Ok to eat? Spaghetti sauce question

December 23, 2013 5:08 PM

I sauteed onion, ground beef, ground italian sausage and then added a can of crushed tomatoes. We ate dinner and it was left out for three hours. eat or toss? Thank you!
posted by michellenoel to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

Best answer: Of course you can eat it.
posted by Sara C. at 5:09 PM on December 23, 2013 [12 favorites]

Best answer: I always leave my Chilli or curry out for at least three hours, so that it's cool enough to put in the fridge.
posted by jb at 5:10 PM on December 23, 2013 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Totally okay to eat. It is in fact better to put it in the fridge after it has cooled down a bit on its own.
posted by elizardbits at 5:11 PM on December 23, 2013

Best answer: totally eat it!
posted by katypickle at 5:11 PM on December 23, 2013

Stick it in the fridge, nuke it (if you're worried) before you eat it, then enjoy it.
posted by Ranting Prophet of DOOM! at 5:13 PM on December 23, 2013

Best answer: I always vote for "toss" especially when pork is involved, but 3 hours isn't really that much. Eat!
posted by Houstonian at 5:14 PM on December 23, 2013

Response by poster: Yay! I'm headed to get my leftover dinner out of the fridge!!!! Thanks, peeps!

Here is the recipe: http://arismenu.com/lasagna-stuffed-spaghetti-squash/

It was TASTY!
posted by michellenoel at 5:17 PM on December 23, 2013

Growing up, my Italian-from-Italy neighbors used to make sauce and would keep it simmering on the stove for days, throwing in whatever leftover meats they had on-hand from dinner. I'm not advocating that (though the sauce was AH-MAZING), but 3 hours isn't going to kill you if this didn't kill them. :)
posted by xingcat at 5:50 PM on December 23, 2013 [1 favorite]

Even I would eat that.
posted by HotToddy at 6:06 PM on December 23, 2013

You can eat that for at least a day if it's left out at room temperature. Probably more. First world/urban folks are way too afraid of spoilage. People invented sausage so they could travel with meat.
posted by MeanwhileBackAtTheRanch at 6:17 PM on December 23, 2013 [8 favorites]

According to the federal government: "Never leave ground beef or any perishable food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour at 90 °F and above)." More.
posted by John Cohen at 8:01 PM on December 23, 2013

Yum, eat it. Tomato sauce is acidic, too-- it would last much longer than an equivalent cream sauce. It'll taste better tomorrow because the flavors can marry with time, even in the fridge.
posted by Sunburnt at 8:46 PM on December 23, 2013

According to the federal government

The federal government wants you to eat inedible hockey bucks of burnt leather.
posted by Justinian at 9:28 PM on December 23, 2013 [17 favorites]

I have eaten spaghetti bolognese sauce that was left on the counter-top for over 24 hours in the past, with no ill effect. Three hours isn't even enough time for it to cool down properly. I would totally eat this sauce.

YDSMV.
posted by Solomon at 4:29 AM on December 24, 2013

Never leave ground beef or any perishable food out at room temperature for more than 2 hours

I'm pretty sure that's referring to raw ground beef, not cooked.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:17 AM on December 24, 2013 [3 favorites]

Three hours out for sauce or chili is pretty common around here. As an aside, if you do ever have a big pot of hot chili, stew, sauce, etc. that you want to chill quickly so you can put it in the fridge and be done with it, a good technique is to put the pot in the sink, then fill the sink with ice water to the point that the pot just starts to float. Stir about every 5 minutes, and the food should be cool enough to refrigerate within about 20- 30 minutes.
posted by gimli at 6:49 AM on December 24, 2013

it was left out for three hours.

This is basically every meat-y & mayonnaise-y lunch that every kid used to bring to school in the days before ice packs and insulated lunchboxes.
posted by Room 641-A at 6:49 AM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

Wrap it up, place it in an envelope, and send it to me via post. I will eat it.
posted by zaelic at 6:56 AM on December 24, 2013 [2 favorites]

Add a little water and heat it to a brisk boil until it's the original consistency. Then pour it over pasta or rice and eat.
posted by KRS at 7:31 AM on December 24, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks guys. I had no problem eating it, but my husband went bonkers and made me a little paranoid.
posted by michellenoel at 9:08 AM on December 24, 2013

The trick is to heat it before eating it. Reheating will kill off the bad stuff.
posted by nogero at 9:44 AM on December 24, 2013

The rule of thumb is that you don't leave cooked food out at room temperature for more than two hours. It's the rule that health departments impose on food-service establishments. It's a rule that errs on the side of caution, because foodborne illness will absolutely ruin your day, making any "yumminess" seem utterly irrelevant in hindsight.

And unfortunately, re-heating spoiled food does not make it "safe". The heat may kill the bacteria, but it doesn't reliably inactivate all the different waste toxins that the bacteria have already excreted into the food, and those toxins are what will make you feel sick.
posted by Dimpy at 9:55 AM on December 24, 2013 [1 favorite]

The last 'oops' I made was leaving chicken curry out over night on the stove. It was definitely very hot when we ate, but it was out for ~10hrs with no cover on the pot. I put it in the fridge and ate it over the next week. I was fine.
posted by mbatch at 12:30 PM on December 25, 2013