Should you cool leftover food to room temperature before placing it in the fridge? Richard Cornish Photo: Katrina Meynink My partner and I have different views about safe storage of leftovers. Is it better to wait around and allow it to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge or freezer, or put it in without delay? J. Larkins From the way you framed this question it sounds like you're the get-it-into-the-fridge straight away kind of guy. According to the Department of Health and Human Services Victoria, putting a large amount of very hot food into the fridge in one go could raise the temperature of all the contents of the fridge above 5C. The danger zone for food is between 5C and 60C over two hours. So, you want to reduce the temperature of the food to around 21C within two hours before you put it in the fridge.