Good Housekeeping Magazine found that soup can take a dangerously long time to cool to safe temps-and may even spoil nearby perishables. Food safety experts recommend refrigerating pipping-hot food right away so it won't develop illness causing bacteria. Good Housekeeping testers were shocked to find the it took up to 16 hours for soup to cool to safe temps, and nearby milk spiked to 50°! So they recommend:
- Adjust the fridge to its lowest setting when you begin cooking so the temp has time to drop.
- Put containers of hot food in a sink of ice water for a half hour before refrigerating. I did this a few days ago and it worked great.
- Clear perishables off the fridge's top shelf and use that for cooling.
