I love my slow cooker but cooling food seems to take forever. Usually, I just pop the crock into the oven (no heat) and store until the next morning. So we're talking from 9PM (I eat dinner late) until 8 or 9 AM next day; some goes into the fridge; some into the freezer.
Is this safe or is there a better way without putting it in the fridge right away and subjecting my already cold foods to heat/steam?
Best Answer
I tend to agree that you're probably not going to kill someone, trying to apply restaurant standards to domestic environments is pretty difficult because they are very different in scale but obviously the fundamentals apply.
Putting food in a different container and then in an ice bath is reasonable if you're worried about condensation or heating up your fridge. Darin (see comments below) advises that bathing the food in a metal container is best for cooling the food quickly. This approach OR putting the hot food straight in the fridge is supported by the advice here:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/refrigeration_&_food_safety/index.asp