Posting for traffic, would you cool a lasagne overnight

[Coldnovember]

In the oven after cooking it?

Im tired, really need an early night. Lasagne in the oven cooking and will finish about 9pm.

could I turn it off and leave the oven closed up overnight so it cools slowly then cover and refrigerate it in the morning?

I don’t want to have to wait up until it cools 😩

Just take it out and cover with foil, I do this all the time, just make sure to reheat it very well, I use a food thermometer, never made anyone ill.

yes I wouldn’t even think twice. I often leave leftovers out and eat next day. Never had food poisoning!

Yeah done it before

I'd just use the 20 minutes it needs in the oven now - go and do my bedtime prep (cleanse skin, turn down bed, pop tan on, get water etc etc) and by the time that's all done and you've pottered around it'll be time to turn off the oven and cover it in foil and leave overnight.

How hot is your house though? I'd be worried maybe about the béchamel sauce?

Not in this heat.

Totally fine, OP!

If you leave it in the oven to cool down surely it'll be a mixture of overcooked and warm incubating temp for bacteria.

I'd take it out at 9 and then by the time you have faffed for bed it can go in the fridge.

Not fine. No pp has ever even skimmed a food hygiene qualification.
You need to let it cool down and the refrigerate.

Food poisoning is like a game of Russian Roulette- you may win that game of chance over and over, but the one time you lose could be the last time for you or a family member especially if anyone is a young child, elderly or immuno-compromised.

*Except for Anna above me who posted while I was writing. They know.

I wouldn’t.

Exactly this.

I'm always mystified by people thinking leaving things in the oven is a good idea. Apart from the food safety element, it destroys the food (taste / texture).

I mean I wouldn’t do what you are suggesting. I would cool it and refrigerate it.

Absolutely not. You need to cool as quickly as possible and then put in the fridge. You could sit it in some cold water in the sink and change water frequently to speed up the cooling.

Thank you! I’ll stay up and make sure it cools a bit before refrigerating. Bummer!

Agree..
The amount of people that think its perfectly fine is horrifying. This is why I don't eat other people's food 🤢

I agree it is a mystery, it’s like they think the oven is space time bubble where time stops inside the oven and only resumes when you crack it open in the morning,

Run cold,water into the kitchen sink so it comes half to three quarters up the side of your dish and put it in a cold water “bath” to speed up cooling before you put it in the fridge overnight

Surely you’re more at risk of food poisoning by putting a warm lasagne in the fridge to finish cooling and raising the fridge temp, than if you cover it and leave it to cool slowly overnight? Why not just set your alarm to put it in the fridge when it’s cool a couple of hours after you’ve gone to bed and then go back to sleep?

We are the same in that.

I would just cover with foil in a cool kitchen but I wouldn't risk leaving it out in this heat. I've often prepped a lasgna and out it the fridge without cooking it ready to be cooked the next day

The risk is if you put a piping hot lasagne in the fridge. It doesn’t need to cool down to room temperature to be put in the fridge. Todays fridges are very efficient at cooling. You want cooked leftover food to be cooled as quickly as possible.

Cut it up and separate the pieces to speed up the cooling process.

I'm pretty blasé about this sort of stuff and pay little notice to use by dates etc if it looks and smells OK but this is a hard no from me.

Definitely don't leave it in the oven to cool down. A warm oven is the worst place to cool something down.

I'd take it out, wait for it to cool a bit so the dish can be picked up with bare hands, then chuck it in the sink in cold water half way up the dish to cool it even more and then put it in the fridge to cool properly in there. Modern fridges are pretty good at regulating temperature fluctuations. I'd put it on the top shelf.

In future assemble the lasagne the night before but dont cook it!

Maybe in winter, but not where I am currently (north Hampshire) it's really warm.

whenever possible, I do what others have suggested, assemble it, but cook it the next day.

in your situation tonight, I'd just put foil on it and put it in the fridge, modern fridges can cope.

This