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Sweet potatoes left out overnight - still safe?


katieblue

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There seems to be a complete disagreement when I consulted Dr. Google. Some people vote yay, some vote nay. What do you all think? We baked them around 9pm and just forgot about them and went to bed. I found them this morning when I smelled a delightful aroma wafting up from the oven. :P

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I eat all kinds of things that are left out over night.

And as somebody who suffered [allegedly] from IBS I'm never ill, nor have digestive distress** of any kind.

I think nowadays a lot of people live in a cotton wool/bubble wrapped world.

You need to be exposed to bacteria/germs in order to build up an immunity to them.





**ETA Unless there are FODMAPs involved!!

 

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I eat all kinds of things that are left out over night.

And as somebody who suffered [allegedly] from IBS I'm never ill, nor have digestive distress of any kind.

I think nowadays a lot of people live in a cotton wool/bubble wrapped world.

You need to be exposed to bacteria/germs in order to build up an immunity to them.

I love this! I have a special rule that involves not throwing out food... so when the green beans get a little slimy, they don't go in the compost, they get rinsed off and cooked... and I don't wash my hands like a maniac either... we're so protected nowadays that you need to do a bit to keep your immunity up and also keep connected to the real world... and sometimes, the green beans get a little slick in the real world... not a big deal!

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Basically if it smells ok, it's probably ok and salvageable.

There are some things I'm a stickler over even if it's not noticeable but those are my own neuroses. I don't mind dirt or letting my kids eat off the floor, so I'm not completely germophobic.

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I was trying to get my sweet potatoes to cool down quickly once, and I put them out on the deck on a cool night. Left them out all night by accident. Those, I threw away! Is it so bad to put something that's still pretty warm into the fridge? That would have avoided this issue entirely.

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I was trying to get my sweet potatoes to cool down quickly once, and I put them out on the deck on a cool night. Left them out all night by accident. Those, I threw away! Is it so bad to put something that's still pretty warm into the fridge? That would have avoided this issue entirely.

Food safe etiquette actually says that you should put stuff in the fridge right away to bring the food temp down as quickly as possible... I don't worry about that too much (says the person who rinses slime off green beans), but you can indeed put warm food in the fridge :)

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Bacteria needs a few things to survive, lack of enough heat to kill it (cooking), time to grow and some bacteria to start it off (there's not much in this world that's bug free). If it smells okay but you'd like to be more sure, heat it up until it's really hot, boiling type hot (lots of steam) and keep it hot for a bit. Never eat something like that cold (leftover takeout often causes food poisoning because it's left out AND not reheated).

 

This is why sterilization of glass is 3 minutes at the rolling boil, that kills most bugs.

 

If it smells bad though, the bacteria is already at a high level and some can still make you feel sick after you kill them.

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