Shea Simmons
Leftovers are quite literally the gift that keeps on giving. You made soup for dinner, and now you’ve got lunch for a few days. It’s great! But you might be skipping an important step before storing it in the fridge.
You might already know that placing hot leftovers in the fridge can raise the risk of bacteria growth, but there’s another reason why you don’t want to stick soup in a container and stash it away. Doing so can harm the other foods in your fridge.
According to America’s Test Kitchen, when you place a hot container of soup into the fridge, it could raise the entire appliance’s internal temperature causing other foods to fall into the unsafe range of food storage. The other issue is that heat is drawn toward the cold. When this happens, the warmth from the soup (or another leftover) could seep directly toward colder items like milk, meat, or cheese. The temperature rise could potentially lead to unsafe conditions that cause the aforementioned bacterial growth.
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Be sure to store your leftovers in an airtight container.
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The solution? Allow your soup to sit out for about an hour in order to cool or until it reaches 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Once it’s no longer hot, store it as usual and place it in the fridge.
Craving soup now? We’ve got some delicious recipes for you. Just remember to properly store the leftovers.
