Cooling a Big Pot Takes More Than the Fridge
A large pot of hot soup or stock cools far more slowly than home cooks expect — the center of a deep pot can stay in the bacterial danger zone (roughly 40-140°F / 4-60°C) for many hours even in the fridge, because refrigerator air can't pull heat out of a big thermal mass fast enough. Splitting it into shallow containers, or cooling it in an ice-water bath with occasional stirring before refrigerating, brings the temperature down through the danger zone much faster and is standard practice in professional kitchens for exactly this reason.
Sources & methodology: These tips draw on established food-science references —
Harold McGee's food-science writing, America's Test Kitchen /
Cook's Illustrated testing, Serious Eats'
technique reporting, USDA food safety guidance,
and peer-reviewed food-safety research (including UC Davis
cutting-board studies) — not reworded recipe-blog consensus.