Eat chili when it's chilly... right?
May 23, 2011 4:50 PM   Subscribe

Yes, I'm a little ashamed. Yes, it's a can-we-eat-this question. This time: vegetarian chili left in a slow cooker.

New-ish slow cooker, so we thought it would stay on "warm" indefinitely. Instead, it turned off at noon and I didn't notice until I got home at 6:00. It was still slightly warm. I turned it back on and put in a thermometer to get it up to temperature; I figure 160 will do it.

Ingredients in the chili: veggie beef-like crumbles, black bean soup, baked beans, canned chick peas, diced tomatoes, frozen corn, onion, green pepper, carrots, spices.

Is it okay once it gets reheated? Or is six hours too long, even for fake meat?
posted by supercres to Food & Drink (7 answers total)
 
With the lid still on? You'll be fine.
posted by mhoye at 4:51 PM on May 23, 2011


Response by poster: I should specify that I'm mostly worried about the fake meat, and mostly because of a poorly-remembered episode of the Drew Carey Show in which a birthday cake made out of tofu sits in a hot car and causes gastrointestinal distress. So there's that.
posted by supercres at 4:57 PM on May 23, 2011


Best answer: That should be fine to eat. The main agents of going bad would be sugary ingredients -- carrots and possibly bits of the fake-meat components -- but not enough time has passed for those to act up. Really, yours does not sound like a ferment-unto-rot situation.
posted by taramosalata at 5:01 PM on May 23, 2011


Sounds just fine. But it doesn't sound like the veggie beef-like stuff is tofu, right? Even so, I'm betting the tofu would be just fine.
posted by circular at 5:02 PM on May 23, 2011


Best answer: Anything meatless with substantial quantities of tomato in it can sit out and not spoil for quite a while. I usually cook in the evenings and leave pots of vegetable soup and stew on the stove top overnight, to cool. Never had a problem.
posted by Nomyte at 5:08 PM on May 23, 2011 [1 favorite]


Best answer: As a vegetarian (and no small lover of chili), I can promise you don't need to worry about it at all.

I wouldn't even have bothered to re-heat it (beyond 90 seconds in the microwave), and regularly eat left-out chili (and pasta) 2-3 days after making them, with no ill effects.

'cept maybe that slight twitch when I listen to the news, but I don't consider that food-related. ;)
posted by pla at 5:27 PM on May 23, 2011


Response by poster: Ate it. It was delicious. Thanks, all.
posted by supercres at 6:03 PM on May 23, 2011


« Older Why did the denialist cross the road? It was just...   |   My worst fear is to have somebody fall asleep on... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.