Eat or Toss?

[AAA]

OK, after the the pot of corned beef and cabbage was done, I set it outside to cool off...5 hours later, I remembered, and brought it in & put it in the fridge. The temp outside when I brought it in was 40 deg. Should I eat it, or toss it?

Please advise! -AAA

 

[babetoo]

oh my gosh, hard to answer. i would toss it. wouldn't take the chance. hurts to throw away food, but Dr. would costs more.

 

[bullseye]

In general, I go with "When in doubt, throw it out." In this instance, though, we are talking about salted beef, and salting is done as a preservative. If it were me--and this is just for me--I'd reheat it and use it. JMHO

 

[AAA]

Thanks so much, but now I'm 50/50.... Do we have a tie-breaker?

 

[Alix]

I'm not really good at conversion, but I think 40F~4C. If that is the case then you should be fine. I think under 5C is what refrigerators need to be set to. I think this

but generally 2 to 8 °C (36 to 46 °F) is ideal for the refrigerator compartment and −18 °C (−0.4 °F) for the freezer

would indicate your corned beef is fine to eat as long as the temp was no higher than 46F

 

[gage]

it is probably fine ,smell it ,taste it , if it was fully cooked it would have a hard time getting any bad bacteria going ,I am canadian but think 40F is under 6 C , Seriously ,we have washed off green meat backpacking ,then overcooked it and been fine. Your nose should tell you ,that is why it is placed above your mouth,
Botulinus has no taste or odour but it likes anerobic environments like cans.
Hold on ,I went and checked my thermometer ,40 F is 4C which is Safe

 

[FrankZ]

Just a quick question.. did it warm up to 40F or cool down to 40F?

 

[Mama]

40 degrees F...I'm sure it's just fine.

 

[AAA]

FrankZ, -It cooled from simmer to 40F over 5 hours. (Wouldn't it take that long in the fridge?)

 

[FrankZ]

I took your meaning as it was40F outside when you brought your dish in. Was it 40F the whole time (like a fridge) or was it warmer outside when you first put the dish out and the air temperature cooled?

If the outside temperature was a constant 40F then yes it would be more like a refridgerator. If it was say 65F when you first placed it outside then over 5 hours cooled off to 40F it would not be the same and may have kept the food at a undesirable temperature for too long.

 

[AAA]

OK, I know it was under 50F at time of "entry" to the outside... I should have gotten my instant therm. out and checked when I put it in the fridge! -but at 2 AM, what do you expect, -a clear mind?

 

[Claire]

I, personally, would eat it. Actually, I'd eat a bowl of it and freeze the rest of it. But, that is just me.

 

[FrankZ]

So the food basically sat out in a range of 50 to 40F?

I, personally, would be inclined to not eat it.

See Food Temperature Danger Zone as well.

 

[GB]

The general rule of thumb is that food left in the danger zone (40-140 F) for more than 2 hours should be tossed. Of course those are not magic numbers so you could be at 41 degrees and not have an issue or you could be at 38 degrees and have problems. It is not an exact science. The salt will help some, but does not make it bullet proof.

This is going to come down to how comfortable you are with taking a risk. I am a huge advocate of playing it safe and when in doubt throw it out. In this particular case though, I would probably go against my usual advice and take the chance. I would just make sure to heat it thoroughly before eating and I would not serve to guests or children or the elderly or anyone with a less than perfect immune system.

 

[justplainbill]

Due to all the salt, nitrate, and nitrite typically found in corned beef you should be fine.

 

[gage]

there was a similar question about food safety a week or so ago.
Why put it outside to cool anyway? You can cool it better by : A-- placing it directly in the fridge. ( EASY )
or better yet -B-- place the cooking vessel in another lower container and put in your sink ,run cold water into the lower sided vessl and stir the product so that it contacts the wall of the product vessel, thus tranfering the heat into the cold water . I do this all the time to save time especially when I make Yogurt . The milk has to go from a holding temp of 82.5 C / 180 F down to 44C/ 112 F before innoculating , I do this to 4 litres/ a US gallon in five minutes more or less. same thing for soup or chilli or any liquid food,18 qt stockpot goes in 27 qt stockpot ,cold water into 27 qt and stir, it is cool enough to go in the fridge or freezer in no time.
I beleive the law of thermodynamics says the greater the difference between the hot side and the cold side the faster the cooling will go. heat travels to cold , cold never travels to heat
Best regards Gage

 

[ChefJune]

OK, after the the pot of corned beef and cabbage was done, I set it outside to cool off...5 hours later, I remembered, and brought it in & put it in the fridge. The temp outside when I brought it in was 40 deg. Should I eat it, or toss it?

Please advise! -AAA

If you have to ask, the answer is NO! Don't eat it.

 

[froggythefrog]

I honestly think that it would be okay to keep and eat.

 

[cara]

eat..
I still it many things I left out in the kitchen over night and I'm still alive ;o)

 

[justplainbill]

Cara, given the average size of home refrigerators in the Germany of the 1950's, a lot did not get refrigerated.