semi-hot item in cold fridge causes sour-ness

[notbob]

I've been watching old eps of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (USA
edition). More than once, I've seen Gordon tear into chefs fer not
knowing that putting a hot soup/sauce into a cold refrigerator makes sed
soup/sauce "sour". True?

I've been doing this (putting semi-hot soup in fridge) fer years. IME,
letting soup/sauce cool on range-top prior to putting in refrigerator
cause item to spoil sooner. Yes? No?

nb

[itsjoan...@webtv.net]

I dunno. I always let soups set on the stove for about two hours before
shoving in them in the 'fridge and haven't encountered any sourness.
Maybe Gordon is correct and that's why mine never taste sour.

[Gary]

I've never experienced that. Any soup/sauce I make, I'll let it
cool down for a while to let the temperature cool somewhat but
I've never taken one right off stove to fridge.

Gordon probably knows something that we don't.
Probably just a matter of timing.

[jmcquown]

On 7/13/2018 12:19 PM, Gary wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>>
>> I've been watching old eps of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (USA
>> edition). More than once, I've seen Gordon tear into chefs fer not
>> knowing that putting a hot soup/sauce into a cold refrigerator makes sed
>> soup/sauce "sour". True?
>>
>> I've been doing this (putting semi-hot soup in fridge) fer years. IME,
>> letting soup/sauce cool on range-top prior to putting in refrigerator
>> cause item to spoil sooner. Yes? No?
>
> I've never experienced that. Any soup/sauce I make, I'll let it
> cool down for a while to let the temperature cool somewhat but
> I've never taken one right off stove to fridge.
>

I don't do that, either, but then I might want another bowl of soup
while it's still hot. :)

My SO is rather odd about things like this. He seems to think if I
don't rush any leftover hot food right into the fridge it will spoil.
No, it won't. It can sit there for an hour or so, no worries. It's not
as if I leave it sitting out overnight.

Jill

[notbob]

On 7/13/2018 11:07 AM, jmcquown wrote:

> No, it won't.  It can sit there for an hour or so, no worries.  It's not
> as if I leave it sitting out overnight.

Which I've done and it doesn't seem to bother the item.

It's not like I put sed item in fridge, right away. I wait a couple
hours cuz my fridge (Maytag) has glass shelves. ;)

nb

[jmcquown]

I don't know whether Gordon Ramsay is right about the sourness thing. I
do know I don't put anything piping hot off the stove into the fridge.
It has nothing to do with glass shelves. (My 29 year old GE fridge has
glass shelves.) I simply think it's unnecessary to transfer hot food
immediately into the refrigerator. It's not going to spoil if it sits
out for a bit.

After I eat, I don't want to rush to clean up and put everything away.
I take some time to relax after a meal.

Of course Kitchen Nightmares is a pseudo reality show and he's talking
about what they do in a commercial kitchen.

Jill

[U.S. Janet B.]

My thinking is that putting the hot stuff into the fridge causes the
temp in the fridge to increase for everything in there. I don't know
how long it takes for the fridge temps to recover but in the meantime
the temps may be above optimal. I don't have any facts and figures
for this, no article to cite, just my thinking of how it would work.
So I leave soups and so forth on the stove top to come to a palm
(hand) temperature before I put it in the fridge.
Janet US

[jmcquown]

Same here.

Jill

[Dave Smith]

My impression from watching Ramsey is that is may or may not be true,
but that he thinks it gave him an excuse to berate someone.

[Julie Bove]

"notbob" <not...@nothome.com> wrote in message
news:fqrsf8...@mid.individual.net...

I generally let something cool to room temp if I can before putting it in
the fridge but not for the reasons you mentioned. Putting something really
hot next to cold food can cause that cold food to get to too high of a
temp., and that can be bad. Like wilted lettuce or melted cheese.

But... When I lived alone I would sometimes put an entire pot of chili or
soup in the fridge, hot. In those days that pot of food was likely the only
thing in there. I didn't keep much in the way of condiments or other foods
in those days except perhaps for some cheese and produce. The soup never got
sour.

[John Kuthe]

On Friday, July 13, 2018 at 9:49:16 AM UTC-5, notbob wrote:

What we are actually talking about here is the RATE of cooling. I have a big ole 21qt pressure cooker I use just as a large cooking pot for large batches, like now my "Baked Beans" which never see an oven. I have a non-climate controlled screen room just off my kitchen, and in the Winter I call it my "big refrigerator", and immediately after cooking a large pot of "hot" I love putting it all in my COLD SCREEN ROOM!

And no, putting something hot into a COLD place is NOT gonna make it "spoil sooner". Think physics AND biology!! Cooking is physics and spoilage is biology!

Namaste

John Kuthe...

[Gary]

John Kuthe wrote:
>
> What we are actually talking about here is the RATE of cooling. I have a big ole 21qt pressure cooker I use just as a large cooking pot for large batches, like now my "Baked Beans" which never see an oven. I have a non-climate controlled screen room just off my kitchen, and in the Winter I call it my "big refrigerator", and immediately after cooking a large pot of "hot" I love putting it all in my COLD SCREEN ROOM!
>
> And no, putting something hot into a COLD place is NOT gonna make it "spoil sooner". Think physics AND biology!! Cooking is physics and spoilage is biology!

I don't think anyone here was talking about a hot pot spoiling
sooner by putting it immediately into a cold place, John. The
concern is putting very hot food in the fridge and warming up all
the other food in there that might spoil sooner because of that.

When I cook large batches of anything, I'll set the pot out on my
back porch to cool down. Works especially good in the winter when
outside is extremely cold. When it's hot out, I'll just leave it
on the stove for a bit.

[penm...@aol.com]

During cold weather I place pots of hot food to cool down quickly
in my unheated garage, sometimes on my deck. I usually portion hot
soups into reusable plastic containers and put them on my deck when
it's well below freezing, but I lock them into an old ice chest so the
critters can't get to it. The next morning they're all frozen solid
and go into my basement freezer.
If it's only one or two portions a modern frost free fridge/freezer
can handle hot foods well but not large amounts.

[Ophelia]

"Gary" wrote in message news:5B4A22E7...@att.net...

==

I remember writing here in a panic to ask about onions and cats. We were
down at the farm and I put a pot out to cool. The farm cats got into
it:( It had a lot of onion in it. None seemed to die though thank
goodness!

[John Kuthe]

On Saturday, July 14, 2018 at 11:20:45 AM UTC-5, Gary wrote:
> John Kuthe wrote:
> >
> > What we are actually talking about here is the RATE of cooling. I have a big ole 21qt pressure cooker I use just as a large cooking pot for large batches, like now my "Baked Beans" which never see an oven. I have a non-climate controlled screen room just off my kitchen, and in the Winter I call it my "big refrigerator", and immediately after cooking a large pot of "hot" I love putting it all in my COLD SCREEN ROOM!
> >
> > And no, putting something hot into a COLD place is NOT gonna make it "spoil sooner". Think physics AND biology!! Cooking is physics and spoilage is biology!
>
> I don't think anyone here was talking about a hot pot spoiling
> sooner by putting it immediately into a cold place, John. The
> concern is putting very hot food in the fridge and warming up all
> the other food in there that might spoil sooner because of that.

...

Aha! I misundertook! ;-)

Yes, which is also why in my freezer I like to keep frozen closed plastic bottles of water as solid little nuggets of COLD! Good in a cooler too! Block ice which does not get wet if it melts!

John Kuthe...

[col...@gmail.com]

I have a 22 qt hot water bath canner with a rack for jars but we never canned anything in it, we did use it to cool corn in. It's black enamaled steel with white specks.

[cshenk]

Same here. No rush if it's still burnably hot.

[tert in seattle]

g.ma...@att.net writes:
>John Kuthe wrote:
>>
>> What we are actually talking about here is the RATE of cooling. I have
>a big ole 21qt pressure cooker I use just as a large cooking pot for
>large batches, like now my "Baked Beans" which never see an oven. I have
>a non-climate controlled screen room just off my kitchen, and in the
>Winter I call it my "big refrigerator", and immediately after cooking a
>large pot of "hot" I love putting it all in my COLD SCREEN ROOM!
>>
>> And no, putting something hot into a COLD place is NOT gonna make it
>"spoil sooner". Think physics AND biology!! Cooking is physics and
>spoilage is biology!
>
>I don't think anyone here was talking about a hot pot spoiling
>sooner by putting it immediately into a cold place, John.

not anyone here - it was allegedly Gordon Ramsey - to quote the OP:

[barbie gee]

My impression was that if something is in too big of a container, and put
into the fridge hot, that the outside will cool first, while the middle of
the contents will remain hot, then warm, in that "spoilage danger zone"
temp. I dunno. I usually let stuff cool on the stove a bit, with a loose
cover, just because I don't like to have the fridge have to run extra hard
to cool something that's hot, as opposed to warm.

[Dave Smith]

On 2018-07-21 9:15 PM, barbie gee wrote:
>

>> "I've been watching old eps of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares (USA
>> edition).  More than once, I've seen Gordon tear into chefs fer not
>> knowing that putting a hot soup/sauce into a cold refrigerator makes sed
>> soup/sauce "sour".  True?"
>>
>>
>
> My impression was that if something is in too big of a container, and
> put into the fridge hot, that the outside will cool first, while the
> middle of the contents will remain hot, then warm, in that "spoilage
> danger zone" temp.  I dunno.  I usually let stuff cool on the stove a
> bit, with a loose cover, just because I don't like to have the fridge
> have to run extra hard to cool something that's hot, as opposed to warm.

My impression is that most germs get killed when food is cooked and that
contaminated germs from the air or from the still live organisms that
thrive at warmer temperatures. Chilling and freezing the food inhibits
bacterial growth. The faster you cool it the safer it is.