Many food items or ingredients used in preparing ready-to-eat food items are processed, jarred (in gallon containers), and canned (in number 10 cans) foods that are shelf-stable at ambient temperatures until opened. When cold, ready-to-eat food items are prepared for retail foodservice operations, major food ingredients should be precooled to 41 deg F (5 deg C) or less to comply with the FDA 1993, 1995, and 1997 Food Codes' recommendation on holding and storing cold food items. Furthermore, precooling major ingredients provides a means of slowing or inhibiting the growth of pathogenic bacteria, thus preventing foodborne illness. This report describes the cooling of mayonnaise in a 1-gallon plastic jar and tapioca pudding in a # 10 metal can in a standard, commercial walk in refrigerator. The data collected and plotted represent typical cooling of processed, shelf-stable food from a room temperature of 70 to 41 deg F (21 to 5 deg C) in approximately 8 hours. By extrapolation of the data, cooling times can be calculated for similar-sized containers of hot food. For example, the amount of time for cooling 1 gallon of soup or beef stew in containers of similar dimensions from 140 to 41 deg F (60 to 5 deg C) can be determined.
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