Is dinner ruined?

[rationull]

The wife and I planned to make a roast for dinner today and a couple days of leftovers in the slow cooker. We've done this before -- set everything up in the morning and cook on low for 8 or 9 hours and by the time we're home from work it's ready to eat.

Apparently today the slow cooker decided to malfunction (probably the switch is going bad). When my wife got home she found the food sitting in there, not cooking because the thing wasn't hot. It had been around 6 hours since she started it.

My question: we turned it on high and it seems to be working fine now. It should take around 4 hours to cook on that setting, and I figure we can just finish cooking the stuff and put it in the fridge to eat the whole thing as leftovers. But, I'm not sure it's safe - specifically the beef. Would sitting in the cooker, not cooking, for 6 hours have spoiled it despite its subsequent cooking? In case it matters, it was partially cooked (browned on the outside) in a skillet before going into the slow cooker this morning.

I'd hate to throw it out because the meat wasn't exactly cheap, but it's not worth food poisoning!

 

[dgee]

was it warm in the house? cali reminds me of scourching heat


eh better safe than sorry

 

[Pablo]

How cold were the meat and veggies to start? Wine or beer as liquid?

Edit - I missed the browning part.....that actually scares me...warmed a bit then over 6 hours.

Hmmmmmmmmm ah, if it smells OK eat it. There was a you tube or something of a guy eating roadkill.

 

[SuperDave456]

Just make sure everything is COOKED.
The high temps should kill off anything that was growing in there.
4 hours in a croc pot on high should do it. I wouldn't worry about it after that.

I ate all kinds of questionable stuff in college. If it is cooked throughout then you are good.

I have gotten more food poisoning from fast food restaurants than anything else. Never gotten it from my own cooking.

 

[greenaccord02]

As people have said, make sure it's cooked all the way. You might chase it with a couple shots of whiskey to make sure all the nasty germs get dealt with.

 

[oilboy123]

My Dad has tried to teach us kids how far you can push the envelope on proper food handling over the years. He would check it out smell it real good and go for it.

Yep I trust my Dad or myself more than the unseen horrors in restaurants all over the USA. I think if we saw what really goes on in a lot of restaurants half of them would be shut down.

 

[HTSS_TR]

If you are afraid of food poisoning, I'll stop by to pick it up.

Kidding aside, I'd done it a few times the last few years without any problem.

 

[crazyoildude]

Personally i would never leave the house with something cooking i even unplug things before i leave..
I have a dishwasher that started smoking and then made a loud pop and i saw sparks..I happened to be in the kitchen at the time and the dishwasher was not even on, it did trip the breaker but i did see a spark

 

[rationull]

It was definitely < 70 deg in the house all day. Wine as liquid. We'll make sure it's cooked all the way.

Sounds like nothing to worry about too much. I have a strong stomach anyway from years of eating too much fast food

 

[tomcat27]

our state laws for food handling specify that nothing should remain in the range of 35-140 degrees for more than 4 hours.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: SuperDave456

I ate all kinds of questionable stuff in college. If it is cooked throughout then you are good.


+1

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
our state laws for food handling specify that nothing should remain in the range of 35-140 degrees for more than 4 hours.

Well, there is a difference between egg salad and a roast...

 

[mcrn]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: tomcat27
our state laws for food handling specify that nothing should remain in the range of 35-140 degrees for more than 4 hours.

Well, there is a difference between egg salad and a roast...


Not for laws. I used to go to school to be a chef and that would be illegal to serve no matter how hot you got it to kill anything that grew. I would pass. Could be fine but if and its probably a somewhat big if you did get sick it would not seem worth it at all.

 

[rationull]

Unfortunately we didn't end up eating it. The meat was probably fine but it turns out going straight from the crock pot to the fridge wasn't a great idea. There was a thick layer of congealed ??? all over everything that looked like cheddar cheese. Probably grease and fat from the meat. It was pretty gross.

Bummer, but it wasn't worth the risk.

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: rationull
Unfortunately we didn't end up eating it. The meat was probably fine but it turns out going straight from the crock pot to the fridge wasn't a great idea. There was a thick layer of congealed ??? all over everything that looked like cheddar cheese. Probably grease and fat from the meat. It was pretty gross.

Bummer, but it wasn't worth the risk.


Pretty normal, most people decant the cooking liquid and separate the fat while liquid. The jelled portion is proteins, as in jello.

 

[Papa Bear]

Well ???.. how did it turn out?

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Well ???.. how did it turn out?


See my last post above

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: rationull
Unfortunately we didn't end up eating it. The meat was probably fine but it turns out going straight from the crock pot to the fridge wasn't a great idea. There was a thick layer of congealed ??? all over everything that looked like cheddar cheese. Probably grease and fat from the meat. It was pretty gross.

Bummer, but it wasn't worth the risk.


Pretty normal, most people decant the cooking liquid and separate the fat while liquid. The jelled portion is proteins, as in jello.


I figured as much but we didn't have the foresight to do that unfortunately.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: rationull
It had been around 6 hours since she started it.


6 hours is nothing compared to the nefarious journey it took to get to your house to begin with.

 

[mcrn]

But hopefully during that time it was in a temp controlled environment. Just so people know there are some things that grow that the temp that we cook our food to does not necessarily kill.