Sometimes food needs to be cooled before eating, using in other dishes, or storing in the freezer. Unfortunately, there is not always time for this, but leaving food on the table for more than two hours can be dangerous. In this article, you will learn how to quickly refrigerate food when you are short on time to satisfy your hunger. We will also tell you how to safely move it to the refrigerator or freezer for storage purposes.

Steps

Cool the dish before serving it

Do not leave food on the table for a long time. This method will help cool food to a digestible temperature. Do not leave it unattended for more than two hours. Skip to the second method in the article if you need to cool food to put in the refrigerator or freezer and you think it will take more than two hours.

Divide food into several smaller portions. Small amounts of food will cool faster. If you are refrigerating solid foods such as a piece of steak or potatoes, try cutting them into small pieces. If you are trying to refrigerate a liquid, try pouring it into two small containers.

Place a fan near hot food. The air movement will help remove heat from the food. Be sure to stir it frequently to ensure the food cools evenly. If you don't have a fan, try fanning the container with a thick sheet of paper or folder. As a last resort, you can simply blow on the food.

Stir or shake the food in the container occasionally. Food on the surface will cool faster. By stirring the dish, you raise the hot layer to the surface and let it cool. The cool part of the dish will be closer to the bottom and will help cool the remaining food faster.

Add ice cubes to hot soup. Stir the liquid frequently. The only downside to ice is that it can dilute the flavor of the dish.

• You can use plastic reusable ice cubes. They will not melt and mix with the soup.

1. Place the bowl of food on the cooling gel pack. Press the container (or plate) so that it fits snugly against the surface of the bag. Stir the dish frequently to ensure it cools evenly.

   Place the food in an airtight plastic container and run it under cold running water. Rotate the container so that water hits it from different sides. Open the container regularly and stir the food. This will distribute the cold evenly, and it will cool the dish faster.

   Place hot food in the refrigerator for three minutes. Keep the lid over the container to prevent moisture from collecting in the refrigerator. Keep in mind that this method is only suitable for small and portioned dishes. Try one of the methods in this section if you're trying to cool food for the whole family. Do not place hot food in the freezer as this may defrost and spoil the food already inside.

Cool food before freezing

Cool food before moving it to the refrigerator or freezer. If you put hot food in the refrigerator/freezer, the rest of the food will begin to thaw and spoil. Also, hot food will not cool evenly. At the same time, food must be cooled quickly so that it does not turn into a breeding ground for bacteria. If you plan to store food in the refrigerator/freezer, the temperature should not exceed 4°C.

Provide air circulation. Try to keep food near a fan or open window. This will help constantly mix hot and cold air, allowing you to quickly remove heat from cooling food. If you have a fan, point it at the dish you want to cool.

Store dense foods, such as refried beans or stews, in uncovered, shallow containers. The tray should be approximately 10 centimeters in height, and the level of food in it should not exceed 5 centimeters. When you are not stirring a dish, cover the container with a lid to prevent the entry of foreign contaminants.

Build an ice bath for soups. Fill the sink with ice and some cold water. Place the food container in the sink. The food should be level with the ice water. Stir the contents every 10-15 minutes. This way the food will cool evenly.

Try using an ice shovel. This device is used in commercial kitchens to cool soups and similar foods. It consists of a plastic spatula filled with water and then frozen. Simply stir the hot soup with this spatula until the liquid reaches the desired temperature.

In our blog on Geektimes, we not only talk about the development of technologies used in the restaurant business (for example, restaurant automation systems), but also consider various aspects related to nutrition and health. In particular, we have already discussed the question of whether fast food is more harmful than food from “proper” restaurants, what wasabi is actually made from in Japanese establishments, why airplane food is so tasteless, and whether it is possible to replace the entire human diet with new Soylent.

Today we present to your attention an adapted translation of material from Upvoted resource columnist Gabrielle Canon, who collected in one article the opinions of experts and Reddit users on whether it is worth cooling food until room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator.

By eating yesterday's reheated dinner, you are putting your health at risk.

The party is over. The guests went home. Suddenly you wake up and go to the kitchen. You are not fully awake and have trouble thinking, but you know one thing for sure: you are dying of hunger. With your eyes half-closed, you are desperately, even frantically, trying to find something edible when you suddenly see him. Here he is, lying in the open cardboard box among the stuck pieces of cheese, shimmering in the beautiful glow of fat - the last piece of pizza from last night's party: it doesn't even need to be heated. Oh happiness!

It would seem that this is a story with a happy ending - but Debbie Downers from the Ministry Agriculture The USA does not agree with this. Experts do not recommend eating leftover food that has been left at room temperature for more than two hours.

But even two hours is not a short time, and refrigeration sometimes harms the quality of food. Still, how long can you store uneaten food before it becomes harmful? Is it worth poisoning your body for the sake of hunger?

“So should you put food in the refrigerator right away or wait until it cools to room temperature? You must put food in the refrigerator immediately!”

Is it possible to put hot food in the refrigerator: the technical side of the matter

In a discussion of this material on Geektimes, the user

If we think logically, then a refrigeration unit is needed precisely to make warm things cold. However, the instructions prohibit this without explaining why you cannot put hot food in the refrigerator.

Although it is added that the temperature of food placed in storage should not be higher than room temperature. If we look at history, in ancient times, when ice cellars were used for cooling, it never occurred to people to put even warm food there. The result in the form of melted ice was observed immediately. In modern units, the negative consequences are not so obvious, but no less harmful.

Why is hot food dangerous for refrigerators?

It should be understood that the refrigeration unit is intended for long-term storage of food, and not for quickly cooling freshly prepared borscht. Therefore, experts do not recommend putting hot food in the refrigerator.

Regardless of the technology, the compressor will have to work longer to cool the hot soup, which leads to accelerated wear.

For older models this is simply disastrous, however, units using modern technologies(drip system and No Frost) will suffer.

The hostess put the hot food in the refrigerator, and an hour later ice had already formed on the back wall.

Drip technology

In such refrigerators, cooling occurs due to the evaporator installed on the rear wall. Under normal conditions, moisture contained in the air accumulates on it, which under the influence of cold forms a thin layer of ice. During stops, the ice melts and the resulting water droplets are discharged outside.
If you put a hot pan in the refrigerator, the humidity in the chamber will increase due to the steam from it. This will lead to formation on the back (it is in in this case and there is a cooler) on the wall of a thick layer of ice, which is an excellent heat insulator. Therefore, despite the compressor’s efforts for many hours, the temperature in the chamber will not decrease. As a result, it may fail without waiting for the back wall to thaw.

A special feature of this technology is cooling due to the circulation of cold air moved by a fan. In this case, there is practically no ice. Such a refrigerator can relatively quickly cool warm foods and even cool soup right from the stove without much damage to itself. However, you should remember about accelerated wear of the compressor due to increased operating time and increased energy consumption. Since the possibility of breakdown remains, whether it is possible to put hot food in a refrigerator with no frost technology is determined independently, at your own peril and risk.

Related troubles

When placed in refrigerator hot, this will not only complicate the operation of the unit, but will also cause a number of unpleasant consequences:

1. A heated frying pan with a ceramic or Teflon coating placed in the chamber will be damaged, since these protective films peel off when there is a large temperature difference. For the same reason, dishes made of porcelain or ceramics will crack, which will force an unscheduled general cleaning in the cell.
2. When hot food is placed in the chamber, the temperature in it rises, which leads to thawing and subsequent re-freezing of the previously placed food. This is why their taste deteriorates and their shelf life is reduced. This has a particularly detrimental effect on dairy products and greens. If there is an urgent need for hot food, you should place it on a separate shelf in the upper part of the compartment.
3. At points of contact hot dishes with plastic parts they will melt. If you place blazing hot containers of food in the refrigerator, the plastic will burst due to regular exposure to temperature changes.
4. As already mentioned, the main problem for a refrigerator from hot food is the abundance of water vapor released by food, especially liquid food. Ice formed from steam prevents normal cooling of the air in the chambers. Therefore, when you happen to place hot containers in the refrigerator, cover them with tight lids. This is also true for other products, since in refrigerators with drip system Humidity is already high, but with No Frost technology the products are actively dried.

How to quickly cool hot foods

If you need to put cooked food in the refrigerator, but there is no time to wait for it to cool, you should use one of the tried and tested methods:

• Water is poured into a large container (for example, a basin) or into a sink with a plugged drain hole. It should not be excessively cold so that the dishes do not crack due to temperature changes. Then place the pan with the freshly cooked food in the water. To make the contents of the pan cool faster, add more from time to time cold water. To speed up the process, add ice from the freezer.
• IN warm season For years, housewives have been using their grandmother’s method of cooling. The dishes removed from the stove are taken out to the balcony or placed near an open window and wrapped in a wet rag. Due to the evaporation of water, the temperature of the cookware quickly decreases. If the rag is dry and the temperature is still high, the procedure is repeated until the desired result is obtained. After which the dishes with food can be safely placed in the refrigerator.
• Busy people who don't have time to cool down will love the new refrigerator model with a special compartment isolated from other compartments, called a HotBox, designed to cool hot food. If you put something in it that has not cooled down, the sensor will be triggered and a special fan will start, supplying air from outside. The moisture that falls into the condensate is removed without affecting the remaining compartments. When the temperature drops to an acceptable value, the dish is placed in the refrigerator. As such units become more common, the question of whether or not you can place food that has not cooled down in the refrigerator will begin to seem strange.

The problem of placing hot food in the refrigerator is an eternal headache for housewives, but it is unlikely that any of them will be able to clearly answer the question of why it is impossible to put hot food in the refrigerator. It would seem that the great white friend is precisely intended for cooling food, so why can hot pots significantly harm it?

When thinking about whether you can put hot soup in the refrigerator, decide for yourself what is more important: a well-functioning technique or immediate results. Back in the old days, when the role of refrigerators was played by pre-prepared glaciers filled with snow and ice, it never occurred to anyone to put hot containers with food there. Of course, melted ice cannot be frozen, especially in the summer heat. So why do modern housewives consider it normal to regularly fill the refrigerator with high-temperature foods? And what happens if you put hot food in the refrigerator?

Most likely, the refrigerator itself will soon be gone. Of course, it will not evaporate along with the steam from the hot soup or stew, but at first it will work worse or stop cooling altogether, so you will have to contact a repairman. To understand the principle negative impact hot for refrigeration equipment, you should understand general structure refrigerator. Modern market offers two systems:

• The familiar “drip” cooling system operates by circulating a special coolant along the rear wall. The condensation formed from wet products, settling on the walls, turns into frost, after which the cooling mechanism is turned off and allows the frost to melt. For drops flowing down the wall, there is a special hole in the lower part of the chamber.

Important:Placing a hot steaming product in the refrigerator leads to an increase in humidity and intensification of the formation of frost and ice on the walls of the appliance. This is why you should not put hot food in the refrigerator unless you want to urgently repair the compressor, which may become unusable due to overheating.

• More modern refrigerators operate on the “No frost” principle, which provides for the possibility of cooling warm food in the chamber due to the active operation of fans that disperse cold air. Is it possible to put warm things in the refrigerator of such a system? This is extremely undesirable, because this leads to an unwanted load on the mechanism and excessive waste of electricity, although compared to the “drip” system, the probability of unit failure is still much lower.

Why are hot foods dangerous for the refrigerator?

To summarize, to the question of whether it is possible to put hot food in the refrigerator, the only correct answer can be given: it is strictly not recommended.

Here are some reasons for this ban:

• Hot food placed in the refrigerator with other already cooled foods can spoil them. This is due to the fact that under the influence high temperature new “neighbor”, the air in the chamber and all the products heat up, albeit slightly, and then cool down again. Such shifts temperature regime undesirable, because it also affects taste qualities products and their expiration date.

Tip: When thinking about whether you can put hot pots in the refrigerator, you should remember all the possible disadvantages. Damage to food, dishes and equipment is too much to pay for laziness and negligence.

• Dishes in which something hot was placed in the refrigerator also suffer from this. Even a modern and ultra-durable frying pan or saucepan will not withstand such abuse, let alone porcelain and ceramics. There is an extremely high probability of not only getting a damaged product at the end, but also having to clean out the refrigerator chamber afterwards from spilled or crumbling product.
• Hot dishes are also dangerous for the internal contents of the refrigerator: shelves, partitions, etc. The plastic used in refrigeration equipment is, of course, durable, but it is not worth testing it again with hot frying pans or pots.
• And most importantly, hot food in the refrigerator is dangerous for the appliance itself. This is due to the fact that in order to cool hot items, the refrigerator is forced to work more intensively due to the formation of ice on the back wall.

Therefore, in order not to think about whether it is possible to put hot food in the freezer, it is worth making it an unshakable rule that freshly prepared foods must be cooled before placing them in the refrigerator compartment.

We cool food quickly and correctly

In order not to argue about whether it is possible to put warm food in the refrigerator, you should make it a rule for the whole family: be sure to cool food before placing it in refrigeration equipment. This process is simple, but once family members get used to such actions, they will maintain the health of the refrigerator for the entire warranty period of its operation, and maybe for an additional few years.

• In the cool season, a container of hot soup can be taken out to an open balcony or windowsill, and for maximum effect, wrapped in a damp towel. Some people use this method directly in the refrigerator, that is, they place a hot pan wrapped in a wet towel there.

Important: Only food that is close to room temperature should be placed in the refrigerator. This is good for both the equipment and the product itself.

• Technologies have come so far that today manufacturers produce refrigerators with special “HotBoxes” in which you can put warm or hot foods. A sensor is installed in this chamber, which, when triggered, turns on a powerful fan: removing condensation from this part of the refrigerator does not affect the condition of the entire device.

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