[Sca-cooks] food safe temperature

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

That's actually really fascinating, Cadoc--guys like you and Master A
are really good for helping non-professional me understand stuff like
this....
So, if a person (like me) had to cool down some dishes, but had really
limited fridge space, what would be the best way to do it? Cool it on
the kitchen counter to a certain temp? Cover it and put it out on the
(secure) porch (at least in winter)?
--maire, not figuring on cooking another feast soon, but ya never
know.....;-)


	The method I described earlier is best.  Split the portions into smaller
pans or sizes if possible, keeping an eye on how much internal mass the food
product has.  If you have to opt for counter-top cooling, you can create ice
baths with larger pans, some ice and some water to speed the cooling
process.  ServSafe regs say that foods must be brought down from 135° and
above to 70° within 2 hours, and then from 70° to below 41° in another 4
hours, with a total of 6 hours being the optimum/maximum cooling time.
Genrally that means the ice/rapid cooling for the first 2 hours, then
transferring to the fridge after that.  For casseroles that might be
difficult to split, consider this step before dishing them up for baking,
opting for smaller pans that will make cooling easier to accomplish.
Leaving something to cool to room temperature isn't the greatest plan, as
room temp is squarely in the danger zone (135°-41°).  Best to get it through
that and on down towards chilled much more quickly.
	In some restaurants, they have ice paddles to stir big batches of
soups/stocks/sauces with, and you can get rolling pins that will do the same
thing, or freeze a liter bottle full of water and use that maybe (being
careful of how you hold it so as not to burn yourself).
	Your last option is a blast chiller, which none of us probably have access
to in our home kitchens.  This is a special freezer that gets things really
cold really fast (and could be used to freeze the ice cream and Mars bars
prior to deep frying, if you're looking for a reason to buy one for
Christmas :)
	Christianna
	not Cadoc or Adamantius, but newly certified ServSafe Trainer for the
National Restaurant Association