Cooling Down Hot Food

Clinical Tip: Cool way to make hot food edible - Contemporary Pediatrics

Children often have to wait a long time for food to cool before they can eat it safely. This is especially true for pizza, oatmeal, soup, and casseroles. Adding ice cubes cools food quickly, but the ice makes the food soggy, or dilutes it, as it melts. Instead, I tell parents to go to the housewares section of a good department store and buy a set of novelty plastic, liquid-filled "ice cubes" shaped like seashells, trees, hearts, or stars. They can keep the cubes in the freezer ready to add to hot food or float in a bowl of soup. The food cools quickly, and children enjoy watching the shapes sitting or floating in the food.Warn parents to make sure that the child doesn't try to bite into the plastic shapes or eat them. Parents also should inspect the shapes before use to be certain the liquid contents have not leaked. After use, the plastic shapes can be cleaned with soapy water, rinsed, dried, and "recharged" in the freezer for the next time they are needed.