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[FlipConstantine]

Yeah, this was kind of a by-the-numbers strip, but I think we're being set up for something pretty entertaining here.

[Bobby Isosceles]

USDA says refrigerate hot foods immediately or put it in an ice or cold water bath before refrigerating.

Plus Fourier's Law supports this:


Q = (K x A x ΔT)/L

Q is the amount of heat transferred per second
K is the conductivity of your container
A is the surface area of the container
L is the thickness of the container

ΔT is the difference in temperature between your food product and the fridge

A larger difference means a faster cooling rate. Clearly this has diminishing returns as the food cools.

[acoxcae]

The USDA also says to cook a turkey to 180 degrees - I'm not listening to those guys any more.

[Drastic Action]

Regardless of the USDA, why would it matter to put hot food in the fridge?  I've been trying to think of a reason.

Actually, crap, I just thought of one: putting something hot in there would increase the temperature of the fridge.  Like when I put my giant pot of curry in there.  I can imagine that it's radiating quite a bit of heat for a while.  I guess don't put hot stuff next to your milk, is the moral here then.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Regardless of the USDA, why would it matter to put hot food in the fridge?  I've been trying to think of a reason.

Actually, crap, I just thought of one: putting something hot in there would increase the temperature of the fridge.  Like when I put my giant pot of curry in there.  I can imagine that it's radiating quite a bit of heat for a while.  I guess don't put hot stuff next to your milk, is the moral here then.

The folk wisdom is that a hot object in the fridge will spend more time in the 'danger zone' where deadly spoilage microorgansms such as Kenny Loggins may multiply. This betrays a fallacious belief that the rate of cooling is the same for a very hot object than for a lukewarm one. In fact, a hot object will cool faster than a lukewarm one, and then the rate of cooling will slow as the object approaches equilibrium with its surroundings. Thus a hot object in the fridge spends LESS time in the 'danger zone'.

[acoxcae]

Regardless of the USDA, why would it matter to put hot food in the fridge?  I've been trying to think of a reason.

Actually, crap, I just thought of one: putting something hot in there would increase the temperature of the fridge.  Like when I put my giant pot of curry in there.  I can imagine that it's radiating quite a bit of heat for a while.  I guess don't put hot stuff next to your milk, is the moral here then.

Basically - the problem is, with something big enough (like a big pot of curry), it'll raise the temperature of the whole fridge above 40 degrees, and all your stuff will start sprouting deadly fungi and calling E. Coli in from out-of-town to come visit and whatnot.  For little things, like macaroni, it's not a huge deal - but big stuff should ideally be cooled before you refrigerate it.

Most of the time I only pay attention to this rule with something like a pot of soup - and sometimes I ignore it completely.  But if the temperature of your fridge is above 40 degrees, the USDA will come to your house and kill you.

The folk wisdom is that a hot object in the fridge will spend more time in the 'danger zone' where deadly spoilage microorgansms such as Kenny Loggins may multiply. This betrays a fallacious belief that the rate of cooling is the same for a very hot object than for a lukewarm one. In fact, a hot object will cool faster than a lukewarm one, and then the rate of cooling will slow as the object approaches equilibrium with its surroundings. Thus a hot object in the fridge spends LESS time in the 'danger zone'.

Ah, but a hot object in the fridge raises the temperature of the fridge to attain that equilibrium - and therein lies the problem.

[Bobby Isosceles]

Basically - the problem is, with something big enough (like a big pot of curry), it'll raise the temperature of the whole fridge above 40 degrees, and all your stuff will start sprouting deadly fungi and calling E. Coli in from out-of-town to come visit and whatnot.  For little things, like macaroni, it's not a huge deal - but big stuff should ideally be cooled before you refrigerate it.

Most of the time I only pay attention to this rule with something like a pot of soup - and sometimes I ignore it completely.  But if the temperature of your fridge is above 40 degrees, the USDA will come to your house and kill you.
Ah, but a hot object in the fridge raises the temperature of the fridge to attain that equilibrium - and therein lies the problem.

Most modern fridges are able to remove heat via convection quite efficiently. To aid this, maximise the surface area to volume ratio. USDA also recommends big tureens of soup or such should be broken into multiple small containers and refrigerated.

[jough]

Yeah, you shouldn't put pots into the fridge.  That is hell of fratish.

I save chinese food soup containers (plastic ones with water-tight lids, not those little cardboard red ones with the holes in the cardboard lid) and use them to store all kinds of stuff.

Oh, also, a little bacteria won't hurt you.  Don't be a pussy. 

[acoxcae]

Yeah, in most cases I cook that bacteria until it has had enough - and have never had a food-related illness.  But I'll be damned if I'm going to split soup into multiple smaller containers - I put it in the fridge overnight, and then I want to heat that whole pot up again the next day for dinner.  Sure, if I'm just going to have a bowl the next day, I'll split it up, but I don't make soup just for me.

Also, my fridge in my apartment is far to old to know how to remove heat.  It just caught on to this whole "making cold" issue, don't tell it to try to move air around as well or it might just curl up and die.  Until recently, the door squealed so bad every time I opened it that I considered just leaving food outside - it was cold enough, and I could stop re-living the shower scene from Psycho every time I made dinner.

Man, now I want some soup, but I know if I make it I'll be hell of conflicted about how to store it.

[swinehund]

I second soup in individual small containers, and in the freezer. INFINITE VARIETY. I have like 11 kinds of homemade soup to choose from.

[CortJstr]

Most modern fridges are able to remove heat via convection quite efficiently. To aid this, maximise the surface area to volume ratio. USDA also recommends big tureens of soup or such should be broken into multiple small containers and refrigerated.

Or you can go the Alton route (I believe this is from the chicken stock episode) and cool the entire pot in a cooler filled with ice water until it's close enough to fridge temp. Considering his frequent monologues on the superiority of convection I'm a little surprised he didn't include a tiny outboard motor into this setup.

Then there's always the Mythbusters route of just just shooting a fire extinguisher at the warm item in question and cool it right the fuck down.

[Carlos del Vaca]

I liked the Super-Secret Ice Cream Shoppe arc, in which Philippe was in peril due to the nefarious Nice Pete.  This time, he's in trouble due to his own stupidity, and I'm having a more difficult time caring.

[swinehund]

I liked the Super-Secret Ice Cream Shoppe arc, in which Philippe was in peril due to the nefarious Nice Pete.  This time, he's in trouble due to his own stupidity, and I'm having a more difficult time caring.

Ditto.

[robot_god]

I am pretty interested to see what Phillipe will do when he is rolling dolo.  The whole concept of Phillipe being arround is to analyze his thought process more than simply feel sorry if something bad happens.

[AlohaDawg]

Or you can go the Alton route (I believe this is from the chicken stock episode) and cool the entire pot in a cooler filled with ice water until it's close enough to fridge temp. Considering his frequent monologues on the superiority of convection I'm a little surprised he didn't include a tiny outboard motor into this setup.

Then there's always the Mythbusters route of just just shooting a fire extinguisher at the warm item in question and cool it right the fuck down.

Alton wears rubber gloves all the time, now. I don't know why considering he mxed things with his bare hands constantly during the first few seasons. I guess someone got on him - but the rubber gloves make him look so paranoid that I have trouble believing any safety things he says anymore.