“Chill Out or Heat Up? The Shocking Secrets of Storing Hot Food That Could Change Your Kitchen Game!”

• It prevents bacterial growth
• It preserves food quality
• It protects the other food you have in the fridge (or freezer)

Once the food is out of the danger zone, you can place it in the fridge. If the food has been in the danger zone for more than a few hours, it might be best to toss it.

Image by Abdulmajeed Hassan from Pixabay

A Few Best Practices

Make it easy on yourself and follow a few best practices:

1. Cover your food with a lid or foil with a gap so that steam can escape.
2. Transfer food to a shallow pan or container so that heat can dissipate faster.
3. Use a food thermometer to monitor the temperature. You want to get the temperature out of the danger zone (so below 40 F) within two hours.
4. Use an ice bath to speed up the cooling process.

The next time you have a hot dish, cool it down, wrap it up, and get it in the fridge. It’s the safest way for you to deal with any of your leftovers.

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