If you’re someone who cooks and stores hot food in the fridge, you can do it without any problems.
According to Heinz Wurth, a well-known Chilean chef and science-based gastronomy communicator, you can do this without damaging your appliance—as long as you use a container with a lid that keeps the heat inside, not releasing it outward. That’s the only way to avoid harming the refrigerator.
To ensure the refrigerator doesn’t get damaged, he also explained that the longer food sits out cooling down, the higher the microbiological risk, as bacteria can multiply. Therefore, it’s better to store it in the fridge as long as it isn’t boiling hot and is covered.
Does the refrigerator use more electricity when storing food this way? According to the expert, it only results in an 11% increase in voltage.