Chicken left in the oven all night

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Knew I forgot to do SOMETHING last night.

Do I have a deliciously seasoned (garlic and rosemary) chicken anymore, or just another bag of garbage and another pan to clean?

I cooked it for several hours last night, shut the oven off around 11, and woke up this morning at 7, realizing what I forgot to do. I’m thinking that pre-refrigeration days, people would have considered this SOP maybe, but maybe, too, a lot of people got sick in those days.

What’s the collective wisdom of the SDMB say? Am I foolish to pitch it, or foolish to eat it?

Damn, that rosemary and garlic smell is tempting!

2

I’d toss it. Chicken is cheap compared to Dr bills.

3

You’re obviously safest by tossing it. However, I do this all the time, and have never gotten sick. I’d be willing to bet that you’d be okay eating it.

4

After being in the oven for so long, I’d think only “coal” is left. In any case, all the black burned spots are cancerogen, so I’d put it in the trash. On the bright side, you won’t forget things in the oven again, I am sure (I guess everyone has to do that once) :slight_smile:

5

I’m thinking, A) I wouldn’t risk it, even though it may be safe, because that’s an ideal environment for any bacteria that weren’t killed by the initial cooking to reproduce like mad, and B) if you cooked it for “several hours”, last night, it’s probably way overcooked, anyway.

Chicken normally only takes an hour to an hour and a half. Unless this is some really low temperature recipe, but chicken doesn’t benefit from slow cooking, unlike some tough cuts of beef and pork.

6

Nah, it was a huge bird, a BIG ovenstuffer, that I cooked for two hours at a fairly low heat, then turned up the temp briefly to crisp it up, and then shut the oven off. Usually, I let it cool off for an hour or so in the oven, and it comes out terrific.

I’m probably going to pitch it (it was supposed to be my lunch at least three days this week) but I’m mostly curious about the level of risk involved in deciding otherwise. As I mentioned above, before we had refrigeration, I suspect that meat always got cooked and then was left around at room tempertature for hours afterwards–I don’t think the idea of “leftovers” began after the invention of refrigeration.

So are we just fussbudgets these days or especially astute at avoiding needless food poisoning?

Oh and Optihut: I remembered to shut the oven OFF–I just forgot about putting the chicken in the fridge after it had cooled.

7

Risk it! Risk it!

8

Snooooopy–Can you make it here for lunch? I’m serving carrots, potatoes and mushrooms on the side.

9

I’m unbearably cheap, so I’d still eat it, but only reheated. (Not in a cold sammich or something. For some reason I have it in my head that microwaving the hell out of something will kill any bacteria, but that might just be in sponges.)

10

I don’t think it would hurt you, but it’s probably all dried out by now. Shit. My husband eats things that I wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole. And he hasn’t puked since he was in 'Nam.

11

I think it depends what sort of thing you’re used to eating. I quite firmly believe that we build up tolerances to some bacteria and that if you’re used to eating things which may be risky (pizza that’s been left out, or food that’s only a day or two over its Best Before date), then it shouldn’t do you any harm. However, if you’re very strict about hygeine then your body will not tolerate the bacteria so well. Your call.

12

i’d eat it. heck, you close to the DC area? invite ME to lunch!
seriously, i’ve left cooked meats on top of the stove overnight. (wanted to let them cool before refrigerating, then forgot about them.) we’ve never died from eating it anyway.
and yes, modern people are waaaay too fussy about their food nowadays. i had to laugh a bit at the episode of Manor House, when the Upstairs folks got put off when the cook prepared roasted pork cheek. (although i’ll have to admit, even after having read many a light historical romance-era novel, i never realized said dish was served in the form of the entire cooked pig’s head.) but why he should be bothered by it “staring him down”, when people eat roasted suckling pig or whole-pig barbeques… eh well. wimp.

my theory is, if you keep your system on its toes by eating things when they’re hovering on the edge of keep-ables, you keep it stronger against sudden attacks of REAL food poisoning. YMMV, of course.

13

Don’t do it!

Don’t let any cooked food, meat or poultry remain in the danger zone – between 40 °F and 140 °F – for more than 2 hours.

14

Risk it, at least long enough to taste it to see if it’s still any good. I’ve eaten chicken left on the counter overnight. I’m still here.

15

Sheesh every few months these threads come up.
Bacterial contamination: A primer.

Bacteria is heavier than air. Which means if there is a biologically impermable barrier around the food then bacteria can’t enter and start to grow.

Obviously an over falls into the catagory :smiley:

So, one can probably assume not much in the way of bacteria has landed on the bird since you LAST OPENED THE OVEN. → key part.

Temperature over 212 F will kill 100% of bacteria dead.

Temperatures of over 160 F will take out the vast majority of bacteria harmfull to humans. I can think of several that will still be dangerous, mainly endotoxins and a few sporing type bacteria.

Basically, once the oven cooled under 160F no more bacteria were getting killed. So if you took the bird out, carved it up and left it on the table while everyone was eating then put it back in a slightly cooled oven all of the bacteria accumilated on the bird had a nice slightly warm, moist enviroment to grow in.

Typically room temp is around 23C – 71 F? is a great condition to grow bacteria, sure it’s slower growth than at 37C but it’s still quite a lot.

I wouldn’t eat the bird.

However I should point out: That when I make gumbo and when I get ready to store it I’ll cover the pot, bring the gumbo to a boil then pull it off the burner and let it cool for an hour or two then put it in the fridge.

In theory that should kill all the bacteria the accumilated in the pot since I started eating (and removed the lid) now there shouldn’t be any living bacteria inside to grow while it cools then I can stick it in the fridge.

However if you were to remove the lid, you are again exposing the food to contamination.

Bacterial grown isn’t stopped in a fridge, mearly slowed. You’ll still get proliferation but at a rate slow enough to allow for several days of storage without reaching dangerous levels.

16

Well, since prr never opened the oven after the cooking, there shouldn’t be any bacteria left alive, right?

I’d eat the sucker, no hesitation.

17

If the oven was never open then it makes sense that there should be no bacterial contamination.

However I’m not responsible if you eat some bacteria that colonize in your brain and lead you on a 15 state psychotic killing spree.

18

I’d probably eat it. But most people would be appalled to find out what I don’t refrigerate and then eat.