re: Seafood Gumbo "Shelf life"

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.

quote:

---

quote:


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




Is that still true with modern refrigeration?

---

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.