Cooking and reheating question


 
R

Robin C

New member
I've never cooked ahead of time then reheated on the day. I'd like to give this a go sometime as I think it could prove useful.

My question is in terms of cooling the food. Say I've cooked and pulled a butt. After the point of pulling it will still be warm/hot. Do I allow it to cool naturally before refrigerating or do I put it straight in the fridge?
 
Robin,

I've done it both ways. If the food is stored warm or hot you will get a bit of condensation in the storage container but it will evaporate when it's reheated. The cooler the food is when stored the less condensation you'll have.

Be aware when you reheat the food you don't get it so hot it starts cooking again.

Scotty W.
 
Hello Robin, You are better off refrigerating right away to reduce the chance of bacterial growth. The reason cooling before storing was more of a situation of the hot food bringing up the temperatures in your fridge. With todays newer fridges, this is no longer a problem.
Its better to store meat in a covered shallow pan to speed up the cooling process.
 
Not true.


Cooked foods should be cooled before being packages for storing in the fridge. You run a large risk of pathogen outgrowth by storing hot or warm food in the fridge, especially if packed well.

Refrigerators are not designed to cool hot food quickly. The length of time hot food takes to cool in the fridge, especially if packed well, is too long. A significant pathogen - Staphylococcus aureus, ubiquitous in the environment (and many people carry it naturally on their skin) - can grow in just this situation, and create a toxin that will not later be destroyed by heat.

Cool the food out of the fridge. If pulling pork, chill some pans or bowls in the fridge or freezer then use these to place the pulled pork into while it is being pulled. When cool (room temp or, preferably, below), pack for the fridge. Pack the containers or bags on the thin side. When cold you can combine the packages into fewer containers if desired.

See here for more. And this.
 
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