Can I eat it?
October 25, 2018 5:30 AM   Subscribe

Fourteen years into my membership on the site, and I have a “can I eat it?” question—with a twist!

I have sous vide’d for years, using a Sous Vide Supreme Demi, which is itself a covered box. Yesterday, I used an Anova and an uncovered pot. Since the pot was uncovered, I lost sufficient water through unrecaptured evaporation that the low-fill failsafe tripped and shut off the heating element before I got home.

Cooking details:
I was cooking three pork chops at 60° Celsius. The Anova was at temperature when I left it in the morning. When cooking, I use Douglas Baldwin’s cooking times for pasteurization. The pork chops were vacuum sealed.

When I arrived home, the Anova had shut off, and its temperature reading was ~39° Celsius, which would be in the danger zone, if not for the potential pasteurization of the vacuum sealed pouches.

One could perhaps extrapolate the amount of time required to evaporate the lost water (maybe over a gallon) or for the remaining water (maybe a half gallon) to lose 20°C. But in my heart of hearts (stomach of stomachs) I believe the chops were submersed in 60° water for sufficient time to Pasteurize them, at least by reference to the Baldwin tables—which I have relied on for five years with no ill effects.

I did not eat the chops last night—they went into the fridge. But I’d just as soon eat them. My wife is leery, but would (probably). She has said it’s a no-go for our four-year-old.

What’s the good word, Hivemind—can I eat these chops! I say yeah!
posted by Admiral Haddock to Health & Fitness (6 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
I say yeah!
posted by bbqturtle at 5:45 AM on October 25, 2018


Aren't pork chops cheap? Why risk it. Alternately, can you just cook them again for another 3 hours?
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:45 AM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cooking again doesn't do anything for the potential bacteria "leavings" which aren't killed when the bacteria dies.


/food safety pedant
posted by freethefeet at 6:01 AM on October 25, 2018 [6 favorites]


Probably safe because vacuum sealed, but eat a sample, wait 10 - 12 hours. Food poisoning is really miserable.
posted by theora55 at 8:08 AM on October 25, 2018


Undercooked pork ain't nothing to f with. Toss it.
posted by jordemort at 1:29 PM on October 25, 2018 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Yeah! I ate those bad boys, and am fine. I actually ate all three, as my wife was completely uninterested.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 4:37 PM on October 26, 2018 [2 favorites]


« Older Tempered glass tea pot with a BIG infuser?   |   Flicking brights as signal to other driver? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.