Making use of leftovers can be an excellent way to reduce food waste. If you live alone or have a busy schedule, which means you struggle to find time to cook on a daily basis, meal prepping and cooking in bulk can also be a good way to ensure you have a meal ready when you get home.
But once you’ve cooked your big batch of food, how do you store it? Most of us would be hesitant to put freshly cooked hot food directly into the fridge, but we also know it shouldn’t sit on the kitchen counter for too long, as bacteria can start to grow and make the food unsafe to eat.
There are many questions and concerns about food storage for leftovers, but one food safety expert has now claimed there are some simple rules you can follow to ensure your food is always safe to eat.
And what’s more, he claims you can actually put food straight into the fridge once you’ve cooked it – providing you follow some vital steps that guarantee your food can cool down quickly.
The tips were shared in an Instagram video posted by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a non-profit organisation and watchdog in the US which aims to advocate for food safety and nutrition.
In their video, an expert at the CSPI explained if you’ve ever been told putting hot food in the fridge can break the appliance, which is mostly an outdated notion that isn’t true for modern fridges.
In fact, storing food in your fridge as soon as it’s cooked can help prevent bacteria from growing – as long as you make sure your food is stored in a wide dish with no lid.
He said: “Can you put hot food in the fridge? If you’ve been told that it’s dangerous for some reason, you can relax. It’s not going to break your fridge, and it will actually help prevent bacteria from growing on your leftovers – if you do it right.
“Old refrigerators, like pre-1970s, worked in such a way that putting hot food inside would cause the condenser to kick off and make the fridge work harder to keep things cool, which could lead to breaks. But modern refrigerators maintain a constant temperature, so they can handle hot food.
“That said, you still want to make sure your hot food can cool quickly. It’s best to store it in wide, shallow containers so that it’s no more than two inches deep. That keeps the food out of the danger zone, where bacteria can easily grow.”
The expert said that putting food in a shallow dish to spread it out in a thin layer helps the food cool down quickly. If you were to put food in the fridge in a thicker layer, you may come back to it several days later and find the middle is still warm – which is not safe as it could be harbouring dangerous bacteria.
He also said food will cool faster if left uncovered or partially covered in the container. Once the food is completely cool, you can cover it fully.
Commenters on the video thanked the expert for his advice, as many said they had no idea that they were risking dangerous bacteria by leaving their food out of the fridge.
One person said: “This (embarrassingly) blew my mind when I learned it from NutritIon Action a couple weeks ago and I have been sharing it far and wide.”