[Sca-cooks] Room Temperature

[Stefan li Rous]

Anahita replied to me with:
> Anahita asked:
>>  How long do you leave something out of the refrigerator until it
>>  comes to room temperature.
>>
>>  I realize that there are variables, such as how cold the item was to
>>  begin with (a fridge can range from, what? 34 to 40 degrees
>>  Fahrenheit?), and what the temperature of the room is (since it's
>>  winter, my current room temperature is around 64 degrees).
>
> Stefan li Rous responded:
>>I think you left off one even more important variable. How big the frozen
>>chunk of meat is.
>
> Actually i didn't leave this information out, as this is not what i
> was asking about.

Refrigerated or frozen, the size and density of the object will still
affect how fast it warms up.


> I thought i was clear in my original message, as i specified
> "refrigerator" and a beginning temperature of between 34 and 40
> degrees F.
>
> This is definitely not the freezer and not frozen at 32 degrees F. or
> colder (aren't freezers supposed to be around 28 degrees F.?).

Sorry, I took that as a question of what the fridge temperature was
likely to be, not specifically the temperature you were dealing with.


> So, any estimates of how long it takes to bring something out of the
> refrigerator at a temperature of somewhere around 34 to 40 degrees
> Fahrenheit up to room temperature, which as i said in my original
> message, is around 64 degrees Fahrenheit?
>
> An hour? Two hours? Three hours?
>
> I just want to serve something at room temperature that needs to be
> kept in the refrigerator until some time before serving, i'll say,
> "cheese spread", or a cooked dish of some sort that is best served at
> room temp., something whose flavor or texture is improved by not
> being at refrigerator temperature.
This is a better description. I think all of these examples are going

to similar enough in size and density that this won't affect them
much. I think the biggest question may not be how long they would
take to warm to room temperature on their own, but is this amount
of time within the safe food handling times.


--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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