CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
You'd be surprised.
Cooked pork left out overnight - OK to eat?
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GB
Chief Eating Officer
What are you basing this on Charlie?
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
Charlie
Do you have any scientific evidence that it's safe? I suspect that it's your opinion, rather than fact.
Giving people inaccurate advice about food safety is dangerous.
Do you have any scientific evidence that it's safe? I suspect that it's your opinion, rather than fact.
Giving people inaccurate advice about food safety is dangerous.
oldandcrotchety
Assistant Cook
So, you're saying that the same amount of heat that killed the bacteria with the raw meat won't kill bacteria with the cooked meat if cooked again? Interesting.
GB
Chief Eating Officer
It is more the heat resistant toxins the bacteria produce than the bacteria itself at that point. The toxins can be deadly and are not killed by heat.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
just personal expirience, no evidence
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
of course not if bacteria is already there the meat is bad, raw or cooked.
oldandcrotchety
Assistant Cook
mozart
Senior Cook
There is a limited number pathogenic bacteria that even produce toxins. Most are in the Clostridium genus and need anaerobic conditions to form and most are not heat resistant. For example botulism toxin is not generally heat resistant.
The only common bacteria that I am aware of that produces a heat resistant toxin would be Staph. It is not uncommon to be on the skin, hair and nose of healthy people. It is not considered deadly and clearly not as deadly as the common flu. In order for that to be present, someone handling the roast would have to be a carrier of the organism, and pass it on to the food.
Heat doesn't kill toxins because they aren't alive in the first place. It destabilizes them.
Most of the concern and regulation about food borne illness is based on commercial food service conditions; many people handling the food, many different bacteria being brought into the establishment and less interest on the part of the workers to be safe then one has in their home.
So home cooked foods are inherently safer that commercially prepared foods just because there is far less opportunity for contamination.
So the best we can say is reheating the roast to 165 degrees might make it "safe". There is no way to know for sure, and that is why some will choose to eat and some will choose to throw.
Bacterial Food Intoxications, Bacterial Toxin, Metabolities, Tuberclosis, Typhoid Fever, Cholera, Salmonella, Bacillus
GB
Chief Eating Officer
As oldandcrotchety said, you are never too old to learn something new. Thanks mozart. You are someone whose word on this stuff I trust immensely. So based on what you have seen here mozart, would you have eaten the pork in question?
Nicholas Mosher
Sous Chef
I definitely do not follow every government guideline. I eat raw fish, raw eggs, "undercooked" meats, and allow lean meats to reach 50-60ºF on the counter before searing/roasting. I also allow stocks to cool 3-4 hours before packaging/freezing, and often leave cooked meat out for that same time frame before moving them to the refrigerator.
That said, if I cooked a pork loin to 145ºF (my preferred doneness) and left it out overnight, I would toss it while muttering profane comments about my state of affairs.
That said, if I cooked a pork loin to 145ºF (my preferred doneness) and left it out overnight, I would toss it while muttering profane comments about my state of affairs.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
Bacillus is another food-related bacteria that throws of heat resistant toxins.
I got sick from it once and it was ghastly.
mozart
Senior Cook
No. Nine hours is way too long for me. Food spoilage bacteria could certainly grow in that time, and while reheating would potentially make it safer, I would have to believe the quality would suffer a lot.
mozart
Senior Cook
Bacillus cereus does, but it is not very common. In this case, a roast might be contaminated on the outside before it is cooked with spores, but the cooking process would likely kill them all since the outside of the roast would reach 325-400 depending on the cooking process. Contamination after cooking would be less likely as it is not something the OP would likely be carrying around. But it is possible, and if you are the one who gets it, you really don't want to hear how rare it is. Thanks for pointing that out.
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