Freezing Hot Food | Imamother

sympa

Tue, May 19 2009, 3:34 pm

What is the story with freezing food while it's still hot?
- How hot is "too hot"?
- What about things like chicken, which should never be left at room temperature, and certainly not for hours while it cools (and yes, it does take hours to cool a large chicken soup pot, or 9x13 meat casserole, especially in this hot weather)?
- What does it actually do to your freezer? What if you don't mind "slightly defrosting" the things immediately around it - like flour and grains - is there still a problem for the freezer itself?

fiddle

Tue, May 19 2009, 3:51 pm

found this online.

Cooling before freezing is necessary for two important reasons: firstly, extra heat will raise the temperature of the freezer, and secondly, the outer edges of the hot or warm dish will freeze hard quickly while the inside may not cool in time to prevent spoilage.

Follow these steps when preparing and freezing your own main dishes to ensure food safety and quality:

* Cool precooked dishes as quickly as possible before they are placed in the freezer.
* For fastest cooling, place the pan of hot food in a sink filled with ice water (or in a larger pan of ice water). If you're cooling a soup, stew, or sauce, stir occasionally to help it cool evenly.
* Once the dish is cooled, portion it into meal-sized containers or packages. Label and date the containers. Place them in a single layer in the coldest area of your freezer until completely frozen. Rearrange as necessary.