Can someone settle an argument between my wife and me? She says she has read that food bacteria can begin so quickly that one should not allow a large pot of, say, soup, to cool down in a refrigerator. Supposedly, the soup stays warm long enough that bacteria can begin to grow before it cools down. I say no way because when you start with freshly boiled soup it is basically sterile and the time it takes to cool down will not allow for any kind of nasty growth. Any food science people out there?
Hey pal, repost this over in General Questions or email a mod and ask ‘em to move it for ya’.
Welcome to the board.
P.S. I’m with you on this one - stick it in the fridge, it’ll be OK.
Don’t re-post unless a mod gives you permission first. In the meanwhile, I’ve read (Reader’s Digest, I think) that one should separate the food into shallower dishes, so it’ll cool more quickly, and put it into the fridge. Of course, one must also ask how much one cares about the risks.
What Chronos said. I’m a microbiologist, currently taking a food micro class, for what it’s worth. In a commercial setting, where you’re serving a lot of food to a lot of people, the rule is that you store food in large shallow containers, so there’s a large surface area to volume ratio, so that it cools quickly. This avoids the problem your wife mentioned.
Boiling your soup is not going to kill everything. Botulism spores, for instance, are actually activated by boiling. If you give them time to grow, they’ll produce toxins and make you sick. If they’re there in the first place.
But in a home setting, is it really a big enough risk to worry about? Eh. Maybe, maybe not. I’d say put it in smaller containers if you’ve got them, but if not, don’t lose any sleep over it.
Next time please don’t repost unless a mod or admin asks you to. Usually, we will move it. If the board is slow, we may ask you to repost.
E-mail a mod or admin. Let us handle it.
I’m closing this one
DrMatrix - SDMB Moderator