Pot Pie Filling turning sour!

[purrfectlydevine]

Just a thought--perhaps by keeping it in the pot to refrigerate, the filling is in the danger zone (temperature) too long and is spoiling because of that. By putting the filling is several smaller containers you increase the surface to mass ratio (where have I heard that before?) and speed cooling. You could also fill a larger pan with ice and put your filled containers in that to speed cooling, but that has been said.

 

[Raine]

I might suspect the cooling down time. If you don't cool large volumes of food correctly, it will spoil. Never put large hot items in the refrigerator.


Servsafe guidelines are:

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Cool foods from 140°F to 70°F within 2 hours and then from 70°F to below 41°F within an additional 4 hours
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[kitchenelf]

I know, I know, I should read all the answers before posting mine but I don't have time - sorry.

You either need to cool your mixture a LOT before putting it in the fridge or if you do put it in the fridge poke some vent holes in the plastic wrap, lid, or whatever - or leave the lid askew until relatively cool. A lot of souring can happen because the heat cannot escape fast enough and stays at a dangerous temperature for too long. But you must cool it first - you cannot put a "just off the stove" into the fridge without some bad results, especially if covered.

 

[vblake]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to give it a shot.

 

[vblake]

Well, well, well!!! I made my 24 quarts of chicken pot pie filling in the ss pot, transferred the mixture int 4 separate 6 quart food safe containers, then refrigerated them uncovered. The next day I filled the pastries, froze them, and the day after that, my brother and sister (who sell them in their store) baked a few for their own lunch. They both called to say it was the best I had ever made. HIP HIP HOORAY! I'm back in business. I am so thankfull to all of you for your input and I will continue to visit this website as well as tell my friends about it. I have given all of you the credit to solving my problem. I will never refrigerate large quantities of hot food again! Thank you!!!

 

[marmalady]

Congrats! Glad everything turned out well - maybe you could post your recipe for us?

Don't mean to sound preachy, but if you're going to be making food for resale, you should definitely take a food safety course (usually through the local tech college or adult education folks); or at least do a seach online to find out more information.

If you're cooking out of your home and someone buys something that's not good, your brother, his business and you could all be sued.

Most of the information is common sense anyway, but if you had taken this course, you would have learned about cooling large batches of food to prevent spoilage.

 

[FXAdam]

This explains a lot.

My girlfriend and I recently made a large pot of chili and the same thing happened to it. We took it off of the stove and put it in the fridge and afterwards it tasted sour as well. Still edible, well, I think it taste okay, but she doesn't like it.

Never thought that cooling it too fast would be the problem though. It tasted fine before we put it to cool. Next time it cools on the stovetop I believe.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Andy M.]

...Never thought that cooling it too fast would be the problem though. It tasted fine before we put it to cool. Next time it cools on the stovetop I believe...

I think you misread the solution. Cooling too slowly is the problem that causes the 'off' taste. Extended times at temperatures between 40F and 140F provide a perfect environment for bacteria to breed. This can produce the sour or other bad tastes you can encounter.

For your next batch of chili, cook up the big pot then put it into several smaller containers to chill.

 

[Michael in FtW]

vblake - thank you for sharing your results with us! Feedback really helps everyone know what worked in a particular situation. Without it - we're all still guessing and wondering.

 

[FXAdam]

I think you misread the solution. Cooling too slowly is the problem that causes the 'off' taste.

I think you may be right re: misreading.

This makes even more sense.

Thanks again