Bacteria?

[Mom2A&M]

I cooked 2lbs of meatballs and 2lbs of chicken breast last night and left them out on the counter overnight. Would you still eat it?

[NMG]

How warm is your kitchen?

It wouldn't cross my mind to not eat it, but my kitchen is about as warm as a fridge

[Tom Denham]

No. I would be too afraid. I've had food poisoning twice in my life and it is awful. The last time I had food poisoning was when my refrigerator quit working, but I thought the bacon was still okay, so I fried it up and ate it. Big mistake. I had "issues" for about 2 days. Serious issues.

[Megan H]

I work in a commercial kitchen and it only takes 90 minutes for food to enter the "danger zone" where bacteria flourish. I wouldn't go near cooked meat left at room temp overnight.

[Keianna]

Not sure. In college I saw plenty of people eat pizza that had been left out :-) and all manner of other things, haha. Plus parties have food sitting out at room temp for a long time. Even though I would feel sick to my stomach throwing that much food out, I probably would. Whereas my husband would try to give it a sniff and sample test :-)

[annabel]

I always would have said no, but... everyone here leaves food out on the counter overnight.

But, I don't think my husband has ever had food poisoning, nor have I since moving here.

[Mom2A&M]

I just am so mad at myself, all that prep work to waste.

What about reheating at a high temp? Will that make it safe?

[NMG]

The problem is not usually with the bacteria (which would be killed by cooking) but with their waste products which remain after reheating - hence rice being so dangerous.

Honestly though, how warm is your kitchen? Was the meat good to begin with (as opposed to getting a bit past it)?

I have pots of stew/soup out for days, for a little comparison.

[Megan H]

The meatballs are probably safer but chicken is such a risky food anyway. It's really your call. Health standards of course would say don't eat it, but plenty of us would probably dig in anyway. It's up to you whether you want to risk it. You could eat it and be fine, or you could eat it and spend a few days deeply wishing you hadn't. No one here knows which one it will be

[micro_mish]

Megan H is right...I'm a food microbiologist and it's not really a risk worth taking. Food poisoning is NOT FUN, and it's worse during a whole30 when all you want is soft, soothing carbs or gatorade to make you feel better. Besides, $20 worth of meat is less of an investment than a trip to the ER.

Even if you cooked the meat already, there is always the chance of contamination after cooking from your hands, etc. and bacteria can just go wild and grow in there since it hasn't been kept in check by the cold.

[Mom2A&M]

NMG- not cool enough to call it a fridge!

Think I'll skip it, thanks everyone.

[Beets]

That stinks! I feel your pain.

I used to be a "people are too worried about leaving food out" kind of person. I had all these theories about middle-class obsessions with cleanliness, etc. etc. I used the sniff test all the time. (I'm kind of a slob...)

A couple months ago I made big batch of beef stew. I make beef stew a lot and it's really basic but I had finally tweaked my pressure cooker recipe and it was perfect and the beef was grass-fed $$$. I left it out. Heated it up the next day, boiled it for over ten minutes, under pressure. I got so sick! Wretchedly sick. It was Halloween and I couldn't even stand up while we were out trick-or-treating the pain was so bad--and that was before the vomiting started.

Now I'm a lot more careful! So sorry for your wasted food and time.

[Fenderbender]

I work in a commercial kitchen and it only takes 90 minutes for food to enter the "danger zone" where bacteria flourish. I wouldn't go near cooked meat left at room temp overnight.

Toss it ... It's bad.... Most of the worst bacteria have no smell or taste on their own....

[dianavuong]

I leave food out overnight and still eat it. My kitchen is usually around 68 degrees. Could be that I have an iron stomach though from growing up eating food left out.

[Susan W]

I leave food out overnight and still eat it. My kitchen is usually around 68 degrees. Could be that I have an iron stomach though from growing up eating food left out.

Or could be you have been lucky. I am not being glib. It doesn't happen all the time. It depends on many variables, but as FenderBender said, the bacteria has no taste or smell so its a crap shoot.

[dianavuong]

Or could be you have been lucky. I am not being glib. It doesn't happen all the time. It depends on many variables, but as FenderBender said, the bacteria has no taste or smell so its a crap shoot.

Could be that I'm lucky too. My family came to the US from Vietnam in the 70s, before I was born. They told me they never threw anything out and unless it smells funky, we still eat it. My mom has been known to cut off portions of food that has mold growing on it and still eats.

I'm not encouraging this type of behavior or recommending anyone to do it! Like I said, I probably have an iron stomach from growing up this way.