Can I eat this crockpot roast edition
August 7, 2022 5:38 AM Subscribe
I think I know the answer but really don’t want to throw this away. Cooked a pot roast carrots and onions until about 7pm. Waiting for it to cool but forgot about it. Found it at 7am.
Give me your best advice.
Absolutely not. People die from food poisoning as mentioned above. Don't risk it. Set a timer or an alarm if you can next time.
posted by VyanSelei at 6:20 AM on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by VyanSelei at 6:20 AM on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
My condolences, your pot roast is now a zombie pot roast and while it may closely resemble the roast you once loved, that roast is gone and you must destroy what remains before it infects you.
posted by castlebravo at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2022 [46 favorites]
posted by castlebravo at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2022 [46 favorites]
So the questions I would have are:
1) how long was it cooked for prior to being left to cool
2) what is the ambient temperature of your home? Also, how warm was the crockpot when you opened it at 7AM?
posted by corb at 6:39 AM on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
1) how long was it cooked for prior to being left to cool
2) what is the ambient temperature of your home? Also, how warm was the crockpot when you opened it at 7AM?
posted by corb at 6:39 AM on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
It doesn't matter how long it was cooked for, and the ambient temperature of the house doesn't matter either, unless you keep your house below 40F or above 140F.
Someone will surely come along and try to tell you that if you heat it up above X temperature for Y minutes and boil the stock you'll kill all the bacteria - which is true(ish), but that won't kill the toxins created by the bacteria, and that's what makes you sick.
Toss this out. All of it. Not just the meat but the vegetables and stock too. Not worth the risk.
posted by ralan at 7:19 AM on August 7, 2022 [16 favorites]
Someone will surely come along and try to tell you that if you heat it up above X temperature for Y minutes and boil the stock you'll kill all the bacteria - which is true(ish), but that won't kill the toxins created by the bacteria, and that's what makes you sick.
Toss this out. All of it. Not just the meat but the vegetables and stock too. Not worth the risk.
posted by ralan at 7:19 AM on August 7, 2022 [16 favorites]
Just carrots and onions? you could taste a small sample and see how that goes. Pot roast with meat? Nope. Sorry, I've done this and it's so aggravating.
posted by theora55 at 7:24 AM on August 7, 2022
posted by theora55 at 7:24 AM on August 7, 2022
In the days before refrigeration, it was not unusual to leave stew on the stove and reboil it the next day. (Related concept: "perpetual stew".) It's one of those things where you can get away with it lots of times, but the one time that it doesn't work out is when you are going to be so incredibly sick that you may wish you were dead. I have done this and survived without consequences, but knowing more now, I would not do so again. My vote is to discard and make a new batch.
posted by Dip Flash at 7:40 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 7:40 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I would consider it if it had been an Instant Pot deal where you'd just left it overnight and the machine defaulted to the "keep warm" (a.k.a. 140-160F) setting for most of the night. A regular crockpot nooooppppeeee
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:54 AM on August 7, 2022
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:54 AM on August 7, 2022
This is a sure candidate for “toss it”. I’ve had food poisoning once in my life, and I wouldn’t even wish it on someone else. Calling it unpleasant is putting it mildly.
posted by Roger Pittman at 7:57 AM on August 7, 2022
posted by Roger Pittman at 7:57 AM on August 7, 2022
I do not recommend eating this, but I would eat it without hesitation, assuming it was at 165+ or at least 140 for a long time, and further assuming that the cover hasn’t been touched since it cooled significantly. I personally estimate the risk as less than driving to work on a Monday morning, which I do every week. But again, I would never recommend someone eat something they’re not comfortable eating.
posted by skewed at 9:19 AM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by skewed at 9:19 AM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
You can always heat it back up over 165 F.
I'd throw it out, seems ya didn't care anyways.
posted by Max Power at 9:39 AM on August 7, 2022
I'd throw it out, seems ya didn't care anyways.
posted by Max Power at 9:39 AM on August 7, 2022
Not after 12 hours, no, toss it. Enjoy a refreshing olive instead.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:46 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:46 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
You can always heat it back up over 165 F.
That won't necessarily get rid of whatever toxins the bacteria have produced so far.
posted by brachiopod at 11:03 AM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
That won't necessarily get rid of whatever toxins the bacteria have produced so far.
posted by brachiopod at 11:03 AM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
Please please please don't follow any "just reheat it to X temperature" advice. Reheating it might kill the bacteria, but it won't kill the toxins created by the bacteria, and those toxins are what make you sick.
From the USDA:
Q: If I forget to put food away in the refrigerator, will proper heating or reheating kill its bacteria content?
A: Proper heating and reheating will kill foodborne bacteria. However, some foodborne bacteria produce poisons or toxins that are not destroyed by high cooking temperatures if the food is left out at room temperature for an extended period of time. An example is the foodborne bacteria Staphylococcus. This bacterium produces a toxin that can develop in cooked foods that sit out at room temperature for more than two hours. (Emphasis mine)
I've had staph food poisoning. Eventually the vomiting and diarrhea came so fast that I just stood in the shower as things...ran their course. It was most unpleasant, and I can only guess that anyone advocating for anything other than "toss it immediately" hasn't had that experience.
posted by ralan at 11:12 AM on August 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
From the USDA:
Q: If I forget to put food away in the refrigerator, will proper heating or reheating kill its bacteria content?
A: Proper heating and reheating will kill foodborne bacteria. However, some foodborne bacteria produce poisons or toxins that are not destroyed by high cooking temperatures if the food is left out at room temperature for an extended period of time. An example is the foodborne bacteria Staphylococcus. This bacterium produces a toxin that can develop in cooked foods that sit out at room temperature for more than two hours. (Emphasis mine)
I've had staph food poisoning. Eventually the vomiting and diarrhea came so fast that I just stood in the shower as things...ran their course. It was most unpleasant, and I can only guess that anyone advocating for anything other than "toss it immediately" hasn't had that experience.
posted by ralan at 11:12 AM on August 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
This is the third Ask in a week in which a special device (instant pot, air fryer, crock pot) is suggested to mitigate the basic fact of: meat left at room temperature with plentiful oxygen for many hours.
It doesn't matter how your meat was heated, then left out. It's the left out part that matters. Sorry, but toss.
posted by Dashy at 11:58 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
It doesn't matter how your meat was heated, then left out. It's the left out part that matters. Sorry, but toss.
posted by Dashy at 11:58 AM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I suppose it's too late for me to chime in, but I will. The initial cooking would have killed the bacteria before they could breed. Yes, bacterial toxins are dangerous, but the bacteria have to be alive to make them.
I quite often make food and leave it on the stove overnight, if it's been heated and it's in a container with a lid. Bacteria aren't like little insects seeking to crawl into your food. They settle out of the air, but not through a lid, and even if they do, most of them (99%) are harmless.
Our ancestors made food and had no way to preserve it other than heat. They survived. The amount of food that's thrown away based on this kind of advice must be staggering. As a rule of thumb, if it doesn't look or smell bad you can eat it. Also most of the food poisoning you hear about is from industrial facilities, which are usually filthy. Food prepared at home is much safer.
I have always assumed that most people on Metafilter are educated. Perhaps your experience differs from mine, but the students I lived with would eat anything that wasn't actively trying to crawl away. Everyone I know survived.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:23 PM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
I quite often make food and leave it on the stove overnight, if it's been heated and it's in a container with a lid. Bacteria aren't like little insects seeking to crawl into your food. They settle out of the air, but not through a lid, and even if they do, most of them (99%) are harmless.
Our ancestors made food and had no way to preserve it other than heat. They survived. The amount of food that's thrown away based on this kind of advice must be staggering. As a rule of thumb, if it doesn't look or smell bad you can eat it. Also most of the food poisoning you hear about is from industrial facilities, which are usually filthy. Food prepared at home is much safer.
I have always assumed that most people on Metafilter are educated. Perhaps your experience differs from mine, but the students I lived with would eat anything that wasn't actively trying to crawl away. Everyone I know survived.
posted by AugustusCrunch at 12:23 PM on August 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
Our ancestors made food and had no way to preserve it other than heat. They survived.
The survival of the human species as a whole does not in any way account for all the countless deaths of individuals and is a poor basis for dispensing advice on food safety.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 1:51 PM on August 7, 2022 [15 favorites]
The survival of the human species as a whole does not in any way account for all the countless deaths of individuals and is a poor basis for dispensing advice on food safety.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 1:51 PM on August 7, 2022 [15 favorites]
It's true, though. You heat food to kill the bacteria and spores, make sure it's reasonably acidic as a backup, and if you store it in sterilized containers that are sealed from the environment, it will not grow anything. This is how canning works, how canned foods are made. But you have to use sterilized containers, you have to heat things well past boiling for at least a few minutes to make sure all the spores are dead, and you have to ensure the seal is airtight.
A slow cooker isn't sterilized, isn't sealed from the environment (as the food cools, room air will be sucked under the lid, for example) and really doesn't heat things hot enough to guarantee all the spores are inactivated.
This is why food safety is a science, and why when you're canning food at home you follow the directions to the letter. There's "good enough if you're lucky" and there's "good enough even without luck" and a slow cooker left cooling overnight is a "luck" thing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:30 PM on August 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
A slow cooker isn't sterilized, isn't sealed from the environment (as the food cools, room air will be sucked under the lid, for example) and really doesn't heat things hot enough to guarantee all the spores are inactivated.
This is why food safety is a science, and why when you're canning food at home you follow the directions to the letter. There's "good enough if you're lucky" and there's "good enough even without luck" and a slow cooker left cooling overnight is a "luck" thing.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:30 PM on August 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
Our ancestors made food and had no way to preserve it other than heat. They survived.
A poor understanding of bacteria and heat is why old graveyards are filled with of the names of children who didn't survive diarrheal illnesses.
posted by brachiopod at 3:11 PM on August 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
A poor understanding of bacteria and heat is why old graveyards are filled with of the names of children who didn't survive diarrheal illnesses.
posted by brachiopod at 3:11 PM on August 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for all the toss it advice. I bit the bullet and tosses. New pot roast cooling and I have set an alarm for putting it away.
You all are awesome!
posted by shaarog at 5:34 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
You all are awesome!
posted by shaarog at 5:34 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
You've made your decision, but I just wanted to add that what I tell myself is, no matter how expensive the meal is that I'm throwing out, it will be cheaper than the bill I get from the ER when I get food poisoning.
Of course this only works in uncivilized places like the US without government healthcare, but the principle is sound.
posted by emjaybee at 9:28 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Of course this only works in uncivilized places like the US without government healthcare, but the principle is sound.
posted by emjaybee at 9:28 PM on August 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by obfuscation at 5:51 AM on August 7, 2022 [3 favorites]