Letting a dish cool in the oven overnight: is this safe for your health?

It is not uncommon to let a dish cool in the oven before putting it in the fridge. Hours pass and the dish stays there all night. We forget it. Then the next day, we put it back in the fridge to enjoy it with the next meal. At first glance, this gesture seems completely innocuous and yet. According to virologist Océane Sorel, this is not recommended for health. For what ? We explain everything to you in this article.

On son post Instagramthe specialist is categorical: letting a dish cool in the oven all night is “a bad idea”. First of all, she explains that it is not worth “it is better not to put a boiling dish in the fridge, as this risks heating up all the foods in the fridge and promoting bacterial proliferation in these foods”. Result ? This only increases the risk of food poisoning. You have to find the right balance so that it is not too hot so that it does not heat up the other foods.

But be careful not to cool it at room temperature for too long to avoid the multiplication of bacteria. Océane Sorel underlines, in fact, in the caption that “The important thing is not to let the dish sit at room temperature for more than 2 hours after it comes out of the oven (source ANSES). Indeed, as it cools, certain parts of the food will reach ideal temperatures for the proliferation of bacteria which can be dangerous. The growth of bacteria is going to be exponential and if it reaches a certain number then that is where poisoning can occur. In summary, the less time we give them to “make baby bacteria” the less risk there is of poisoning.

If some people think that cooking bacteria will be eradicated, this is false. This is not the case : “Yes cooking kills most micro-organisms in theory BUT provided that the whole food has been exposed to a sufficient temperature for a long enough time (sometimes the top is browned while the middle is just warm) AND your kitchen n “It is not a sterile environment so re-contamination of the food can be rapid AND the spores of certain toxin-producing bacteria are resistant to cooking and will germinate as soon as they reach the right temperature”.

Avoid letting a dish cool for too long. To speed up cooling, certain methods are favored. The virologist reveals her tip: “Distribute it into several small dishes rather than one large one, the cooling will be faster and more even than a huge pot”. You can also set a timer on your phone so you don’t forget to refrigerate the dish.