Cooling a stew?

[smokenoob]

How do you guys cool a stew (or pot of sauce)?
I just cooked a home made gallon of pasta sauce and wonder what’s the best method?

[prepperjack]

well, I think I'd go about it two ways, depending on what I had available... but the easiest would be to put it into something that would allow as much of the sauce/stew to be exposed to the air as possible - like a large roasting pan or something like that. And, just stir it every now and again and it should cool down relatively quickly.

Aside from that, I think I would use a cold-water bath, though depending on the pan, you may have to be careful to prevent warping, or, depending if your pot is the type that has the disc cladding just on the bottom of the pan, it could separate.

[Santamarina]

Cold water bath is my preferred method. I keep some frozen water bottles in the garage freezer for just such an occasion.

[rickgregory]

I turn off the stove.

[smokenoob]

Oh, a wise guy? Hold hand up between eyes to prevent me from poking them out! 😂

[Jerod Broussard]

Multiple containers in the freezer.

[Jfrosty27]

For me, depends on the time of year. If now, I just put the pot I cooked it in, covered of corse, out in the garage. It’s f’in cold here! Then when cold, not long I assure you, I repack as needed for fridge or freezer. In warm weather, I repack in portions as needed and hold on counter until nearing unsafe zone temp wise and the toss in the fridge. Never had any problems.

[Murdy]

Yep, stick it out on the porch. 4 degrees (f) here this morning.

[smokenoob]

plan A
stay tuned for plan B 😂

[smokenoob]

Can’t leave it outside!

[Bkhuna]

Hello dere!

[efincoop]

Leave some spicy chili out there to cool and maybe we won't come back!

[smokenoob]

Mission accomplished! Ice bath chilled the pot pretty quick! Reason I asked is…….may have left it on the stove all night and woke up to “Oh Sheet! Best to get it done!
Thx!

[FireMan]

Fer openers I think you need one more pot.

[smokenoob]

One for artichoke, one for the sauce, and one for the pasta. What else ya got?

[FireMan]

Hot sauce fer Fluffy the bear.

[smokenoob]

FireMan So you’re saying you like your bear spicy?

[SmokeyGator]

You can get a "wort chiller" from any homebrew supply store. But I just turn off the heat, cover the pot, and haver a beer or three.

[smokenoob]

3 beers and this Gator is 😴 in the swamp! No wort chiller for me, don’t want to attract witches! The faux faux cambro worked!

[jfmorris]

Haha. Yeah, I think he would have to make a custom one to fit that small of a pot, or else start making his sauce in 5 gallon batches outside on the patio, with the bears...

[texastweeter]

Ice chest set pot on bottom fill up to close to the top with ice and water. Close lid.

[smokenoob]

Great minds think alike!

[fzxdoc]

I pour soups, stews, sauces etc into Pyrex glass storage containers, usually 1/2 to 2/3 full.

Let them sit, uncovered, for 30-60min outside on the enclosed deck if the outside temp is below room temp.

Place them, uncovered, in the fridge (splitting between 2 fridges), sitting on top of freezer gel bags that come with meat shipments. Those frozen gel bags cool them nicely and the fridge does not heat up.

Safety warning: Sometimes if the underside of the container is hotter than to the touch, I put the lid on and put gel bags over and under each container, placing a silicone hot pad between the bottom of the glass container and the frozen gel bag.

After they're cool, I consolidate them into fewer containers and put the lids on.



Kathryn

[Skip]

Sometimes I put the warm pot on a rack and let a fan blow on it for an hour or longer if needed. It's good to give it a few stirs as it cools too.

[Spinaker]

I just put it outside in the MN winter. Currently -4 F so thing tend to cool quickly up here.