Let's say that I have a pot of boiling stew. I then pour this, still boiling, inside a thermos bottle, and close the lid right away.
Everything inside the bottle should be sterile at this point, due to the high temperature which will be maintained for over an hour, correct?
Let's say then that I let this sit for maybe 24h. In this time frame, the temperature of the stew will fall in the danger zone between 60°C and 5°C, and stay there for hours and hours. Usually, that would mean that the meat in the stew is no longer fit for consumption.
However, given that the content of the bottle was earlier sterile, would it still be safe? Can bacteria contaminate the content trough the lid?