Oh, no! Food? Or food poisoning?

[Kimby]

I made a really nice pork roast for dinner 2 nights ago. The meat thermometer read 160F (71C)when I took it out and sliced off pieces from each end for us to eat.

As it still looked a TINY bit pink in the center, I put it back into the oven (turned off, though it had been at 375 (190) minutes earlier) to continue cooking.

Flash forward 24 hours: last night when I started to make dinner, I found the roast still in the oven! Oh No!

Our kitchen is quite cool as it is a long ways from the wood stove and the thermostat is set at 50 (10). The min-max thermometer in the kitchen reads 52 - 57 (11-14) for the past few days.

I am unwilling to toss this delectable chunk of meat. If I cook it to a high enough temperature, do you think I can salvage it? I do have a pressure cooker, so could chunk it up and use it in a stew of sorts.

Advice?

BTW, I've "rescued" foods left in the oven overnight in the past and lived to tell the tale.

[bixaorellana]

I absolutely would not throw it out. I have learned from living here that meat keeps much better than I ever would have thought when un-refrigerated and uncovered.

Here's where I shop on a regular basis and as you say, lived to tell the tale:


I doubt it even needs high heat to make it safe. However, to cover all bases and to get the most of out of such a nice piece of meat, why don't you slice it very thinly first. Then, you could use it in stir-fry -- short cooking time, but high heat, or in a nice sweet&sour soup, or even make a gravy, reheat the sliced meat in that, then pile it on french bread for a good sloppy sandwich.

[Deleted]

Not a problem at all. I learned from my grandmother's primitive kitchen that all sorts of things can remain out as long as it is not a summer heatwave. I leave things out all the time, and I often leave unfinished meat in the oven (trying not to forget that it is there).

However, real bacterial growth is no match for one's imagination, and often people who think they are going to be poisoned will get all of the symptoms if they try to eat something they have doubts about.

[imec]

Funny, I wouldn't be the slightest bit concerned about what you were concerned about - the meat being pink. But I would immediately chuck it in the bin after it sat out overnight. Statistically, I think you'll find that more illness has been contracted from bacterial growth under the conditions you describe than has been caused by trichinosis (the usual justification for vulcanizing pork) in the last 50 years - although, as k and b have pointed out and as you have discovered yourself, it's not guaranteed to make you ill.

In my case, the decision is made easier by the fact that locally, pork loin sells for $2/lb and even pork tenderloin can be regularly found for less than $4/lb - no way I'd risk my health for the price of a beer in a decent bar.

[Kimby]

imec is raining on my parade, since K2 and bixa had given their permission for me to eat this tainted roast. Majority rule. It's the pressure cooker with carrots and potatoes though.

Oughta fry those bugs right out of it. At least kill em. And pork is unlike tomatoes which can get deadly botulism, in which the toxin produced by the bacteria is far worse than the bacteria itself (and can't be deactivated by heat)

[Deleted]

I would eat it sliced cold. When I have a leftover leg of lamb, I can leave it out on the counter (wrapped in foil) for 3 days while I gnaw on it sporadically.

If I had weevils in my flour like some people, I might worry about my kitchen.

[Kimby]

Well, I chunked it up and pressure cooked it with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, thyme and gravy, and lived to tell the tale. Even got compliments on my "accidental stew".

I HAD planned to use it for sandwiches, etc., which is why I wanted to roast it a bit longer to remove the pink. I don't worry about trichinosis, imec, but don't like bloody rare meat of any kind.

[Kimby]

Feb 25, 2010 22:52:37 GMT kerouac2 said:

However, real bacterial growth is no match for one's imagination, and often people who think they are going to be poisoned will get all of the symptoms if they try to eat something they have doubts about.

Yeah, as I was clearing the table I started to feel queasy and light-headed and sweaty.
False alarm. Another hot flash.

[gertie]

This made me think back to all the things that were common in Grandma's kitchen when I was little which people would have a fit about now. Please don't mistake me, Grammy was one of the cleanest people I know, scrubbed her floors on hands and knees every morning. She would also cook a big breakfast - pancakes, bacon, fried eggs and the leftover would sit on the table so us kids could run by and grab if we got hungry on canning days as she couldn't interrupt to cook for us. I still have an odd love for some cold bacon and a fried egg rolled up in a pancake.

Really, to hear people go on, I'm shocked we survived childhood. We used to hunt out the eggs from my great-granny's hens, which she carefully washed under running water and kept on the counter in a big bowl. She didn't like the flavor refrigeration imparted. Same went for butter, in summer she just used a smaller churn and made more often. We also drank "raw" milk straight from the cow. Granny and Grammy did have a thing about cooking pork well done, I remember them taking thin pork chops and frying in a hot iron skillet until the fat was crispy and the meat quite well done. She fried bologna too, as goodness only knows what is in that! haha! Lets see...I also recall feeding the fire under a huge cast iron pot on a tripod gizmo while she stirred the pot and made maple syrup when I was not more than 5. Around that same age I was also set to work scrubbing veg, snapping beans, had a little hoe and rake that were real as well just sized to fit. By ten I was peeling and chopping things for canning and learning to bake bread. At Great-Granny's I also got to haul wood and stoke the fire in the wood cook stove, I was quite put out when Great-Gramps assured me chopping with a darling little hatchet was entirely for boys.

Afraid your pork left in the stove would certainly have been tossed although can't quite imagine Grammy forgetting it in there. Then again, she'd never have tolerated it anything but well done to begin with. She also didn't do crisp cooked veggies, oddly enough. She loved so many raw, one would think she might go for that. She also refused to eat mushrooms as that was a fungus bleh. LOL

[Kimby]

Perhaps some of you thought my recent absence was due to terminal pork poisoning, but we survived the meal just fine. And took the leftovers of the pork stew on our ski trip and ate it again. And survived. It's all gone now.

And I check the oven before going to bed now.

When I think of it.

[bixaorellana]

I am convinced that many people who hate liver and will tell you they swore never to eat it again after leaving home, were subjected to cooked-to-death versions of it. And steak -- there are actual people walking around loose who prefer steak well done.

Kimby ~~ you're back, no doubt with rosy cheeks and legs of steel! And how wonderful that you weren't hoisted by a porky petard.

[Kimby]

Back for a few days, then gone again.
Trying to make the most of the ski season.

Won't be really back until next week.

[lagatta]

Yes, I left a turkey leg out for a few hours and was thinking I should toss it rather than cook it. Finally I braised it, eventually separating the thigh from the drumstick to be sure everything was cooked to the core. I boned the meat later on and made stock with those bones and some chicken stock I'd saved, as well as the braising liquid with some more water. I ate some last night and am still alive.

I thought of Bixa's market, which must have been considerably warmer than my kitchen (which I keep very cool). But I was anxious. It was very good quality poultry, and I didn't want to waste it, but I didn't want to be ill either...

[lagatta]

Well, I haven't died of the toxic turkey yet, and neither has Renzo (they have stronger stomach acids than humans).

[Deleted]

I really don't worry about such things. I still rely on my sense of smell to determine if something has spoiled or not.

[lagatta]

I might have thrown it out in a heatwave. I was in Paris some years back during a heatwave and I did throw out a couple of poultry sausages I'd bought at the Place des Fêtes market; also the fact of being away at home and staying at someone else's flat (lovely little flat in a small street above rue des Pyrénées). The turkey leg smelled fine and still does. But I defnitely broke the food safety rules.

Also very tasty, though not as pretty as this one, since I didn't braise it in the oven. www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/11/red-wine-braised-turkey-legs.html I only have a countertop convection oven: the leg would certainly fit, but I'd need to have a flat braising dish with a lid. And I used white wine, simply because that is what I had on hand, and the juice of a lemon. Braising doesn't require much liquid.

[Kimby]

Well, I've experimented with my and Mr. Kimby's health again! This time with a package of 3-year old ground venison, gifted to me when the lake cottage was new and promptly forgotten in the back of the freezer. Until now.

As it is a "frost-free" freezer, not a deep freeze, it is only recommended to keep meats about 6 months. Strike 1. This is further complicated by the fact that the refrigerator compartment temperature dictates how often the compressor runs, and in the winter we leave the thermostats set at 45 or 50 derees when we aren't there, meaning the freezer doesn't run often enough to stay frozen. Ice cream is soft, and the thermometer is WAY out of the green zone. Strike 2.

The deciding factor was that venison is not ground beef. I reasoned that since it was wild harvested, it probably didn't have all the fecal contamination that factory-farmed hamburger would have. And, it was my last package of wild game meat, so I couldn't bear to toss it.

Made a big pot of chili and, once again, we survived. I'm getting quite brazen now in my attitude toward food safety.

[lagatta]

I had a slight digestive upset today, and thought I might be repurposing and reheating food too much. I was very sad, because it was after eating a "chile" (chilli, chili?) I had made from turkey meat salvaged from making stock and of course vegetables and spices. I don't want to risk being ill, of course, but feel horribly guilty about food waste, and in this case, a waste of my time and energy. I find it very difficult not to prepare too much food (my appetite has decreased considerably; in general a good thing.

[lagatta]

Monkfish (lotte) tail left out of fridge for a few hours. Household heat no longer on; kitchen quite cool. But it has a faint ammonia odour. I'm marinating it in some lime juice, but want to be sure it is safe to eat.

[Kimby]

I was told by the meat/fish counter man that ammonia is the smell fish produces as it decays. Maybe it was past its prime when you bought it?

[tod2]

I would definitely NOT eat fish that has an ammonia stink. That is a sure indication it is off. I have experienced this with Skate Wings. Please don't poison yourself.

[bixaorellana]

The smell was faint, so if the odor is gone after the lime juice & a quick water rinse, and if the texture is okay, I'd go ahead & eat it.

I think sometimes the smell develops because things are wrapped in plastic -- humidity + juices from the outside of the meat or fish = the beginnings of decay, but in a way that can be rinsed off.

[Kimby]

Good luck with that, bixa.

Who shall we notify if you don’t return to the Port?

[bixaorellana]

I have no dead animal food in my house. But it must now be obvious that I've been plotting LaGatta's demise for years.

But seriously, I stand by what I said.

[cheerypeabrain]

I'm a bit paranoid about meat that pongs a bit...but I eat 21 day matured beef. Also I love that Italian ham stuff that's matured over months prosciutto? But I think that's been preserved in spices etc.

I rarely eat fish but when I do it tends to be cod or haddock fillets that have been skinned and boned...or fresh tuna...or swordfish steaks...don't eat fish?! (Ooh and occasionally smoked haddock...) thing is...it invariably smells a bit fishy, especially when I've cooked it. Have to have the fan on, door open and even then everybody moans about the smell...

[lagatta]

Finally, I binned it. Usually I'd take the chance - it had a whiff of ammonia, not a stench, but these days I have nightmares of going to hospital for very benign things and wind up infected with Covid-19. Eating a tapas-dish of tilapia, which is almost tasteless despite red onions, dilute tomato sauce and cilantro. I have little appetite anyway. Will have it for breakfast tomorrow if I don't finish this little portion.

I love fish, but have been eating little fresh of late; mostly just frozen or tinned. With the lockdown, not even much evidence of the snow crab season (in Gaspésie and Acadia). That will also have serious economic consequences for those small communities. Crab and lobster mean kitchen parties...

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/snow-crab-fishing-in-gulf-of-st-lawrence-postponed-due-to-covid-19-crisis-1.5528188

[kerouac2]

Our sense of smell is supposed to be our most useful defence against eating bad food, but it has been modified over the years or we would certainly not eat stinky cheese or fermented herring...

[questa]

We have evolved to have our smelling aparatus directly over our eating aparatus for a good reason. Smell the food...if dodgy give it a good wash to remove any surface tissue breakdown. Pat dry and smell again. If it tends to fall apart in your fingers or still smells off...chuck it.
Pork has a bad reputation no longer valid. Pigs got a parasite growing in them called hydadits (sp) which could transfer from a pig to a person. If you cooked tothe meat was only pink it was dangerous, but if overcooked to blazes the meat was safe to eat but not so tasty. Now of course inspectors check all meats.

[kerouac2]

In the United States we were raised with a terror of trichinosis. For all I know, there is still a danger of that in North America, but in Europe I don't mind eating pork that is still a bit pink and I very much enjoy eating raw bacon. The last time my brother visited, his eyes nearly popped out when he saw me doing that.

[whatagain]

I remember being quite ill after eating scampis that had a faint smell of ammonia...

I love to eat raw sausages but have to hide from my wife when doing so.
Which reminds me i have to let hachis (minced meat pork/beef) defreeze
Thsnks !!! 🤣🤣🤣