How long can you leave cooked food out? (beer, cookie, bread)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The United States Department of Agriculture in this situation (I Think) has this to say about Leftovers and Food Safety - "After food is safely cooked, hot food must be kept hot at 140° F or warmer to prevent bacterial growth. Within 2 hours of cooking food or after it is removed from an appliance keeping it warm, leftovers must be refrigerated." and then there is a lot more on the page, read here: Leftovers and Food Safety
There's your answer! If it was over 140F or below 40F in your car, its safe to eat.
You cannot leave any wet food out for more 2 hours in room temperature regardless what it is. Moisture and air are the main keys to bacteria growth.
The only food I feel safe leave out is dry foods like chips, cookies, and crackers. I would never dare to leave cheeses, soups, meats, and cooked pastas out for long. Invitation to bacteria. If you leave like a piece of steak out, as long as it's covered and the steak is seasoned it's fine for a couple of hours.
Last edited by vision33r; 03-30-2014 at 08:40 PM..
Went out to lunch for some Mexican food at about noon. Went grocery shopping after that. Left the left overs in the car until 5:15 (it's been a long day). I really want that half bean burrito and cheese enchilada with the sauce, but I'm scared to eat it.
Anybody left food out this long, or longer, ate it and survived? (or didn't get sick?). Am I taking a chance?
In my nutrition class we learned the 2-2-4 rule. Refrigerate within 2 hours in a dish not more than 2" deep and throw away after 4 days. I wouldn't eat it. Safeguard Your Thanksgiving Leftovers
Last edited by RockyMtHi; 03-30-2014 at 09:18 PM..
Reason: spelling
Went out to lunch for some Mexican food at about noon. Went grocery shopping after that. Left the left overs in the car until 5:15 (it's been a long day). I really want that half bean burrito and cheese enchilada with the sauce, but I'm scared to eat it.
Anybody left food out this long, or longer, ate it and survived? (or didn't get sick?). Am I taking a chance?
a lot depends on how hot it is right now. No, if it was mid summer, I would suggest feeding it to the dogs, but as cool as it has been most places it isn't going to hurt you one iota. For those of us past 60 or so, we remember the days when no one hardly thought about things spoiling much. Today, we are all paranoid.
Eat it! I recently ate Thai food that was in a backseat for 2 days. I didn't get sick or nothing. I also left a banana cream pie sitting out for a week. I devoured the whole thing and didn't feel any aftereffects at all.
Reminds me of about a month ago. We had a very busy day, including a run to Sam's for our monthly supply of stuff. Spoiled brat cleaned out the trunk and brought everything in. I put it all away. Close to a week later I was looking for the sour cream I had purchased. It was no where. I had to get something out of the trunk; there is was, with the buttermilk, in it's own little corner of the trunk. I brought both in, both were fine and able to be used. The sour cream was a little lumpy, but is still ok.
My granny used to cook a big Sunday dinner (or lunch, as some would call it), then just throw dishtowels over all the bowls in the middle of the kitchen table and then they would have it for supper also.
Then again, my husband had an ancestor die from eating something at a church "dinner on the ground". So, who knows?
good story about grandma. We used to put the turkey back in the oven after thanksgiving dinner. We would carve on it for a day or so, until there was enough gone we could cook the carcus and put the rest in the fridge. We didn't have room in our small refrigerators to hold the darn bird.
Yea I've had similar thoughts (especially when hungry and craving the particular food in question, or where the food was especially delicious like fancy restaurant leftovers ). I'm pretty paranoid about food poisoning and generally of the "if in doubt throw it out" mentality, but the 2 hr rule seems very arbitrary to me considering they slap it on all food, and there's no way all food spoils at the same rate. From common sense, cultured milk products like cheese, yogurt, sour cream don't really go bad, unless they get nasty and moldy. There's already bacteria in there. If it looks fine, they're safe to eat.
The much more iffier are the meat and chicken dishes, hot dishes, mayo-based salads etc. At home I put everything in the fridge as soon as I can, but I never know what to do with them in party or picnic type situations where inevitably it sits out for a few hours and often there's a ton of leftovers, or if I'm out all day and taking some food with me etc. If it's been sitting out all day in the hot car, it's pretty clear cut. But what if it's been 3 hours? 4 hours? 5 hours? This is the "grey zone" I'm never sure about, especially if it's been a long day and I'm starving and I've got half a tasty sandwich left in the car that I took that morning. I ended up sadly throwing away a full tray of smoked salmon bagels and egg salad sandwiches from a party because they've sat out over 4 hours altogether and I didn't want to risk it. I wish there were some more food-specific guidelines on that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's still in the fridge though, just in case. I might go with the general rule of thumb when in doubt throw it out.
lol
). I'm pretty paranoid about food poisoning and generally of the "if in doubt throw it out" mentality, but the 2 hr rule seems very arbitrary to me considering they slap it on all food, and there's no way all food spoils at the same rate. From common sense, cultured milk products like cheese, yogurt, sour cream don't really go bad, unless they get nasty and moldy. There's already bacteria in there. If it looks fine, they're safe to eat.
