I don’t do “batch cooking” per se, but often cook something larger on saturday/sunday so I have leftover, either for Monday/thuesday lunch or for when coming back from sport, keeping food 2-3 in the fridge doesn’t worry me (Obviously, I am not gonna keep a tartare so long in the frige, and don’t even cook meat). Things start to be more worrysome when I still have leftover on Wednesday/Thursday. yesterday night I threw away some beans from Saturday I started to have a doubt.
So my question is basically
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How to optimize food preservation in the fridge (I have a small fridge with a very small freezer compartment, in winter when the temperature doesn’t get above 5 degree I can use my balcony for extra space, but it’s already over)
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Is there a guideline on how long which kind of food can last in a regular fridge ?
the other reply covered the actual ranges and why it’s important, but in case it’s not obvious:
You should never put hot food in the fridge. Particularly food with a lot of thermal mass like a bowl of soup or thick lasagna. While that would cool the food quicker than just leaving it out, the heat you’re adding is going to heat up the other items in your fridge and risk their safety. And since it will all eventually cool back down it will not be obvious what food was at unsafe temps or how long.