Seafood Gumbo "Shelf life"

Put the pot of hot into your sink filled with water and ice cubes and you cn chill it in a very short bit of time to go to the fridge. As to sitting out on the counter 2 hrs before needing to be cooled

I'm only basing that on my bad habit of gumbo making. By the time I roast my bird, boil the giblets, pick the meat, roast the bones, reduce the stock, stir the roux, cook the veggies, and add the meat. I am sleepy.

I put the lid on and go to bed. (I am drunk at that point)

The next morning, I bring it to just under boiling, serve, then store the rest.

i know it probly doesn't make much difference, but the OP had "seafood" in the title and the thought of leaving that out 8 hours give me the heebie jeebies..

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the OP had "seafood" in the title and the thought of leaving that out 8 hours give me the heebie jeebies.

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True. You certainly can't trust the "smell" test.

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Well it smelled fine and tasted great. FWIW I brought the gumbo to a boil and let it simmer for about 30 mins. I guess we'll find out in about 12 hours if it was good or not. Haha

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Just and FYI but while boiling it would kill any sort of parasite that was living in it, that isn't the danger of leaving it out. Depending on the type of toxin produced by the bacteria, some are not capable of being boiled away and can still make you sick. I never take chances beyond 3 hours but I find that I'm probably on the extreme end of that spectrum.

Well, it's 16 hours later since we ate the leftovers and we're all fine so far. Here's to hoping that trend continues!

Thanks everyone for the input. I think next time i'll definitely try the ice bath to cool it quickly.

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1: Big heat source may raise your fridge's internal temp past the safety point.

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Is that still true with modern refrigeration?

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2: Cover cools first, creating condensation and a moist environment over the much-longer-to-cool liquid, which in turn favors bacteria growth.
I was told one solution was to break it up into much smaller portions. Food should take no more than two hours to reach fridge temp.

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It's a liquid. How would a moist env. affect anything? I really don't know.

A very large amount is the answer to that problem. Improperly cooled foods of any type will turn into a huge serving of illness, and it doesn't take a long time with liquids. The temperature difference making the condensation will start in about thirty minutes and continue untill the contents of the pot get near the temp of the lid/cover. One way of preventing this is a tight wrap of the pot with plaxtic wrap, then popping holes into it which allows for breathing, or a bain marie of cool water to chill the ingredients quickly before storing. Sink, water, and ice, the stir it every once in a while to do it evenly.

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1: Big heat source may raise your fridge's internal temp past the safety point.




Is that still true with modern refrigeration?

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Make a big pot of gumbo and place it in the fridge. It will heat up the whole fridge a good bit. I used to make my gumbo in gallon containers and let it cool in a commercial fridge/cooler but when I tried it at home, it heated the fridge up to like 60 or higher.

Like others have said, it's best to pour it into smaller containers to cool and even better to cool it off in containers submerged in ice. This is what they teach in food safety classes.

And really the best thing to do with seafood if you aren't going to eat it right then, is to add the seafood later when you are heating it up. Seafood only takes a few minutes to cook in gumbo and this way it won't be overcooked when you go to eat it.