Glass Refrigerator Shelves (2023 Update)

[Jack]

Will placing a hot pot or dish on a glass refrigerator shelf crack it, or is the glass specially treated to make it crack proof from heat? Thanks.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, I never saw glass shelf crack but never put anything hot on it either. What is the wisdom of putting something hot on the glass shelf? I just don't get it. Are you trolling?

[notbob]

Hot container in refrigerator to cool it. Are you stupid?

nb

[Han]

notbob wrote in news:%8yTn.106195$_84.34798 @newsfe18.iad:

Why not put the pot first in a shallower bigger pan with cold water, and/or run cold water to cool the hot dish. While the glass shelf might not crack (who knows), it seems more energy efficient to cool the hot thing down a bit first.

[Stormin Mormon]

Would it be better to put it in the kitchen cabinet, to cool it? How about under the bed? Trunk of the car?

[luna2n]

Yes, putting something hot on a glass shelf in a refrigerator will crack it. I have done that and it did crack.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Yes, it can and has broken shelves. Cool it down some first or put a cooling rack on the shelf, then the pan Always best to let a hit dish come down in temperature before refrigerating.

[Jack]

Thanks.

Yeah, I always put a pot holder under the hot pyrex dish, but was wondering if that was really necessary.

I'll continue to do so.

[Robert Neville]

Placing a hot dish in a refrigerator is generally not a good idea as it will heat up the surrounding food, possibly causing it to wilt or spoil. There are flash coolers for such purposes.

[ktos]

Sit on it with your bare ass.

[larry moe 'n curly]

Those shelves are made of tempered glass, not low-expansion Pyrex, and can easily crack if something hot touches them. Also doesn't your wife/girlfriend or mother prohibit you from setting anything made of metal, glass, or ceramic directly against glass shelves because they can get scratched and even crack? Sometimes it takes just a small scratch to cause a crack, and a piece of tempered glass will burst into thousands of tiny pieces when cracked.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, No. The opposite.

[George]

Why call someone stupid just because you don't get something?

Who exactly puts a hot pot directly into a fridge?

[Jack]

I'd be delighted to 'splain.

Every Sunday, I simmer a huge pot of beans that have been soaking overnight in the fridge. After an hour on the stove, they're dumped into a pyrex bowl. That bowl is hot as hell. Whatchoo suggest, I should leave 'em outta the fridge until they cool off?

[jamesgangnc]

I've put fairly warm stuff in the fridge but if I can't hold my hands against the bottom for a couple seconds I wait.

[trader4]

Yep, that's what us normal folks do. If it's hot enough to worry about cracking the glass shelf, you just leave it alone until it cools closer to room temp. At first I thought this might be related to something very special that needs to cool faster. But beans? You don't want to leave food in the danger zone for long periods, but letting it cool for 30 mins or an hour is normal.

[LSMFT]

Never put anything hot in the refrigerator, it's senseless. Let it cool to room temperature then put it in the refrigerator. Why wast energy pumping all that heat out of the fridge?

[notbob]

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.home.repair.]

You never finished cooking something, then was suddenly called away unexpectedly? Never been called back to work for some emergency? Must be nice to be able to stay home forever. Restaurants do not wait around for warm/hot foods to cool at closing time. They put them in the cold case. Get real.

nb

[aemeijers]

They sell little sewer-grate looking things called trivets, specifically to put under hot containers. Since I am reading this on alt.home.repair, I'll suggest making your own. Buy a cheap but thick wooden cutting board, like for cheese at parties, and cut a tapered hole in center the correct size to hold bowl in a non-wobbly fashion. (Isn't the bowl on a pot holder wobbly?) Drill a few skinny holes edgeways in from the outside, to allow ventilation. You want a board and hole sized so bean bowl doesn't actually ever touch the glass.

Personally, I'd just set a plate over the top to keep bugs out, and leave it sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes, and not worry about it. If you get called away, several hours will not make any difference to the beans, safety or taste-wise. You eat beans out of crock-pot at buffets, don't you? On the 'warm' setting, they are a fine incubator.

[cshenk]

"Jack" wrote

Grin, I use a crockpot (less cost to make'em, can leave on 'warm' for a day or so to enjoy before you need to decant to something else).

Beans can be left safely to cool until you can easily handle the container with no problem, even with meat in them. Main risk once they are that cool is overheating something else in the fridge causing unsafe or unsightly spoilage.

Best bet for both food safety and not harming the fridge: Pour beans in your chosen keeper and set it on the counter while you eat. Can set in the sink with a little tap water partway up the container (room temp water) to speed this. Eat, enjoy, wash dishes then put it in the fridge. You won't 'Doctor Destructo' the mayo and other things then.