[Sca-cooks] food safe temperature

[Wanda Pease]

For the last 10 years or more I've used my garage as an auxiliary
refrigerator before and after Thanksgiving with no problems reported.
Temperatures are usually about 40 to 50 degrees outside at this time of
year.   The garage tends to hold in the cold air and doesn't warm up during
the day.  I don't quite see how this would be different from using my indoor
refrigerator since all the food is well and truly sealed down with plastic
wrap and foil.  In fact that's where I start the defrosting of the turkeys.
They were closed in empty ice chests there for three days and were still
very cold on the outside and frozen in the middle so I had to finish the
thawing with cold water in the sink.  (I realize you can have a turkey
spoiled on the outside and frozen in the middle if you aren't very careful.)

Since my fridge runs at about the same temperature (40 degrees) why would
you worry about the sweet-potato casserole Adamantius?  Wouldn't putting it
into the cold car be little different from putting it into the fridge?

Curious Regina


> >Are temperatures between 35 - 42 safe for storing a couple of large,
> >cooked hams, and a sweet potato casserole in my car outside
> >overnight? We are feeding 300 homeless tomorrow and I am out of
> >space in my refrigerator. I don't want to give anyone food poisoning
> >for Christmas!
>
> If the items are refrigerator temperature (or at least room
> temperature) already, they should be fine (just don't tell your local
> board of health, etc.) If you're thinking of taking these foods out
> of the oven and putting them in the car, it's probably a really bad
> idea. The sweet potatoes, for example, you may be able to chill by
> putting them, in their container, in a pan lower than the container,
> and running cold water through the outside pan.
>
> Adamantius
>