last longer.

I have always given zero shits about reheating rice - or keeping it in a fridge for up to a week. It's never made me ill. I draw the line when it starts to get mouldy though!

Yeah at home my mum never put rice in the fridge. It was always just left in the aucepan with the lid on and usually eaten by the next day. I, mostly, do the same unless I need to use that pot again in the mean time. Curries would go in the fridge though.

Same here - and there was an amazing list of things that my mum never put in the fridge. On the other hand we didn;t have proper heating so the house was always cold except in the height of summer. My house is never that cold, unless the boiler breaks!

 

[Pickman's model]

*cough* rice badgers *cough*

Badgers?

 

[Teaboy]

I would have thought repeatedly putting hot things straight into the fridge will mean the motor will burn out quicker? I can understand why professional kitchens should be obliged as it eliminates any risk and avoids confusion over how long something has been left out to cool. I think in a domestic situation that shouldn't be so much of a concern.

 

[Pickman's model]

*cough* rice badgers *cough*

Rice Badgers!

 

[EastEnder]

When I was a lodger a few years a go I put a hot thing in the fridge and really pissed my landlord off because it caused one of his glass shelves to shatter with the heat. I didn't think it was that hot tbh - so maybe not all fridges are designed to take hot food. I try to avoid it now.

I imagine the problem there was the vessel containing the contents, not the contents themselves. If your food is hot enough to shatter glass, you're overcooking it.

 

[Sea Star]

When I was a lodger a few years a go I put a hot thing in the fridge and really pissed my landlord off because it caused one of his glass shelves to shatter with the heat. I didn't think it was that hot tbh - so maybe not all fridges are designed to take hot food. I try to avoid it now.

A small caveate though. Since acquiring Lester (cat) who is a food stealing monster - he even tries to nick things out of the pan while its cooking - I've started putting warmish things straight in the fridge if its a thing that the cat would be interested in.

 

[Sea Star]

I imagine the problem there was the vessel containing the contents, not the contents themselves. If your food is hot enough to shatter glass, you're overcooking it.

As I said - I don't think it was that hot but I haven;t been back to carry out detailed tests after the fact. Landlord was steaming when I came home later that day and pinned the blame fairly and squarely on me. Can't remember what the container was either - probably a ceramic pot. Sometimes when you microwave something the pot gets way hotter than the contents. I've noticed.

 

[EastEnder]

I would have thought repeatedly putting hot things straight into the fridge will mean the motor will burn out quicker?

I think this is straying perilously close to old wives tales territory...

 

[Sea Star]

I think this is straying perilously close to old wives tales territory...

nonsense! I see it as an opportunity for some budding amateur U75 scientist to carry out some experiments.