Cooling options?
 

Hey everyone. From time to time I have reason to cook something a couple days ahead of the event, and then reheat it at the event. What is the best option for quickly cooling once the cooking & resting is done?

I was thinking about buying a couple of small dorm fridges that would be empty except for when I need to cool something down and get it sealed up for later use. I don't want to use my everyday fridge because obviously putting hot or warm food next to cold is begging for trouble. A dorm fridge would probably hold a couple of briskets or butts in a foil pan easily. I'm just not sure if it's hearty enough to handle the load and get it cooled efficiently.

Thoughts?

My dorm fridge here under my desk takes 24 hours to cool a soda so I doubt it would handle hot meat too well.

Put it in an ice filled cooler to get the temps down.

[QUOTE=Fatback Joe;691538]Put it in an ice filled cooler to get the temps down.[/QUOTE
That's correct. Water to meat is most efficient heat exchange. However, I'd probably bag the meat first.

Paper or plastic?
http://i21.tinypic.com/219zb4l.jpg

Oh sweet mother of god. I just threw up in my mouth.

Alot!!!!

OK lightened it up a little. :biggrin:

Alot!!!

Came back for a second look huh?:icon_sick

Version 1 had more impact. Put her back. I just won't look back. Might be turned into a pillar of salt. Hey wait a minute...

Version 2 looks damn good in comparison.

Iced down coolers are probably your best bet. If you want to get things really cold maybe try and find some dry ice. (careful not to freeze your meat though)

Why not try a small freezer? I have a freezer the same size as a dorm fridge. Put it in there and set a timer.

I use my deep freeze. It will drop the temp quickly and then I put it in the fridge to hold it. We learned to do it like that when we were kids and didn't won't to wait on dessert to cool down:-D

Maybe buy a use fridge most the time you can find them cheap or someone might give you one.( She have pretty eyes)