Can you put hot food or leftovers in the fridge?
Good health and economic question!
As you know, a fridge should stay cold.
But if you put a hot dish in it, it increases the temperature inside...
As a result, the fridge consumes more to lower the temperature.
At the same time, a dish should not be left outside for long...
...otherwise the bacteria grow at high speed!
So what to do? Do you really have to let a dish cool before putting it in the fridge?
Here are the tips for not getting sick and saving energy. Watch:
There are several good reasons not to put a dish that is still hot directly in the fridge.
Here they are:
1. The hotter the dish, the longer it takes the fridge to return to its normal temperature, i.e. between 3 and 5°C.
2. The hotter a dish is, the more electricity the fridge uses to cool it.
3. By putting a hot dish in the fridge, it also increases the temperature of other foods in the fridge.
4. By increasing the temperature in the fridge, bacteria grow faster.
5. A higher temperature in the fridge also decreases the shelf life of food.
6. Too high a temperature increases the risk of your fridge breaking down.
7. By putting a hot dish in the fridge, condensation (small drops of water) and frost appear on the walls.
As you will have understood, it is best to let a dish cool before putting it in the fridge.
But be careful, because you have to follow certain rules to avoid poisoning.
1. It is important not to leave a hot dish for more than 2 hours at room temperature.
2. Bacteria in a dish at room temperature double every 20 minutes.
3. Take particular care not to leave a meat dish outside for too long (red or white meat such as poultry).
4. By leaving a dish out overnight, you risk food poisoning, especially if it contains meat.
5. Never leave a hot dish outside for more than an hour if the ambient temperature is 32°C.
If you have a hot dish, it is best to let it cool outside.
But as we have just seen together, the duration is decisive.
For a dish that does not contain meat, you can leave it alone 2 hours before putting it in the fridge.
For a meat dish, it's a different story.
It is better not to exceed 20 minutes or even 1 hour maximum.
But anyway, it's rare that a hot dish takes so long to cool down!
The worry comes more from forgetting the dish outside.
In that case, consider putting a timer on your phone to think about it.
The best trick to know if a dish is cool enough to put it in the fridge is as simple as hello.
Just look at the white smoke coming from your dish.
If the steam has completely disappeared , your dish is ready to be placed in the fridge.
If not, wait another ten minutes.
Do you need to cool a dish quickly?
So, follow these tips so that your hot dish can be put in the fridge quickly:
- to cool a soup quickly, leave it in its saucepan rather than small containers. Why ? Because the air contact surface is greater.
- remember to stir the dish while still hot so that it cools more quickly.
- obviously, do not put a lid so that the steam can come out quickly.
- if possible, put the dish still hot on the terrace outside or on a balcony. If that's not possible, just open the windows wide for a few minutes.
- place food boxes in cold water to speed up cooling.
- also remember not to put the hot dish on a cork or wooden trivet as this retains the heat.
- if you are really in a hurry, you can immerse the hot dish in a bath of ice cubes.
