What happens if you put hot things in the fridge ?

Question

So,what happens ?My mom says that the fridge will start to malfunction because of temperature differences between the hot food and the rest of the fridge , but I think that's just a bunch of BS (excuse the expression ) .I don't really have in-depth knowledge of how fridges work, so can somebody that does tell me if it is safe to put hot food directly in the fridge ?Thanks!

Answer 1

It's kind of a no brainer. Health experts say you should put food into the refrigerator as soon as your done with it. Better to put it in hot than cold so bacteria does not get a chance to get going. Of course the refrigerator is going to work a bit harder,,,,, should I say the compressor will run a little longer to compensate for the temp change but that is what they are designed to do. If you want to quiet up your mom, ask her why she heats the oven up to 425 degrees for a pizza because it calls for it. Tell her she should only heat the oven up to 350 degrees and let it cook longer so it's not working so hard. Sounds pretty stupid right,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,EXACTLY!

Answer 2

Putting Hot Food In Fridge

Answer 3

You mom is dead wrong. A frig is not that sensitive! The only damage that can be caused is to the container the hot food is in, and then and only then it depends on what the container is made out of. But the likely hood of damaging it is low. When you put something in the frig, either know there is a large temp difference between the hot item and the frig, the cool down process is slow. Now if the frig instantly cooled the item to the temp of the frig (which is not possible) you would have a problem. Think like if you take a very hot glass and stick it in very cold water, the glass would most likely crack because the change in temp (the item changing temp instantly) is so great.

Answer 4

it all depends on the fridge, if you have a fridge with glass paneling, it isnt advisible to put a searing 300 degree pan from the oven to the fridge, that may crack the glass, and melt plastics. now if your talking about putting a bowl of very hot soup in the fridge, nothings going to happen except maybe a little bit of condensation. see the actual functioning of a fridge is that the cold is the absence of heat, and the freon basically absorbs the heat from the item and cools it, but the machine it self shouldnt malfunction unless something is directly damaged by an OVER amount of heat applied.

Answer 5

Putting hot food in the frig does not do anything to the frig, unless the container it's in is really hot and causes damage to the frig shelf.

What DOES happen is a disturbance in the temperature inside the frig. Hot food puts off the most heat for the first 30 minutes. If you put the hot food in the frig during this period, you risk raising the temperature of the items inside the frig, possibly causing unwanted bacterial growth on them. All hot foods should be left to "vent" for 30 minutes, then promptly covered and stored in the frig.

Answer 6

It is safe to put hot foods in the fridge. However, it isn't reccommended. It won't hurt anything, but it will warm the inside of the fridge, until the refregerant can remove the heat. I suggest that you let the food cool, before you put it in there, though. It just makes more sense.

Answer 7

Placing hot foods in the frig will cause condensation in the unit. This will cause mold to form at a faster pace. It will also "water down" the food that is placed in hot if the container is covered. It also makes the frig work harder to bring the temp back down. I always wait until food is at room temp or just a little higher before storage in the frig.

Answer 8

As a restaurant manager, I had to take a food safety class, and you should put food in the fridge when you are done with it, if not, bacteria will start to grow on it if you leave it out in room temperature.

Answer 9

When scraping left over food into the bin off a plate, I have been known to throw the cutlery in too lol, I once forgot my name when I went to sign something. Another time when making an appointment at the doctors it took three attempts to tell the receptionist my date of birth, at least she got laugh out of it lol :)

Answer 10

It will get cold!
But really, it will raise the tempreture of the foods that have been stored in the fridge, encouraging bacterial growth and spoilage. You don't want that do you?