argument with friend about putting warm food in the fridge

[nextgenneo]

if you put warm food in the fridge will it cause the (and I quote), "the internal temprature of the fridge to go up so the fridge counteracts this and freezes the food" - this is what my friend claims, I think its bull [censored]

he is now saying there is another reason for not putting hot food directly in the fridge?

[Bob Sacamano]

What food?

[nextgenneo]

anything hot. in this case, it was warm lasagne

[LuckOfTheDraw]

So, he's saying the fridge's sensor reads the rise in temperature and goes into super cooling mode, therefore freezing other food in the fridge? First of all, I doubt the food would raise the internal temperature much at all, probably not as much as simply opening the fridge and letting warm air in. Secondly, wouldn't that same sensor quickly realize when the temperature goes back to normal? I doubt it would keep the extreme cool going long enough to actually freeze the food. Though, I guess it is concievable.

[Tyler Durden]

Your friend sounds like a blast to hang out with.

[sarahbellum]

According to Good Housekeeping/iVillage, modern refrigerators are equipped to handle the cooling of hot foods.

Google refrigerating hot food and you'll see a lot more links that back this up.

[Xellos]

This is so absurd it's actually funny. I suppose if you put an ice cube in the microwave it would set off some sort of nuclear explosion according to his insane logic?

[balkii]

i think the idea behind not putting hot food in the refrigerator is that the resulting condensation of steam is not good for the refrigerator.

[B.C.]

Not sure about the health of the fridge, but I was always led to believe that it was better to put the food in the fridge warm/hot for human health reasons (less chance of bacteria developing during cooling etc.) and if covered properly, it will not dry out as much due to the faster cooling period. Not sure how correct any of this is but hey, it made sense when my mom told me!!!!

Oh, and your friend sounds like a real genius.

[Dendrite]

I would say your friend is right, except for the word "freeze".

1.) You place warm food in the fridge
2.) The warmth of the food escapes, warming up the internal temperature of the fridge until
3.) The fridge's thermostat goes off when the temperature of the fridge goes above a certain point, causing the fridge to
4.) Remove the warmth from the inside

Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't put warm food in the fridge..

Where am I wrong?