Will liquid keep longer if I boil it and then leave the lid on?
Basically I boiled a turkey carcass on Thanksgiving night for about an hour. I then turned off the heat and left the lid on (never took it off). Since then it has been sitting on my stove for the last three days. I popped off the lid just now and everything smelled fine. I believe I've heard that food prepared and stored in this manner will keep for quite a while without spoiling. Is this true?
Best Answer
If both foodstuff and cooking vessel are heated fully and tightly sealed, you may sterilize them well enough to delay spoilage. It is not safe to rely on this, because it is easy to compromise the seal. You can't be sure the lid of the pot got hot enough to sterilize it too, and escaping steam will open the lid slightly, allowing outside air in. Once contaminated, warm broth and meat are a perfect growth medium for bacteria.
The safer approach is opt for fast cooling in an ice water bath with the lid off to allow steam to escape, followed by prompt refrigeration. This gets the food out of the temperature danger zone (40-140F) where bacteria multiply rapidly, and doesn't rely on maintaining a sterile environment in your pot.
Sous vide cooking is an exception: with a sealed bag, you're recreating Louis Pasteur's famous proof of the germ theory. In his experiments, he sealed boiled broth in containers that prevented dust particles (carrying microorganisms) from contaminating them. The sealed containers did not spoil. Of course, this ignores the problem of botulism: the spores aren't killed, even at a full boil, and can then germinate and start to multiply. This (and similar pathogens) are why sous vide foods do not have infinite shelf life in their bags.
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Does liquid reduce with lid on or off?
When to Keep the Lid Off. Cooking a soup, stew, or sauce uncovered allows water to evaporate, so if your goal is to reduce a sauce or thicken a soup, skip the lid. The longer you cook your dish, the more water that will evaporate and the thicker the liquid becomes\u2014that means the flavors become more concentrated, too.Does water boil faster if you cover it with a lid?
A covered pot boils faster than an uncovered one because the cooling presence of the room's atmosphere is greatly diminished. Once the liquid comes to a boil, the options widen. With placement of the lid, you are attempting to juggle the competing considerations of boil-over, sufficient heat and evaporation.What happens when a boiling water is covered with a lid?
But as long as more energy is being added to the water than is being lost with the vapor, the temperature will continue to rise until the water boils. Covering the pot prevents water vapor from escaping, enabling the temperature to rise more quickly.Does a lid keep moisture in?
Yes, it does! This is a lifesaving time hack for anybody who isn't yet aware. Like we've said, covering your pot will hold in heat, so putting a lid on your pot of water will speed up the boiling process. Covering your pot will also trap any condensation and keep the water from evaporating.Does Water Really Boil in a Vacuum Chamber? And Why?
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Answer 2
No. It is more likely to be a petri dish than safe to eat. Leaving the lid on does not keep microbes from re-entering the environment once it has cooled.
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Images: Jill Burrow, Max Vakhtbovych, Pixabay, Castorly Stock