Does the freshly made yoghurt not have to be cooled before putting into the fridge? I was always told to do this to avoid food poisoning.

Maureen

I thought the general principle was that you should not put anything in the 'fridge until it had reduced to room temperature?

Well, yoghurt is not really hot when it sets, just warm, so can be put in the fridge straight away. I always do. I am not sure if it is true scientifically true, but it seems to set better after it has been in the fridge. I suppose some of it is from growing up in a hot country, where my mum always put everything in the frigde during summers.

I have always been worried about food poisoning and leaving food outside for too long, so always put it in the fridge, as soon as eating is over. By the time we finish eating, it is almost at room temperature anyway. I also do this with rice, which people often leave lying around in the kitchen for long periods. Innocent looking rice can cause food poisoning too.

If I cook a day before a party, I often cool it fast by dunking the whole pan in a sink full of cold water, sometimes with ice added, especially if it is a particularly hot day. As my Amana fridge/freezer makes a lot of ice fast, this is quite easy for me to do. Otherwise, you can put a few different sized plastic bottles ? full of water in the freezer and use them to cool water (also handy for use in ice boxes when travelling, instead of loose ice getting into everything)..

As I understood, modern fridges are able to cope with warn food (not hot) anyhow.

Perhaps Lapis or some other scientist will comment.

Mamta

Certainly industrially many foods are 'fast chilled.' I had always presumed it just wasn't a good idea to put too hot foods in the 'fridge to stop warming up the other already chilled foods in the 'fridge and making the 'fridge "work too hard," but as Mamta suggests yoghurt is only barely warm once you have made it.

I had read you can rapid chill foods domestically by putting the container in cold water, adding ice and then salt to reduce the freezing point of water. I know nothing of thermodynamics so hopefully Lapis or another will come to the rescue on this!

Here is some sort of temporary answer to my own question about adding salt to ice!

http://www.seed.slb.com/v2/FAQView.cfm?ID=1189

But aren't the bacteria in yoghurt "good" anyway??

if you put hot objects in a fridge, it will warm up the contents of the fridge. Spoilage (from other bacteria and other ?organisms will be difficult because the is little 'food' for these organisms (lactose has been converted to lactic acid to provide the 'acidic' nature of the yoghurt). If the pot the yoghurt was made in is sealed, then no organisms can enter it. As the yoghurt is acidic, this will be a difficult environment for other ?organisms to grow in, anyway.

The lactobacillus type bacteria are not 'good', its just that they are not responsible for disease (that I am aware of!). Eat 'normal' food, and your gut will be healthy, no need for all these 'good bacteria', whatever they are.