Eat or Toss?

[cara]

the fridges here are still a bit smaller as in the US, but I must admit, I never thought about that problem..
I throw it away if I see that there is new life in the pot or if it really smells strange, but that never happens after one night...

 

[Kathleen]

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.

Yes, but you are personally not inclined to eat corn beef and cabbage.

That being said, I'd probably not eat it either if I were not pretty sure it was colder for most of the time.

~Kathleen

 

[bigdaddy3k]

I'd eat it, but I have always been the tester of my family. It is my opinion that it would have probably taken that long (5 hours) to bring it down to 40 degrees F in the refrigerator. However, I am not the taster this time.

 

[froggythefrog]

Yeah, around here in low humidity, it probably would have spent a couple of hours at an equilibrium, but corned beef is also a preserved meat which I would not think would be quick to grow dangerous bacteria. (Tons of salt, amongst other things.)

 

[Robo410]

We get a lot of questions like this, and have faced these issues at home. Comes down to this: #1 The pot was not under your "direct control" for some time. That said, you don't know what the conditions are. Toss. #2 I've stopped recommending what I might do in some circumstances in my own home. I know what best practices are and that's what I recommend. Toss. Not every bacteria/contaminant is killed by reheating. #3 You ask for advice and I can't smell it, see it, etc. I can only make one recommendation safely. Toss.

 

[Nicholas Mosher]

Eat it!

 

[mozart]

I vote for eat it, IF you took it directly from the stove to the outside and it was covered with the original lid the whole time.

This is based on the fact that at the time you finished cooking it, there were no pathogenic bacteria left alive. There may have been some spores left alive, such as Clostridium perfringens, but they would take a longer time to vegetate and multiply sufficiently under the conditions you describe.

The danger zone is not a straight line. While bacteria may grow and multiply at 41-55 degrees, it is a much slower process than at 80 + degrees. The FDA requires that food be cooled from 140 degree to 70 degrees within 2 hours, not 40 degrees.

From the U of Florida food protection site:

"Large portions of meat, broth, gravies and other common Cl. perfringens associated foods must meet specific guidelines noted in the 2001 FDA Food Code. These guidelines specify that potentially hazardous food shall be cooled with 2 hours from 140oF to 70oF and within 6 hours from the initial 140oF to 41oF or less. Large containers of food may take an extended period of time to cool to 41°F and therefore should be separated into smaller portions, such as pans with a food height of no more than four inches."

I think what you described is safe.

 

[Alix]

And if MOZART says eat it, then you are OK. Mozart is one of our best sources on food safety.