Should you put hot food in the refrigerator? ...YES! But let me explain why
G'day there guys, I'm Jesse Crowe, The Travelling Scientist, and after spending
years studying microbiology, I'm here to help you live smarter, happier and healthier lives!
Now I got into an argument with my housemates the other day. Someone cooked a big batch of
food for lunches throughout the week, and then they left it here on the bench to cool down.
I told him "You should probably put it in the fridge",
but all my housemates thought that you can't put hot food in the fridge...
And when I asked them "why?"...They didn't know the answer.
So I called up my mom Shez, she's a gun cook! I said "Mum, can you put cooked food in the
refrigerator?" and she said on. I was like "Why Not?" and she said "I don't know...BACTERIA!?"
But my thinking there is; Bacteria grows at room temperature,
not at fridge temperature, so the sooner that you put hot food into the refrigerator,
the sooner it cools down and the less time there is for bacteria to grow!
You see, bacteria is what spoils food, and it thrives and grows at warm room temperatures:
Between 5-60 degrees celsius, or between 40-140 degrees fahrenheit
So if you keep your food very hot or very cold, it's safe from spoiling, but if you
leave your food out at room temperature, say overnight or even just for a few hours,
invisible bacteria will grow in that food which can make you really sick when you eat it!
See, the idea that hot food can't go into the fridge stems from back in the day when
refrigerators weren't very powerful, and if you put hot food in an old fridge, everything else
in the fridge would warm up, allowing bacteria to grow and spoiling EVERYTHING in the fridge.
Luckily, fridges made in this century are WAY more efficient, so if you put cooked food into a modern
refrigerator, it will be cooled down quickly, preventing the growth of harmful bacteria.
Just make sure that your fridge is the right temperature it should be;
Between 2-3 degrees celsius, or 35-38 degrees fahrenheit.
And if you don't know the temperature of your fridge or your food,
get yourself a thermometer, it could save your life!
I've recommended a couple in the description just down below.
Another tip for safely storing food is to split it up into smaller portions,
rather than keeping it in one big container in the fridge.
This will increase the surface area, allowing the food to cool down even faster
Also, make sure you keep your food covered. Bacteria in the air will land on exposed food,
helping it to spoil faster, so keep a lid on your food to protect it from those bacterial bastards!
Finally, if you're reheating food from the fridge,
make sure you get it nice and hot, to at least 75 degrees celsius or 165 degrees fahrenheit.
This will kill most of the bacteria in the food, making it safer for you to eat
...Oh, and don't keep food in your fridge for too long, Y'know? Most food only lasts for
a few days in the refrigerator, don't try eating leftovers from like two weeks ago!
That's such a bad idea, you're just asking for food poisoning
I could talk about this crap for ages, let's just let's end it there, turn the camera off.
Anyway, that's all for today guys, thank you so much for watching!
If you enjoyed this video or learned something, click the LIKE button down below.
And let me know if you have any other questions about keeping food safe
in the COMMENT section down below.
Finally, next week's video is going to be all about improving your memory, so make sure you
SUBSCRIBE for more Travelling Science every single week, and I'll see you guys next Science Sunday!
Cheers!
Should you put hot food in the microwave?
In the microwave?
in the refrige-mater mum?
The Refrige-mater...WHAT!?
Another tip for safety storing spood...?
Housemates the other dear...?