Another "Is this meat okay to eat" thread...


 
JeffB

JeffB

TVWBB Pro
I understand the danger zone is > 40*F for 4+ hours. We bought a new fridge and had it delivered and installed yesterday. Overnight while the new unit cooled we stored our fridge contents in an ice chest (from about 3:30pm until 6:30am), with some ice poured over the top of the food.

This morning, I went to put food back into the fridge and my leftover ham tested at about 45* with my Thermopen. No telling how long it had been > 40*. This is one of those Honeybaked hams that come cooked and you just heat and serve.

Query - Think it's safe to eat? What about leftover ground beef / sausage pizza at 45.6*? :confused:

I realize these are just opinions, but I'm curious what y'all think.

Thanks, :cool:
jb
 
Going over 40 degrees does not mean the food is instantly bad, otherwise we wouldn't cook food. What it does do is shorten the shelf life of the food, and how much it gets shortened is determined by how much over 40 degrees it gets and how long it is over 40 degrees. Without being able to actually see the food I'm just guessing but if the food still looks and smells ok, it probably is still ok. But again, the shelf life has been shortened. Meats start to sweat and get slippery as they go bad. I'd say your food is ok for now but won't last near as long as it would have if kept under 40 degrees. Anything that can't be used right away will be at risk. You may be able to save some of it if you can cook it right away and then freeze it for use later.
 
Steve Porter said:
<snip> but if the food still looks and smells ok, it probably is still ok. <snip> Meats start to sweat and get slippery as they go bad. I'd say your food is ok for now but won't last near as long as it would have if kept under 40 degrees. Anything that can't be used right away will be at risk. You may be able to save some of it if you can cook it right away and then freeze it for use later.
Click to expand...

One thing I've picked up from K Kruger's food safety threads is that before the meat is cooked, there is plenty of bacteria to out-compete the pathogens, so while the meat might turn slimy or smell, it'd be safe to eat once cooked (pasteurized).

Food that's already cooked doesn't have the spoilage bacteria, and the pathogens may or may not look or smell bad so you can't tell by appearance or smell anymore.

If it was mine, I'd make a final meal of the ham, toss what didn't get eaten fairly quickly because
 
JeffB said:
I understand the danger zone is > 40*F for 4+ hours. We bought a new fridge and had it delivered and installed yesterday. Overnight while the new unit cooled we stored our fridge contents in an ice chest (from about 3:30pm until 6:30am), with some ice poured over the top of the food.

This morning, I went to put food back into the fridge and my leftover ham tested at about 45* with my Thermopen. No telling how long it had been > 40*. This is one of those Honeybaked hams that come cooked and you just heat and serve.

Query - Think it's safe to eat? What about leftover ground beef / sausage pizza at 45.6*? :confused:

I realize these are just opinions, but I'm curious what y'all think.

Thanks, :cool:
jb
Click to expand...

The real issue is are you going to heat what you are going to eat to at least 160 degrees. If the answer is yes and and keep it at that temperature for a while, the food will be safe to eat. However I suspect that the ham should be OK; it's the other food that you need to really worry about.

After running around in the places where food was unsafe, I learned one thing and was never sick. If what I was eating was deep fat fried, I wouldn't be hurt. So, I ate a lot of really good tasting food and never got sick.
 
Barry LaZar said:
The real issue is are you going to heat what you are going to eat to at least 160 degrees. If the answer is yes and and keep it at that temperature for a while, the food will be safe to eat. However I suspect that the ham should be OK; it's the other food that you need to really worry about.

After running around in the places where food was unsafe, I learned one thing and was never sick. If what I was eating was deep fat fried, I wouldn't be hurt. So, I ate a lot of really good tasting food and never got sick.
Click to expand...

It's a complicated issue that I know very little about, but I was surprised when my dad's friend's wife died from food poisoning several years back. I've paid a little more attention to food safety since then.

http://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?5514-Food-safety-question&p=155042&viewfull=1#post155042

"beware of meat twice boiled, and an old foe reconciled"

-Benjamin Franklin
 
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