Cheffy friends, take note: my new cooling fans are awesome! If you use fans for cooling prepared foods (as opposed to ice water baths, cooling paddles, etc), you may want to check them out.
A little background on why cooling food is important; stop me if you’ve heard this one before – personal chefs first need to cool the meals we prepare for clients before packaging for the fridge or freezer. If we didn’t, loading the fridge with a lot of warm or hot foods could raise the temperature of the entire fridge and all its contents, potentially making all of the food within unsafe. Bacteria grows best when food is in its temperature danger zone, generally between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit – otherwise known as “room temperature”. This is why it’s unsafe to leave foods out at room temp for too long. For most foods, “too long” is 2-4 hours, but for some – seafood, for example – it can be as short as 30 minutes. After that, bacteria starts to grow rapidly, and while it’s not a given that you’ll get sick if you eat it, it’s certainly possible. So, to stay out of the temperature danger zone, we cool meals as quickly as possible, using fans, ice or cooling paddles, then package and refrigerate. Ok. Back to the fans.
These are super cool, because in addition to being nicely high-powered, they:
- Have cloth blades, making them very safe to use, even when kids or pets are present
- Are a snap to keep clean, because the soft cloth blades are not trapped in a cage gathering dust
- Are called “Zippi” – how cute is that?
Get yours here: http://www.amazon.com/Zippi-Desk-Fan-2d-Green/dp/B000GAZ2KM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1303494880&sr=8-2
PS – why did I need new fans? My old one shot sparks from the electrical outlet last time I used it! When I checked, I saw the cord was frayed where it meets the body of the fan, no doubt from me wrapping it too tightly. Check your cords; if it’s frayed it’s time for a new one!