London, Europe Brief News – When the temperature rises and you don’t have a refrigerator or freezer, it might be difficult to keep food cold. So, What is the best alternative to safely cooling foods? There are several approaches you may take, but some are preferable to others. We’ll go through different alternatives to safely cool food so that you can decide which one is ideal for your situation.
Here is the best alternative to safely cooling foods
Two-stage cooling in the danger zone
Microorganisms thrive in the danger zone of 140-41 F. Temperatures between 125 and 70 F promote the fastest development of microorganisms. So food must move fast across this region. Minnesota has authorized 2-stage cooling.
According to the Minnesota Food Code, cooked potentially dangerous meals (TCS foods) must be cooled:
- Two hours from 140 to 70 F. 2. From 70 to 41 F in 4 hours. A 2-hour cooldown is necessary.
- Since the meal is going across the temperature range, the first two hours are essential.
- Optimum temperature range for microbial development Uncooked food must be warmed to 165 F for 15 seconds, then chilled again. Otherwise, it must be thrown away.
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Food cooling best practices
Food needs assistance in chilling down rapidly; it cannot do it independently. The following factors influence how soon meals cool down:
- The size of the meal being chilled. The thickness of the meal or the distance to its core has the greatest influence on how quickly it cools.
- The food’s density. The slower the metal cools, the denser it is. Chili, for example, will take longer to prepare than chicken noodle soup.
- A container for storing food. Stainless steel conducts heat from meals more quickly than plastic. Initially, wrap food items loosely.
- The container’s size. Shallow pans with a product depth of fewer than 2 inches diffuse heat from food quicker than deep pans.
Do not store hot foods in the fridge or freezer.
When put in the cooler or freezer, it takes too long for food to chill or freeze if it is still hot. Putting hot food in a cooler raises the temperature of everything in it, putting it at risk.
Reduce food size and split
First, reduce the volume of food by cutting big foods into smaller pieces and splitting larger containers into smaller ones.
Useful ways to keep food chilled.
Food cooling methods that have been deemed safe and effective include:
- Place the meal in an ice-water bath and stir it constantly. This helps to speed up and level out the cooling process.
- Ice paddles (plastic containers filled with frozen water) are used to stir meals in an ice-water bath.
- Adding ice to the mix (if water is an ingredient).
- Blast or tumble chiller.
- As long as they are not exposed to contamination from above, food containers may be stored in refrigeration equipment with their lids partially or completely open. This aids in the transmission of heat from the food’s surface.
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Monitoring the cooling process
What is the best alternative to safely cooling foods? Another great alternative is Monitoring the process to ensure that time and temperature criteria are correctly fulfilled.
