To ask if you ever put stuff in the garden overnight in winter when your fridge is full?

[Owlsintowels]

I do this occasionally, it feels elicit and wrong but logically I think it's fine?

Eg last night. Made a big pot of curry for friends visiting this weekend. Finished cooking at 9.30pm.

I could either put this steaming cauldron in the fridge, put it in numerous sinkfuls of cold water until the core reached something cool, or pop it on the patio in the back garden where the temp was about the same as a fridge, and the supply of extra cold is near infinite.

If I hadn't been going to bed early then I might have brought it in at 11 to move to the fridge, but as it is I left it out overnight

At 7am the temp was ~4.5, that's within the normal range for a fridge, so scientifically I don't see how this could be bad.

Does anyone else do this?

We don't get foxes and it was a big heavy lidded pot, so no wildlife concerns.

AIBU?

We use our conservatory for pretty much anything that doesn't fit in the fridge. It's colder than the fridge, even with the sun shining on it later in the day.

I use the utility room (built like a conservatory) and DM uses her conservatory but I've never used the garden.

I use my back step for milk

I’ve done this, but only heavy items inside a plastic storage crate with clips. Otherwise we’d have every cat, fox and badger in the neighbourhood dining at ours!

I have done but onky if the container is totally animal proof!

But like a pp, the more robust xmas veg will often go in the car boot.

Yep, we've got a big pressure pot with a lockable lid so no animals can get into that unless they have opposable thumbs stays out by the back door to cool down and stay fridged overnight.

I brine my turkey overnight in the back garden - in my biggest mixing bowl with a clip on lid and some bricks on top as well. That bowl doesn’t fit in my fridge, so better the back garden than the warm house (and no, we don’t have a garage or a conservatory).

Yes. When I was a student my step dad fitted a box to the outside of my room that I could reach. I had my milk in there and treat food as the gannets in lived with stole everything that was decent.

Always do this! But I do ensure it’s completely inaccessible to animals/the elements by bagging or boxing it up. Nature’s fridge!

We store our Christmas turkey in the car boot once we have collected it.

I have plastic storage tubs in my shed and use them in winter to store drinks, selection boxes and other snacks that we just don't have room for in the fridge. I could never put a cooked meal outside and definitely not if it was just in the pan.

My mum once hung a curry on the washing line

One of the sheds doubles up as a cold larder at Christmas for produce, drinks, and stuff waiting for freezing etc. Its shaded and rarely exceeds night temperature at this time of year and its pretty much used like an old fashioned cold store. I wouldn't think twice about using it to store a curry overnight in the Winter.

I also use it for winter defrosting of the freezers.

wrt car boot - mice can easily get in. so even there food needs to be in a sturdy container

I put milk in the garden once when my fridge broke.

Yes- and I tried to tell someone about it once and they thought it was so hilarious they have never let me forget it

Shed for us. I had family coming down from the Highlands so made a large pot of chilli the day before. Covered the pot with foil and then put the lid on, it sat in the shed very nicely.

I do use outside as an extra fridge but normally put things in a sealed plastic crate. Things like veg, beer, soft drinks etc. Ie things that are sealed or will be cooked.

It's too cold where I live to put stuff outside in the winter. We have big snow balls though which are great for quickly chilling wine.

Yep lots of times! Though once it was cold but the sun was out and i kinda forgot about it and it was not pretty.

Yes, I once had a defunct Wendy house in the garden. It became the wine cellar

I use a plastic box with a lid that locks for storing stuff in the garden over Christmas. I's great for beer wine and jars of pickles. I think what you did was fine.

Christ no.

It’d be like setting up a buffet for the local foxes and rats!

I might stick it in the shed or greenhouse though.

All the time! Currently got cut melon out there, but come Christmas the table will be full. Our shed has a big crate full of veg and fruit too. There’s only three of us, with a big American fridge freezer and an extra little freezer too. Fruit drawer, and two huge veg drawers full!

The foxes would literally turn up with cutlery, napkins and a nice bottle of wine.

@ WorraLiberty
I love the mental image that this conjures up.

I just stick stuff in the conservatory. It was so cold last night that there was ice all the way up the windows. In the winter months DH stores his beer in the conservatory.