Question QUESTION: When making soup from scratch, what is the safest way to cool it? Can it go directly into the fridge? Can it be put into one large plastic leftover (e.g. Rubbermaid) container while still hot? Does it need to cool somewhat prior to the fridge? If so, how cool? If I want to refridgerate half and freeza half, how soon after cooking can it be frozen? Details please! Love making the soup but want it to be safe too!
thanks!
ANSWER: The safest way to cool large batches of food is to use shallow (2" or less) uncovered containers. The rules we use in retail/wholesale food are to cool from 135 degrees to 70 degrees within thew first two hours and then from 70 to 41 degrees or below within the next 4 hours.
In your home, space is often the limiting factor. I would recommend splitting the soup into multiple containers, allow them to cool at room temperature initially (until they stop steaming) and then transfer to the fridge uncovered.
Always reheat to 165 degrees or above when you use the soup.
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QUESTION: Thank you so much. So for clarification, the soup will be left out for quite a bit of time until it gets to room temp or is it just until there is no more steam?
The second part is about the freezer:
If I know from the onset that I want to freeze part of the soup, do I do what you said and first refridgerate it and then freeze it? Or can it go from the "stop steaming" part directly to the freezer?
thanks again for your time!
Answer You will want to cool from 135 degrees to 70 in two hours or less, which will typically require the soup to be placed into the refrigerator as soon as it stops steaming. Waiting for the steam to stop helps prevent warming or producing too much condensation in your refrigerator.
