MYTHCONCEPTIONS

The myth

You must never put hot food in the fridge. If you do, manifold tragedies shall befall thee, including (but not limited to) the fridge’s interior reaching a temperature at which its contents are no longer safely refrigerated, and the fridge itself breaking down.

The “truth”

You should always put hot food in the fridge, rather than leaving it on the kitchen counter to cool down. All food safety authorities agree that cooked food that isn’t going to be eaten immediately needs to be refrigerated or frozen within two hours. After two hours at room temperature, bacteria that cause food poisoning can reach dangerous levels. (In very hot conditions, this safe period is reduced to one hour). A fridge that’s working properly shouldn’t struggle to chill hot food, provided it’s not overcrowded, so that cold air can circulate. The food should be covered, because evaporation can interfere with the fridge’s operation, and large pots of food should be divided into smaller containers so that they will chill faster.

Sources

www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/fsis-content/internet/main/ topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safefood-handling/refrigeration-and-food-safety/ct_index; www.doh.wa.gov/ YouandYourFamily/FoodSafety/Myths.

Disclaimer

FT’s circulation department gets very annoyed when we poison our readers, so please don’t rely on our advice on this matter. And if you can explain why authorities differ on the question of whether hot food can damage a fridge, which sounds like something easily established by experiment, please write in.

Mythchaser

Can it be true, a reader writes, her head almost audibly spinning, that there is no such thing as a species? Or at least, that there is currently no generally accepted definition of the concept, following the abandonment of the one about interbreeding that we were taught at school? Is “species” a myth?