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G... when I repeated some of this info on temp & bacteria to my mum, I thought she'd appreciate it. Instead, she yelled at me, 'I'm 80 & halved onions haven't killed me yet! Neither has eating soup left on the counter 'til cold then reheated!' Haha.
She's right, but I do recognize that some get ill quickly on food... like me. I'm very careful with handling & preparing & if I didn't have regular headaches or queasiness after eating (who on earth knows what, how, why... it's been a lifetime of food issues, including allergies & problems with additives), I never would have begun buying $$$ organic everything & cooking everything from scratch (including bread) like an old prairie woman. Time consuming, but I've been doing it for 30-yrs & any issues now are relatively few & far between & normally after eating restaurant food. Believe me, I wish I could open a can of soup & eat processed sandwich meat like some of my siblings who seem healthy as horses... but food doesn't side effect them as it does me.
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I learned how to pack a lunch when my son wanted to do things like take sushi for lunch at school during a heat wave. I didn't kill him, nor did he get a foodborne illness.
You're brave, but obviously you & OpenD have gotten the temp system down to a tee long ago. I've not had problems either, but I like to eat early, so my lunch doesn't sit long before I've devoured it... if I make it passed 10am, it's unusual & I've been known to eat my lunch whilst waiting for the subway on the way to work... usually if I'm running late & breakfast was too light. The issue really is with the SO leaving at 4am & maybe not eating 'til 2pm & if the 9-hr thermos could do the trick without his getting ill? I did find a 12-hr Japanese thermos, that I mentioned above... $50+ but not sure if it would make much difference for him?
For example, I bought 2 Stanley thermoses on sale last week... supposed to keep food hot 5-6 hrs... well, I tested it at home & after 3-hrs I'd say it's only warm & needs to be reheated. I've been using those to give him veggies only. If he ever wants a cold sandwich, I may halve it & put it into that thermos to save plastic/paper & perhaps keep it cool. The 9-hr Thermos has only been used a few times... one time he didn't eat at all & brought food back steaming hot after 12-hrs. Perhaps a fluke?? I've noticed that hot liquid (soup) stays hotter than solid food or stew. Again, might be a fluke? I'm new to the thermos world, but your sushi tale has inspired me to keep trying.
Oh, & thanks for the info on either pre-cooling or pre-heating the thermos with boiled water. Never thought to do that & it must make a difference.
Acidulents, such as vinegar and lemon juice, create a high-acid environment that slows, or prevents, bacterial growth. Salt is also an important ingredient in commercial mayonnaise that contributes to the unfavorable environment for microbial growth.
I'm wondering, then, Zoso... I read about properly cleaning a wooden cutting board. Most of what I saw said the same... lemon juice, vinegar or bleach. I have a giant board someone gave me (can't even fully fit it into the sink, but I love it)... too large to put into the d/w for a one off cleaning. But, it still smells like onion, no matter how much I scrub it with hot soap & water. From now on, I'll cut onion on a glass plate. In the meantime, how do I get that onion smell out of it? I'm assuming if it smells like onion, based on all I read here, it's probably loaded with bacteria, yeah?
I'm afraid to use bleach on a food surface & vinegar just made it smell like onion & vinegar. Any ideas? Salt?? Soak it in the tub? I'd like to season it with oil, but am assuming I need to get the smell out first.
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Many low-acid foods, like chicken, ham or potatoes, are susceptible to the growth of bacteria and are often mixed with mayonnaise. Mishandled, these foods can create a favorable medium for food contamination.
I didn't know low acid was the culprit in spoilage? Interesting.
I can't really speak to how long it is safe to leave food in a thermos (and honestly I personally probably leave things too long) BUT I do want to contribute a little info to your decision making.
A common solution to this issue is reheating and killing the bacteria but unfortunately this doesn't necessarily keep you from getting sick. With food poisoning it is less the bacterial load that is making you sick directly and more the toxins that they produce as a byproduct of their metabolism. While you can microwave and kill the bacteria, if there were a significant number in there and they already produced the toxins that cause gastrointestinal problems you could still get sick. All of the bacteria may be dead but the toxins they already produced are not easily broken down by heating as far as I know.
That being said, home cooked food is of high value - often offering better quality nutrition and more control, not to mention being good on the pocket book. 18 hours seems like a bit of a gamble to make daily, eventually you'd probably be unlucky and get sick. Morning of seems much less worrisome to me but I'd probably weigh it against the strength of my immunity/ GI system in general and the importance of what I had to do today (even if the risk is small, if you have a really important meeting that afternoon even a small risk might not be worth it)
I can't really speak to how long it is safe to leave food in a thermos (and honestly I personally probably leave things too long) BUT I do want to contribute a little info to your decision making.
A common solution to this issue is reheating and killing the bacteria but unfortunately this doesn't necessarily keep you from getting sick. With food poisoning it is less the bacterial load that is making you sick directly and more the toxins that they produce as a byproduct of their metabolism. While you can microwave and kill the bacteria, if there were a significant number in there and they already produced the toxins that cause gastrointestinal problems you could still get sick. All of the bacteria may be dead but the toxins they already produced are not easily broken down by heating as far as I know.
That being said, home cooked food is of high value - often offering better quality nutrition and more control, not to mention being good on the pocket book. 18 hours seems like a bit of a gamble to make daily, eventually you'd probably be unlucky and get sick. Morning of seems much less worrisome to me but I'd probably weigh it against the strength of my immunity/ GI system in general and the importance of what I had to do today (even if the risk is small, if you have a really important meeting that afternoon even a small risk might not be worth it)
Considering the thread is over two years old I am sure the OP has died of food poisoning by now according to everyone.
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