[Sca-cooks] food safe temperature

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Phlip:
>Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>
>>  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
>
>I don't think he's worried about the car, I think he's worried about the
>Health Dept ;-) An aueomobile is not on the list of Health Dept Approved
>refrigeration devices ;-)

I'm worried about the sweet potato casserole because I don't know 
what it masses or what it contains, or what its temperature is before 
going into the car. Hams, at least, are salty and not mixed up a lot.

>
>If you notice, he said:
>
>>  > 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
>
>His other concern, obviously, would be that if the food is too warm, it
>might be spending too much time at the dangerous temps on the way down to
>40-50 degrees.

This was actually my main concern, and note that I didn't say not to 
do it, just to exercise a reasonable degree of caution. I've had some 
experiences at various times in the past where hot foods placed 
outside to cool took excessively long times to cool down, and yes, 
there is that danger zone to be considered, because 35-45-degree air 
is not necessarily going to cool a hot food down to a safe 
temperature in anywhere near the time you need.  It may, and that'll 
depend a lot on how the food is portioned, how it's wrapped, if 
there's air circulation, and the temperature the food was at when it 
went in.

I addressed the sweet potato issue mostly because it's fairly simple 
to cool down a ham or three, and a pan of sweet potato casserole 
presents certain logistical problems...

A.
-- 




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la 
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them 
eat cake!"
	-- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau, "Confessions", 1782

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