Can I eat this? Chorizo Stew edition

January 23, 2016 4:56 AM

So I made a double recipe of this chorizo stew last night. It is delicious and there is so much of it. However, my husband left it out overnight by accident and I just put it in the fridge at 7 this morning. Can we eat this? I'm thinking no but hoping that the fact that the chorizo was cured before cooking makes some sort of difference and that I don't have to throw away a whole stockpot of delicious stew.
posted by dysh to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

The broth, potatoes, and lack of anything acidic make it an excellent breeding ground for pathogens. I am on a tight budget, so I would probably reheat it in the microwave til it was blazingly hot and hope for the best but I can't recommend that course of action to anyone else in good faith.
posted by STFUDonnie at 5:32 AM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

I'd eat it, cured meat or not. I'd either freeze it or eat it quickly, meaning I'd try to shorten the time it was kept in a non-frozen state, but I certainly wouldn't throw it out.
posted by jon1270 at 5:33 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I should add that I subbed chickpeas for the swiss chard, though I doubt that makes any difference.
posted by dysh at 5:36 AM on January 23, 2016

Response by poster: I also used chicken bouillon cubes instead of broth
posted by dysh at 5:39 AM on January 23, 2016

What was the ambient temperature in the room it was stored in overnight? Our kitchen can be as cold as 15℃ at this time of year. If that was the case, I personally would eat it after a thorough boil on the stove.
posted by fairmettle at 5:43 AM on January 23, 2016

Response by poster: Hmm I'm kind of bad with temperatures but not too warm. We live in NYC and it's blizzard time, and our heat is ok but not great.
posted by dysh at 5:45 AM on January 23, 2016

In circumstances like these unless it was pretty warm and hot in the room where the stew sat overnight, I would eat it after thoroughly boiling on reheat. I also have a long history of eating perfectly fine foods that I've noticed would be advised by some on canieatthis askmes to throw out, without any history of food poisoning.
posted by Karaage at 5:46 AM on January 23, 2016 [6 favorites]

The recipe itself isn't going to make much of a difference in whether the soup is safe or not -- unless it was inedibly salty or acidic, it's probably a great place for bacteria to grow. The problem is that it was likely hanging out in the bacterial "danger zone" (between 40 °F and 140 °F) for hours, giving bacteria lots of time to reproduce and produce toxins (more about the danger zone and bacterial toxins). Some bacteria can survive the cooking process by forming heat-resistant spores; as soon as the food cools down a bit, they start reproducing and creating toxins that may or may not be destroyed by heat later.

I would not eat this (though it's a damn shame to have to throw it out!). If you are determined to roll the dice, you should definitely bring it up to a rolling boil and keep it there for a while, until everything in the soup is very hot all the way through. You still might get sick, though -- so if you've got anywhere particularly important to be in the next few days, you might want to factor that into your calculations too.
posted by ourobouros at 5:50 AM on January 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

That recipe sounds delicious. You've inspired me to seek out some chorizo. But I wouldn't eat a chorizo stew that had been left at room temperature (right in the danger zone!) over night unless I was very willing to risk food poisoning.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 5:56 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: With a heavy heart I concede that I should throw this stew away. RIP delicious spicy stew, the blizzard won't be the same without you.
posted by dysh at 6:11 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'd eat it, though not serve it to uninformed persons. (That's usually my reaction to questions like this and I've never gotten food poisoning or had other cause to regret my cavalier attitude.)
posted by teremala at 6:11 AM on January 23, 2016 [10 favorites]

What? No don't throw that out. We make soup every single week in this house and I'd say that fully 50% of the time, we forget to put it in the fridge overnight before eating it the next day. Just return it to the boil before simmering.
posted by DarlingBri at 6:19 AM on January 23, 2016 [8 favorites]

No it's absolutely dangerous and if you're anywhere in Northern California I should come by and take it off your hands so you don't eat this dangerous stew. Seriously, I'd eat those leftovers in a heartbeat, without a moment's concern. My only nod to food safety would be to bring it up to near-boiling before serving. Perhaps I am reckless.
posted by Nelson at 6:35 AM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Sorry to threadsit but part of the calculation is also that the potatoes were already a bit overdone. Bringing it up to a full boil and boiling for a while will probably turn them into mush, so even if it's safe it won't be as tasty :(
posted by dysh at 6:43 AM on January 23, 2016

I would probably eat it in regular circunstances but you might not want to risk food poisoning right in the middle of a blizzard.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 6:49 AM on January 23, 2016 [2 favorites]

Here's another interesting article about the gray area inbetween ultra conservative FDA guidelines and what's reasonable precautions.

They specifically mention the scenario you discuss:

What about my lazy method of letting stock cool overnight, then reboiling and refrigerating it first thing in the morning? Dr. Snyder gave it a pass because it would spend only a few hours below 135 degrees, not enough time for the bacterial spores to germinate, start growing and reach hazardous numbers.

You really only need to boil it for a minute or two. It pains me to see mefites throwing away perfectly fine food, but I guess that is a privilege we have...
posted by Karaage at 7:04 AM on January 23, 2016 [4 favorites]

I would eat this but I wouldn't serve it to guests or eat it right before a flight, just in case. If it was mine I would bring it to a boil and then eat with gusto, and I am normally very conservative on the should I eat it questions.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:30 AM on January 23, 2016

No, it's been in the danger zone for too long. And as you pointed out, the amount of time it would need to be at a boil to kill pathogens would render it inedible. Besides which, the problem isn't always the pathogens, it's the toxins left behind, which no amount of boiling will get rid of. Please ignore any answer that says "just boil it and eat" because that is not safe and not a statement born of knowledge about food safety.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:35 AM on January 23, 2016 [6 favorites]

I'd remove the chickpeas and most of the potatoes and throw them away, pressure cook the rest for 15 minutes on high, then add new chickpeas and potatoes and cook them on the stovetop unpressurized until they have the texture you want.
posted by jamjam at 7:53 AM on January 23, 2016

I would never serve this to anyone else, although I'd eat it without question myself.

If you're having to ask, you won't enjoy eating it for worry it will poison you. So throw it out in good conscience; the pleasure you would have got from it is as gone as if you'd accidentally dropped it on the floor.
posted by howfar at 9:36 AM on January 23, 2016

I wouldn't serve it in the restaurant, but I would eat it at home. I'd just make sure I had toilet paper aplenty in the bathroom and no big plans on Sunday if things go south. Realistically though, things won't likely go south, and good stew is totally worth it as far as I am concerned.
posted by Nanukthedog at 10:45 AM on January 23, 2016

I would eat it without a second thought. I, too, hate to see people throw away perfectly good food. I have done this with almost every pot of soup I have made and never gotten food poisoning.
posted by irisclara at 10:47 AM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

We routinely leave out stew overnight in our cool but not cold kitchen, and eat it just heated up in the microwave. I have never given myself food poisoning.
posted by Specklet at 11:28 AM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

I would eat it- we also are among those who leave often soup and stew out overnight before putting it in the fridge.
posted by oneirodynia at 1:29 PM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

So IF you decide that you'll risk eating it, I suggest nuking until very hot a very small portion, while keeping the rest in the fridge. If you don't get sick within 6 hours, you can feel somewhat more comfortable eating large portions of it. Follow this suggestion at your own risk.
posted by cacao at 1:56 PM on January 23, 2016

I would eat that and wouldn't even bother with the rolling boil. (But I wouldn't serve it.)

BTW, we need some sort of ranking system for can-I-eat-it questions. We should indicate how often the commenter has recommended the asker eat the food in question. I'm probably 75% on Team EatIt.
posted by 26.2 at 1:13 PM on January 24, 2016 [1 favorite]