Should I eat this: Bread Pudding Edition
April 17, 2021 5:10 AM Subscribe
Bread pudding left in oven over night. Can I eat it?
I can’t believe that I’m even asking this question because I’m sure the answer is “don’t eat it,” but A) I never thought I’d ask a should I eat this question here and B) I’m somewhat devastated.
We made a savory bread pudding last night. We put lots of time into getting it right. We were very excited about it. We were going to eat it for dinner tonight. Our baby addled brains caused us to leave it in the oven overnight.
Can we eat it? Can the baby eat it?
I can’t believe that I’m even asking this question because I’m sure the answer is “don’t eat it,” but A) I never thought I’d ask a should I eat this question here and B) I’m somewhat devastated.
We made a savory bread pudding last night. We put lots of time into getting it right. We were very excited about it. We were going to eat it for dinner tonight. Our baby addled brains caused us to leave it in the oven overnight.
Can we eat it? Can the baby eat it?
Baby definitely shouldn't eat it.
If things are so addled (and trust me I'm there with you!) You don't want to add food poisoning to the sleep deprivation. So I wouldn't risk it.
posted by freethefeet at 5:23 AM on April 17, 2021
If things are so addled (and trust me I'm there with you!) You don't want to add food poisoning to the sleep deprivation. So I wouldn't risk it.
posted by freethefeet at 5:23 AM on April 17, 2021
Control the potential downside. A maximum of one parent eats it. The non-eater can cover for the other if GI issues incapacitate that parent. No baby eats it.
Note that maximum of one includes zero.
posted by Glomar response at 6:23 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Note that maximum of one includes zero.
posted by Glomar response at 6:23 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: This is a terrible idea. I'm sorry. But if you were trying to grow bacteria you could do a lot worse than putting eggs and dairy into a nice, spongy, non-acidic medium and leaving it somewhere warm overnight.
posted by HotToddy at 8:06 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 8:06 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
I can't tell from your question if the bread pudding was cooked first or is still raw. If raw, heck no. If you cooked it long enough to kill any bacteria and then turned the oven off and walked away, then it's effectively been sitting in a sterile closed environment at room temp after pasteurization, and I would eat it.
posted by deludingmyself at 8:11 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by deludingmyself at 8:11 AM on April 17, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: If it was raw, meaning you didn't cook it (which wouldn't make sense, because I can't think of a bread pudding recipe that starts from a cold oven), then not just no, but hell no.
If you cooked it, turned off the oven, and forget it in there, it's still no. For one thing, your oven retains heat for a long time after you turn it off, so your pudding was in there drying out for hours.
And for another, it had to drop through and spend hours in the temperature danger zone (40F to 140F). If it was just bread, I'd say OK. But this has dairy and eggs, and...no. Would you want to eat a custard that had sat out that long, in a temperature perfect for incubating bacteria?
posted by ralan at 9:19 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
If you cooked it, turned off the oven, and forget it in there, it's still no. For one thing, your oven retains heat for a long time after you turn it off, so your pudding was in there drying out for hours.
And for another, it had to drop through and spend hours in the temperature danger zone (40F to 140F). If it was just bread, I'd say OK. But this has dairy and eggs, and...no. Would you want to eat a custard that had sat out that long, in a temperature perfect for incubating bacteria?
posted by ralan at 9:19 AM on April 17, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah, no, even if it's not potentially harmful, it's not going to taste good after it's been sitting in the oven the whole night. I'm sorry for your pudding-y loss, but I would definitely throw it out and chalk it (sadly) up to experience.
posted by fight or flight at 9:26 AM on April 17, 2021
posted by fight or flight at 9:26 AM on April 17, 2021
Test 1st. 1 person eats a small amount, see what happens. I would not feed this to the baby.
posted by theora55 at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2021
posted by theora55 at 11:40 AM on April 17, 2021
Degoao, you made the tough but right decision. I have been in this position before and I agree it is a devastating feeling; (not to belabor the point) but you put so much hard work into this, you were excited about eating it, and it sucks to wake up and realize it wasn't refrigerated.
What has helped me in these situations is to visualize if I did eat it and become sick. I think about how instead of being able to go about my life the next day, I would be hobbled over a toilet or worse have to go to the doctor. And how my entire week could be ruined because I didn't want to waste this one thing I wanted to save. But that didn't happen to me, I didn't get sick! Crisis averted. In case you need a mental exercise to feel less bad about these situations, this is what helps me.
posted by andruwjones26 at 8:58 PM on April 17, 2021
What has helped me in these situations is to visualize if I did eat it and become sick. I think about how instead of being able to go about my life the next day, I would be hobbled over a toilet or worse have to go to the doctor. And how my entire week could be ruined because I didn't want to waste this one thing I wanted to save. But that didn't happen to me, I didn't get sick! Crisis averted. In case you need a mental exercise to feel less bad about these situations, this is what helps me.
posted by andruwjones26 at 8:58 PM on April 17, 2021
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posted by EXISTENZ IS PAUSED at 5:18 AM on April 17, 2021 [5 favorites]