I have a question about temperature and timing with leftovers.

[RomanAnthonysMama]

I've heard so many different stories on how long you should let food cool down before you transfer it to the fridge. My mom says that you're supposed to put the food into the fridge right after, so that bacteria doesn't have any time to grow in the heat...But my friend who went to culinary school says that you're supposed to let it cool down to room temperature before putting it back in the fridge. Does anyone know the right answer to this? Thanks!

 

[Arch]

With pasta sauce and stuff, I let it cool to room temp first. The one thing I have heard is that you have to cool rice down as quickly as possible, because there's a mould that grows in it that's really dangerous. So rice should go in the fridge quickly.

(That said, I've had all sorts of leftover rice in takeaways, and been fine. I've got a pretty strong constitution)

 

[Alex H]

Putting it in the fridge straight away just cools it down quicker - No?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Putting it in the fridge straight away just cools it down quicker - No?

and heats everything else up in the fridge causing the fridge to warm up before it is able to 'out do' the warm up. Fridges are not really designed to cope with hot food being put into them, not to mention the extra energy implications or work load of the fridge itself in terms of wasted energy/life span

We always let things cool down completely and have no issues in leaving last nights evening meal (in this case a mushroom risotto) out until tonight. It will get reheated thoroughly before being eaten, but won't see the fridge at all unless it was a seriously hot summer's day. Never had any issues with eating the left overs either and frequently treat rice this way.

 

[Alex H]

and heats everything else up in the fridge causing the fridge to warm up before it is able to 'out do' the warm up.

I think that would only happen with really hot food - I usually let stuff stand for 30 mins or so - so it's not at room temp, but then it's not boiling either.

There's a lot of opinions on this - just checkout the comments on this link http://www.thekitchn.com/is-it-ok-to-put-leftovers-in-t-123297

 

[crimsonghost747]

I've always heard that you should let it cool down first, however most of the time I put them in the fridge almost instantly. Never had any problems....

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

As much as possible don't leave foods after eating a meal. Sometimes eating left over foods is not good especially if it stored for days in the refrigerator. When you heat cold leftover foods toxins are produced by these foods and when you eat it might not be safe for your health. An overnight left over is just fine the next morning but not for a day that had passed..

 

[smlewis00]

and heats everything else up in the fridge causing the fridge to warm up before it is able to 'out do' the warm up. Fridges are not really designed to cope with hot food being put into them, not to mention the extra energy implications or work load of the fridge itself in terms of wasted energy/life span

We always let things cool down completely and have no issues in leaving last nights evening meal (in this case a mushroom risotto) out until tonight. It will get reheated thoroughly before being eaten, but won't see the fridge at all unless it was a seriously hot summer's day. Never had any issues with eating the left overs either and frequently treat rice this way.

This is very interesting! Thank you so much for sharing! I honestly had never taken into consideration the extra energy it would take the fridge! Honestly, I hadn't ever given it a second thought as to whether or not I should store food from the microwave to the fridge immediately or not. I just assumed it wasn't an issue. This is one of the many reasons I LOVE this forum! I am always learning something new! You have just changed my ways on microwave to fridge! Thanks for the insight!

 

[missbishi]

I have always been told to let the food cool completely before putting it in the fridge. There are some leftovers that I just throw away though - mainly rice. I have never been certain of the correct way to store and reheat it so I discard it rather than taking a risk.

 

[juliaintheclouds]

I always let food cool down for about half an hour before sticking it in the fridge. The rice thing is interesting, I had never heard this before but my friend who was a baker told me the same thing about leaving rice out. She said that you had to put it away quickly or you could get really sick. I don't know how that information managed to pass me by my whole life but she was pretty serious about how sick one could get from it so I've always taken her advice.