I made a Peking duck stock, strained it while hot, then left it to cool overnight. My apartment is 24 degrees C. In the morning, I divided it into smaller portions and refrigerated it.

I'd never made stock before so I wasn't quite aware of all the issues. I want to freeze the stock but want the fat to solidify at the top first so I can store it separately so I've left it in the fridge for the moment. Then I read all these posts and am worried I may have ruined everything.

Can I still use it? Is it only safe to be used if boiling now (e.g. to make risotto)? What about the duck fat?


The 'correct' way of cooling stock is to put the stock-pot in an ice-bath or in the sink with running water. If you put it in the sink, you don't even have to open the tap too much. Just a little stream of water is enough to cool the stock to room temperature in about half an hour or so. Then you can put it in the fridge.

A stock that's been left on the sink for more than 4 hours at 24ºC is a health hazard. You should take the stock at your own risk.

Harold McGee wrote and article on this very topic and the short answer seems to be that while you're not 100% safe with your stock, you could risk using it after a 10 minute boil:




What about my lazy method of letting stock cool overnight, then reboiling and refrigerating it first thing in the morning? Dr. Snyder gave it a pass because it would spend only a few hours below 135 degrees, not enough time for the bacterial spores to germinate, start growing and reach hazardous numbers.



The whole article is very interesting and worth reading in full.

  • 1
    -1 because this is a dangerous advise. – BaffledCook Jul 12 '12 at 10:08
  • +1 for the edit. I got the Critic badge for the downvote, my first, ever :-) I wonder if they'll take my shining new badge away now... – BaffledCook Jul 12 '12 at 14:35
  • I think maybe we could merge both our answers with the information about the correct way of cooling any stock probably being very useful too. – Stefano Jul 12 '12 at 15:03
  • I do want to trust this, and I've done things like this myself, but... Is there definitely nothing else bad that can happen overnight that won't be destroyed by 10 minutes boiling? And hm, how long does it actually take for it to go below 135 degrees? I'm a little suspicious of the "a few hours" claim. – Cascabel Jul 12 '12 at 15:50
  • I was thinking the same. Go ahead and pick whatever you want from my answer. – BaffledCook Jul 12 '12 at 15:59

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