Silly question about food storage.....

[Miss Sherry]

Last Thanksgiving I saw that my daughters mother in law stores food in the refrigerator still in the pot or pan it was cooked in. She didn't put anything on the pot or pan to wrap it up. She just put it in the fridge with no cover on it. I've never heard of such a thing. For one, it takes up a lot of extra space in the refrigerator and if I did that, I would quickly run out of pots and pans to use for cooking.

 

Do you store food in the refrigerator in a pot or pan ?

 

Am I weird to think that's an unusual thing to do ? :D:lol:

Edited November 13, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[lisabelle]

I might put a baking dish half or more full of lasagna in the fridge, or a half or more full casserole dish. But not my pots and pans! I use them too much!

[DarlaS]

No. I have put leftover lasagna and similar dishes in the fridge the baking pan (covered), but not pots and pans. That's so strange!

[Diana B]

I don't do that unless I'm in a hurry (or as lisabelle said, if it's a mostly full casserole). I've got some friends that do it a lot, but they don't have a microwave, so it just makes sense to leave it in the container they cooked it in so as to reheat it later.

 

It is frustrating though, as I used to watch their kids and it is hard to cook when all the pots are taken up in the fridge! But at the same time, it makes reheating a cinch!

 

(Oh, and they would cover it with the pot cover, they wouldn't leave it completely open to the air.)

[silliness7]

I do this sometimes when I accidentally make too much spaghetti and meatballs. I don't have a plastic storage container big enough for it so I keep it in the pot and put it in the fridge. But I definitely cover it otherwise it will dry out and make the fridge smell overwhelmingly like pasta. Ick!

[duckens]

Is it possible that they just threw the leftovers into the fridge for the sake of speed (if it was food leftover from a Thanksgiving meal) so they could socialize with guests right away?

 

I've done this, then straighten everything out later. (I'm the queen of tupperware!!)

[joannqn]

Only my stock pot when I cook refried beans, chili, and soup. I usually fill it completely and we eat out of it for a few days. If I were to transfer everything to Tupperware, it would take several pieces leaving me short on Tupperware and taking up more room. Plus, it is easy to reheat everything on the stove when it is already in the pot.

[BeckyFL]

No, I don't. To tell the truth, it never even crossed my mind.

[Miss Sherry]

Is it possible that they just threw the leftovers into the fridge for the sake of speed (if it was food leftover from a Thanksgiving meal) so they could socialize with guests right away?

 

I've done this, then straighten everything out later. (I'm the queen of tupperware!!)

The mother in law was putting things into my daughters refrigerator that way. She didn't change it later but my daughter did.

 

My daughter said that her mother in law stores food in her refrigerator in pots and pans on a regular basis.

 

I've never seen anyone store food in a pot or pan in the refrigerator. I was just wondering if anyone else did it.

[secular_mom]

My mom used to put a pot of beans in the fridge but she'd put a dinner plate on top of it as a makeshift lid. I don't know if she does it any more, we haven't had beans when we've visited.

I use glass storage containers- I hate plastic ones, they stain and retain food odors and I don't microwave with plastic so glass is just easier. I already have trouble keeping enough pots and pans clean, there's no way I'd store them in the fridge.

[Miss Sherry]

Only my stock pot when I cook refried beans, chili, and soup. I usually fill it completely and we eat out of it for a few days. If I were to transfer everything to Tupperware, it would take several pieces leaving me short on Tupperware and taking up more room. Plus, it is easy to reheat everything on the stove when it is already in the pot.

The funny thing about it when my daughters mil put the pots and pans in the refrigerator is that there was only a small amount of food in them.

[dm379]

My mom used to all the time when I was growing up. She only cooked about once every 2 weeks and had tons of pots so there was never a problem of a shortage. It caused less dishes to wash and since they never really used the microwave it made things easier.

[Miss Sherry]

My mom used to all the time when I was growing up. She only cooked about once every 2 weeks and had tons of pots so there was never a problem of a shortage. It caused less dishes to wash and since they never really used the microwave it made things easier.

I can see it working for someone that rarely cooks.

We cook everyday and on some days 3 or 4 people are cooking something separate for breakfast or lunch. It wouldn't work for us. The refrigerator would very quickly become over packed and we would run out of pots and pans.

 

Storing food in the refrigerator in a pot or pan is something that never occurred to me to do, until seeing my daughter's mother in law do it. But after she left they took them all out because there wasn't enough room in the refrigerator to leave them in there and get the rest of the left overs put away too.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Miss Sherry

[Ellyndria]

Yes, I do, if there's a lot of food left in the pot or pan. (Think, big pot of soup or pasta, or what's left of a lasagna or casserole.) However, I always put the lid on or otherwise cover it up. If there's only one or two servings of food left, then it usually gets transferred to a bowl or plate so it's ready to warm up in the microwave.

[Oakblossoms]

Yep, if it's going to be eaten the next day. Why take out a pan to reheat it again? I usually put a lid on, but hey if I forget who really cares.

[AHASRADA]

For Thanksgiving, this would seem strange, since there were probably little bits of several different dishes leftover, and it would make sense to transfer them all to smaller containers. Her MIL may not have wanted to dig through her cupboards, searching for tupperware and lids, etc. and was helping by just getting the food refrigerated. I could see myself doing this at someone else's home: get the food off the counter and to a safe temperature, let the hostess store them how she would like later.

 

Personally, I usually have one large pot or casserole dish in the fridge at any one time. I cook mainly one-dish meals, and purposefully cook enough at dinner to be our lunch the following day as well. Therefore, the pot or casserole is normally 1/2 full after dinner. I cover the pot with it's lid and the casserole with tin foil or plastic wrap. At lunch time the next day, I pull out the pot or casserole, and everyone scoops out their desired portion onto a bowl or plate and zaps it. It wouldn't make sense to dirty a huge tupperware just for overnight storage.

 

However, if there are small amounts of side dishes, or if there is a bit of food leftover even after lunch, then those are transferred to tupperware (for cold items) or small pyrex containers with lids (for dishes that will be reheated).

 

I would not normally leave a pot or pan in the fridge beyond 24 hours, because by that time the amount of leftovers should be reduced to an amount that is easier to store otherwise...and, I would probably need my pan to cook that night's dinner. ;)

[beaners]

I do this all the time. I cook frequently too. Usually the previous night's dinner is lunch the next day, so it isn't as if I have every single pot in the fridge at one time. I'd just be getting a pot or two dirty the next afternoon while I reheated the food. I won't say that things never get lost in the fridge, but it isn't a huge problem. If it's something with a particularly strong odor I'll cover it. Otherwise I probably won't bother.

 

If there are only small bits of food left, I might throw everything onto a single plate instead. I don't think I've ever had room for everything in the fridge after Thanksgiving though, regardless of how I put it away.