spoiled soup?

Question

My son works at a local restaurant and needs help on finding information about refrigerating hot soups/food. One of his bosses says it need to go directly into the refrig. once the stove is shut off. The other says it needs to cool down. My son knows that adding hot things to the refrig., is not safe because it raises the entire temp, but the food shouldn't be left out and risk reaching the DangerZone. Will immediatly chilling soups cause them to spoil? Where can he get proffesional advice because they recently had to throw alot of fresh soup out becuase of this problem- "when in doubt throw it out"

Answer 1

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Refrigeration_&_Food_Safety/index.asp

Answer 2

The safe food handling courses I have received certification from all state that you put the pot into a "cold water bath" to gradually reduce the temperature before refridgerating.
As hot food cools, it passes through a range of temperatures that support the growth of organisms that cause food poisoning. This range of temperatures is called the Danger Zone and it goes from 600 C to 40 C. How quickly the food passes through this Danger Zone determines whether the food is safe to eat.

Answer 3

I myself have put soup into the frig right from the stove. It doesn't cause it spoil. However, if I was him I would contact the food service division of the local health dept. to find out this info.

Answer 4

Certain soups can be retrieved. Be careful of leaving certain soups out for to long- especially when using ground beef. Depending on what ingredients you're using, you may be able to save soups from going rotten as long as you remember to put them in a refrigerator as soon as they have reached just above room temperature- get a good thermometer and monitor your soup temperatures the same day that you make them and stick them in a fridge as soon as possible when they're not being used. I've made a lot of home made soups like this and have put them in the fridge with the above procedure and they have lasted up to four to five days before tasting bad. Please note, this is not professional advice and I will not take any liability for this advice- I'm just stating that this has worked for me in my situation and it "may" help you and your restaurant. Remember, you're dealing with all kinds of customers who have different physiology than myself- I may be better at handling bacteria than other people. Your boss is probably correct in saying that soup should be put into a fridge as soon as possible because cool air slows down the growth of bacteria and other micro-organisms; however; if you have other food in the fridge already, the heat from the hot soup may spoil other foods and deserts in the fridge because the heat may melt them or ruin them, thus the argument for waiting to put soup into the fridge after it has cooled down. Perhaps one solution may be to have a separate fridge for soups and another fridge for other foods.