By French Girlie

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
19 May 2008 23:10

... I'm very new to this site so apologies if this question has already come up (and been answered) but .... A long time ago when I was working for a food company someone told me that it was a myth you had to wait for food to cool down before putting in the fridge. However, is is the same with putting something into the freezer ... should you wait to it to cool down to room temp first ... ? Thanks ...

Replies

By JoyH Yorkshire

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 01:02

Hi FG, Well I've been here a few years & can't remember it being asked before.

Apart from any safety aspect, I wouldn't put any warm/hot food in either the fridge or freezer as it would raise the internal temperature, & use more electricity to lower the temps again.

Also, I would think that hot/warm food would be giving off steam/condensation which could turn into ice crystals on the surface of the food, which is something you would want to avoid.

By gerry

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 08:03

Totally agree with JoyH.

By French Girlie

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 08:25

Thanks Joy ... that all makes perfect sense ! I was rushing to go out last night and had some leftovers that I was going to put into the freezer but as it was chicken, I got a bit panicky.

By Sheelagh, Rossett nr Chester

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 08:26

I think that putting hot food in the fridge or freezer would be fine......for the food! - as it would cool down quickly.
BUT totally agree with Joy that this would not be a good thing for your frdige/freezer or the food already there - as the hot food would raise the temperature.
So - NO! - I would always cool the food down first.

By *Bramble

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 09:26

All that STEAM French Girlie, do you really enjoy defrosting? :-)))

By French Girlie

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 09:42

Mmmmmm .. .that would be telling !!

By gilldoteee

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
20 May 2008 20:24

it depends if it's solid or liquid. NewScientist did a study some years ago and it was actually more efficient to freeze hot fluid than cold fluid - I think it was to do with the circulation. So saying, the steam would make the freezer ice up rather, so maybe they covered the fluid. It's probably different for solid items as the heat transfer rate would be different.

By French Girlie

Re: Freezing ... sorry if this has been covered ...
21 May 2008 18:23

Thanks for that ... I must admit I was useless at science at school ... my father was a chemist so it was always a bit of a sore point !