left cooked meatballs out

[night bite]

Last night I cooked meatballs and gravy. Finished them around 10 and left them out on the stove to cool and forgot about them till 4 this morning. Wondering if they are ok to eat.

[goblueM]

6 hours? meh... probably fine. i've eaten worse and never had an issue...

[night bite]

That's what I was thinking but I looked on line and they make sound bad

[highlife4me]

Wash them down with a few brewskis and all will be fine. If you were to put a big pot of real warm leftovers in the fridge,how long do you think it would take to cool the entire contents to 35 - 40? Six hours sounds fine to me.

[BrandonJ]

Might make a mean stink bait.

[pushbutton]

That's what I was thinking but I looked on line and they make sound bad

Always used to pu pu that advice as well....until the one time i got a really bad case of food poisoning. Not fun. Waves of: violent expulsion, heart racing, trouble breathing, sweats, stomach cramping, dehydration beyond belief, death seemed like a decent alternative.....that being said, if you do eat them, you will probably be fine

[SkunkedAgain]

Yup, like most things it's that 1 in a 100 situation where it will not be pleasant. I wouldn't feed those meatballs to the young or old, but if you're between 15 and 55, go for it!

That being said, I remember finding some leftover pizza in the trash closet in my college dorm. Who knows how many days it had been there but I was hungry and poor. I'm still here to tell the story, along with a zillion others.

[waskawood]

Give a couple to your wife. If she is ok after 12 hours you are good to go. Don't try this if she is pregnant. On second thought DON'T. I was kidding. A guy has to put a disclaimer on everything these days.

[pureinsanity]

Reheat em good, youll be fine

thank god for microwaves!

[Mrs Boilerman]

Sort of similar question: Yesterday I was peeling potatoes and preparing a roast to put in the oven when my fire pager went off. I bolted out the door and was gone for almost four hours. Left the raw roast sitting on the counter the whole time. Ended up boiling up some hotdogs for a quick supper by the time I got home exhausted and smelling like a bonfire.

Now I'm wondering if I should cook the roast or toss it. I had piled a bunch of potatoes on top of it as I was peeling, and it all felt slightly cool to the touch when I got home.

Any thoughts?

[Jim Almquist]

I would have put the roast in a crock pot and cooked it up. I always let my steaks sit out for at least 2 hours and I have gone as long as 4 before I will cook. Makes for a much tastier steak.

[Surface Tension]

Cook the roast.

I'd thoroughly heat the meat balls up and eat them.

[Mrs Boilerman]

I did cook the roast and it was fine. Really good, actually. Thanks for the input

[pureinsanity]

Aged roast is always good

[goblueM]

Sort of similar question: Yesterday I was peeling potatoes and preparing a roast to put in the oven when my fire pager went off. I bolted out the door and was gone for almost four hours. Left the raw roast sitting on the counter the whole time. Ended up boiling up some hotdogs for a quick supper by the time I got home exhausted and smelling like a bonfire.

Now I'm wondering if I should cook the roast or toss it. I had piled a bunch of potatoes on top of it as I was peeling, and it all felt slightly cool to the touch when I got home.

Any thoughts?

its totally fine, go ahead and cook it. 4 hours is nothing, especially if it was still cool to the touch

edit oops just saw you already cooked it. glad it was good and you suffered no ill effects

[Harmonica Bear]

Personally I wouldn't bat an eye at the meatballs or the roast. Rehaet temp thru to 160+ and should be just fine.

[deerminator]

Did you both live? I would think you would be fine in either case. It's a slam dunk on the roast that it would be fine. Many chefs will encourage you leave meat like that out for an hour or so anyway to bring it up to room temp before cooking so it cooks evenly. I almost always pull my grilling meat out of the fridge for at least half an hour for such reasons.

One thing I will note is that nothing presents a more fruitful breeding ground for bacteria than cooked meat juice of any kind(broths, soups, au jus)that is not cooled quickly and properly. I learned this during "food safety school" with "Dr. Death," as we called him during training at a restaurant I worked in the kitchen at in college. He was a PhD in some sort of food science field. His teachings were disgusting and left an impression on me.

He also taught us that if food has bacteria, you can cook the heck out of it and kill it, but the dead bacteria remains and will impact the eater, though not as terribly as it would have if the bacteria was living. That undercooked chicken and pork were no more dangerous than undercooked beef. That plastic cutting boards were no more sanitary than wood and often less so and so on.

To this day, I am a stickler about food safety and err on the side of caution because of this experience.

That said, my mom once left a ham in the trunk of her car for two weeks in April before easter. She cooked it and told us afterward and we're all still here. lol

[reinhard1]

yea, i took a simmiliar course or maby the same. i still have my training book. its called Professional Food Manager Certification Training. actualy some of the bacteria and handling of foods i put in the Food Preperation thread here in this forum. being in the buisness so long you tend to be more carefull in food preperation like you said. there are some nasty bacteria out there. good luck.

[Jim Uran]

That said, my mom once left a ham in the trunk of her car for two weeks in April before easter. She cooked it and told us afterward and we're all still here. lol

HAHAHHA!! That made me laugh, good stuff.

And I would have hammered them meatballs down for an early 4am breakfast!!