Food safety? How long can meat sit out?

[floridafam]

I put a roast in the crock pot at 9am.

I just discovered that the crock pot does not work on the low setting. So, the roast has been in the crock pot at room temp for a while.

I turned it up to high and it is getting hot?

Should I throw it away?

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

The USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) generally says that any perishable food, meat included, that has not been stored at a temperature of at least 40 degrees, and has not been refrigerated or cooked during that time is not safe. This applies to both fresh and frozen meat.

Some safe food handling fact sheets can be found at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/fact_sheets/Safe_Food_Handling_Fact_Sheets/index.asp#general

My rule of thumb is if I have any doubts about a food being safe I will toss it out.

 

[floridafam]

Thank you

I just threw it out. $12 down the drain.

Oh well. I would never forgive myself if one of my kids got sick. I'm going to pick up another one and try again tomorrow.

 

[OhMari]

That happened to me once, but I forgot to plug mine in.

My sister still defrosts meat out on the counter-I tell her all the time to take it out the night before and put in her refrigerator to thaw. She don't listen. My mom does it too.

My sisters kids throw-up a lot, and I really believe half the time it is food poisoning.

 

[Free4Life11]

I believe it is no more than 2 hours total in the temperature danger zone which is 40 - 140F.

 

[Free4Life11]

My sister still defrosts meat out on the counter-I tell her all the time to take it out the night before and put in her refrigerator to thaw. She don't listen. My mom does it too.

My sisters kids throw-up a lot, and I really believe half the time it is food poisoning.

My parents did that too! I have taken sanitation courses so I went home and told them NO WAY! Need to plan ahead and stick it in the fridge for a day or two.

You're right, a lot of times people get food posioning without even knowing.

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

Thank you

I just threw it out. $12 down the drain.

Oh well. I would never forgive myself if one of my kids got sick. I'm going to pick up another one and try again tomorrow.

I know it hurt the wallet to toss out something so expensive, but believe me, nothing is worth a risk of food poisoning. You can get so sick you would pay anything to have it stop. And it might not have been just one of your kids but very possibly your entire family. Think of it another way; if you went to a restaurant wouldn't you expect them to handle food safely? Health inspectors go to restaurants to try to ensure safe handling of food. This is no different except you're the cook and inspector of your home "restaurant".

Sounds to me like you're doing a pretty good job of taking care of your family.

 

[dmslush]

That happened to me once, but I forgot to plug mine in.

My sister still defrosts meat out on the counter-I tell her all the time to take it out the night before and put in her refrigerator to thaw. She don't listen. My mom does it too.

My sisters kids throw-up a lot, and I really believe half the time it is food poisoning.

My boss does that. It is absolutely disgusting. When we are having a turkey dinner, she will lay the turkey out on the counter the day BEFORE! UGH!! Then she doesn't understand why we won't eat it. More recently, a roast had been cooked, and then left in a crock pot (turned OFF) from 7am to 6pm. She didn't understand why said it had to be thrown out!

 

[Magickndm]

I've always heard 2 hours out is the limit.

 

[Zandy595]

My mom leaves meat out all the time, before she cooks it. I've said something to her before and she says, "nobody's gotten sick yet, I'm not worried". She's a nurse too. We were at her house yesterday and they made three whole chickens for dinner. We got there at 4pm and they were already sitting out on the counter. I have no idea how long they had been there, but they didn't start cooking them until 5:30.

 

[Tink's Pixieduster]

My mom leaves meat out all the time, before she cooks it. I've said something to her before and she says, "nobody's gotten sick yet, I'm not worried". She's a nurse too. We were at her house yesterday and they made three whole chickens for dinner. We got there at 4pm and they were already sitting out on the counter. I have no idea how long they had been there, but they didn't start cooking them until 5:30.

One of my aunt's did something like this many years ago and my ENTIRE family got sick. And by sick I mean toilet hugging, puking our guts out sick, and this went on for three days! My aunt had left the chicken out for several hours while she worked on other food (one was a salad with mayonaisse in it, so goodness knows how long that had been sitting out and may have contributed, too), and my family was hesitant, but it was the only food there so it was eaten. Never again. We didn't have meals with this aunt often, so to the best of our knowledge this was how she cooked every day! I still visit this aunt from time to time, but we either go out to eat at someplace inexpensive, we order in for pizza, or I cook (she retired several years ago so I tell her she deserves a break from cooking now ). Needless to say, none of us EVER forgot what happened and take even more care with our food prep now.

And yes, up to about 2 hours the roast the OP was going to fix MIGHT have been all right, but she said she put it in the crock pot at 9 AM, and by the time she began her thread it was already 2 and a half hours later, so a possible 2 hour window had passed.

 

[FullStride]

usually an hour or two is okay. Leaving your meat out all night could be hazardous to your health.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

My mom always laid her meat out to thaw. We never got sick. Because of media reports, I'm a salmanella freak. I drive my DH nuts about it. That said, I'll be the 1st to admit, that we can worry too much about things. If it didn't make people deathly ill 20 yrs. ago, it's probably not going to now. I'm sure some do get sick, but the majority probably doesn't.

 

[daisyduck123]

I've had to throw out expensive meat before too. Ohhhh!!!

But that's better than getting ill. Is your crock-pot a little old?
I've got one of those programmable ones--love it!!

 

[LadyyRedd]

Yep, 2 hours. 2 hours for raw food at room temp and 4 hours for cooked food at room temp. Learned about the horrors when I was taking classes to become ServSafe Sanitation Certified.

Kimya

 

[wheeler1]

Ugggh,

This reminds me of the saturday, middle of summer, I was at my mil's house. She was par boiling chicken. No big deal until the following day she called to have us up for a cookout.

The pot with the partially cooked chicken and water was sitting in the exact same spot on the stove that I had seen it the day before. I felt the bottom of the pot (covertly ) and it was room temputure.

Needless to say I encouraged my kids to eat alot of the snacks that were sitting out before dinner! When she finally got around to putting the chicken on the grill, my kids had pigged out and werent hungry.

I took the chicken, cut it up and put it on plates, managed to hide it and and eventually get rid of it.

I'm getting the heeby jeebies just thinking about.

Way too many in law issues for me to even remotely think about speaking up on this one!!

 

[floridafam]

My crock pot is less than a year old.

Our DD had Salmonella a few months ago-she's a baby and we have no idea where it came from since she only drank formula. So, I worry more now.

DH and I had foods poisoning a few years ago and I will never!!!! forget it.

I just bought a new roast and I'm going to cook it tomorrow.

 

[froglady]

My mother is TERRIBLE about this sort of thing! I took her to the doctor's last monday, and she remarked about cooking a roast on Sunday. When I went into her apartment, there was a roast and veggies sitting on the table! I asked if that was the same roast she had the previous day, and she said "I guess I forgot to put it away." She was very angry when I threw it out!

She told me how "it never made her sick, it'll be fine to eat later" Oh, then I guess I imagined her vomiting as I got her into the car TWICE, and that I imagined those 7AM phone calls I got when she let me know "I've been up vomiting all night; I don't know what's wrong. I must have the flu or something."

 

[LADYnTRAMP]

My mother is TERRIBLE about this sort of thing! I took her to the doctor's last monday, and she remarked about cooking a roast on Sunday. When I went into her apartment, there was a roast and veggies sitting on the table! I asked if that was the same roast she had the previous day, and she said "I guess I forgot to put it away." She was very angry when I threw it out!

She told me how "it never made her sick, it'll be fine to eat later" Oh, then I guess I imagined her vomiting as I got her into the car TWICE, and that I imagined those 7AM phone calls I got when she let me know "I've been up vomiting all night; I don't know what's wrong. I must have the flu or something."

Boy can I relate!!! I love my mother dearly but this subject has been a problem as long as I can remember (and I'm 44) and it's only gotten worse as she's grown older. She is not well and lives with us now and it's difficult dealing with alot of that baggage on a daily basis. Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic.