Flash chilling is very simple. Just make sure you have a fairly large ice bath (ice and water that is at least 50% ice) and put the meat immediately from the heated bath into the ice bath. This will rapidly chill the meat prior to refrigeration. Make sure you leave the meat in the ice bath long enough for it to chill to the center if it's a thick cut or a roast.
1 How big should I expect the swings in my home fridge to be with normal usage?
The mild swings from opening and closing your refrigerator door a couple times a day aren't going to really make big difference. Just make sure you don't leave the door open for extended periods of time.
2 If I have a second fridge and the door rarely opens, what will the temperature swings be there?
There are a lot of things that influence the temperature of a refridgerator besides opening and closing the door. A refrigerator goes through cycles for chilling (and for defrosting) etc where the temperature varies. Some brands of refridgerators (i.e. Samsung) have separate cooling systems for the freezer and fridge portions so freezer defrost cycles do not cause swings in temperature in the fridge section.
Also, an empty refrigerator loses a lot more heat than a full refrigerator when the door is open. Storing plastic bottles of water or cans of soda and beer on empty shelves will actually make the temperature more constant over time since they retain more heat (or "cold") than air. Of course, if you turn a fridge into a beer-fridge, chances are that the door is gonna get opened a lot more.
3 Since the botulism concern is due to the vacuum, am I correct in thinking that this concern will disappear if I remove the meat from the vacuum to store it? Obviously, this approach would reintroduce all the normal safety concerns with storing cooked meat.
Sous-vide cooking should pasteurize the meat if it was cooked long enough and kill most . Keeping the pastuerized food that is sealed at a controlled temperature is going to preserve it for much longer than breaking open the seal and allowing any pathogens in before keeping it at the same temperature.
The most important thing is to follow the established safety charts for cooking times, temperatures, using correct flash chilling and then following the safety charts for storage temperatures and duration as well.
Botulism thrives in high-moisture, low-acidity, low-salinity, anaerobic environments at between 50 and 130 degrees.
In your refridgerator pickles, you're:
- keeping cold
- adding acid
- adding salt
All of which should at least prevent the botulism from reproducing in great enough numbers to be toxic, if not outright killing it.
That's not to say nothing nasty can grow in refrigerator pickles — you're likely safe from botulism, however.
Best Answer
First a little perspective. Botulism is very rare. According to the CDC in the US:
So this is not a common occurrence. It doesn't mean we should not pay attention to potential risks, but I don't think canned anchovies are much of a concern. Add to that, the acidic environment that you report, plus the salt content, plus the fact that commercially canned anchovies are processed at a high temperature (and anchovies are not known as a source of botulism), I would say from a botulism standpoint you are safe. I can't, of course, speak to how you handled the anchovies during your processing, but if you were relatively clean, you should not have a problem. I would make sure they are not in the can, and submerged in oil.
Finally, please understand that smell is never a reliable indicator of spoilage. Many things can go wrong with food before you can smell it.