I made pasta (rotini) and sauce (separately, thank God) for supper tonight, then promptly left both pots on the stove (which was off) for ten hours, almost literally jumping out of bed to slam them in the fridge when the memory flashed back. I’d even taken away my usual reminder (leaving the kitchen light on) without a second thought. (For the record, I’m nowhere that’s unusually cold right now. Northern hemisphere summer weather, though not particularly hot either.)
The sauce has ground beef and a little sour cream in it, so I’m assuming (unless told otherwise) that it’s a goner. But is there a reason why I couldn’t eat the pasta?
Is there tomato in the sauce? If there is, it’s probably fine (too acid for bacteria to enjoy). The pasta is probably fine, too. I’ve left food out overnight and eaten it the next day without a problem. I wouldn’t put in the fridge for long, though - I’d re-heat it and eat it right away.
featherlou: Both have been the fridge since I remembered. Also, there are at least three servings worth of food among the two. Are you recommending I eat just one and toss the rest?
It’s funny, as I would guess just the opposite—I would think that plain cooked pasta would be no problem, but something with meat and dairy would be where any risk of problems could arise…
I have eaten lots of stuff that has sat out for longer periods, but as I dont eat meat, I am just guessing about your sauce. If you are concerned, it may be best just to get rid of the whole meal; though it always sucks to waste food, getting sick would be much worse.
Cooked pasta? Is there anything blue or green growing on it? It should be fine.
The sauce is probably also fine.
Two questions, colored by my being a guy and not a MD:
The morning after a party have you ever eaten the pizza that was left out? Then you’ve probably been exposed to what might be growing on it. It didn’t kill you then so it probably won’t kill you now.
Was the food in the pot very hot when you last covered them? Condensation off the food quite possibly sealed the lid to the pot and a vacuum developed in the pot. Then you only have to worry about anaerobic bacteria, and a quick smell test will settle that.
Okay, I’ll try not to get into a rant about modern concerns for food safety. Our ancestors didn’t worry about it and some of them lived well into their thirties. I will only refer you to the nursery rhyme, “Pease Porridge Hot.”
Pease porridge hot,
Pease porridge cold,
Pease porridge in the pot,
Nine days old.
Some like it hot,
Some like it cold,
Some like it in the pot,
Covered with mold.
Seriously, just throw the pasta into a pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes to reheat and rehydrate.
Add some water to the sauce and simmer it for about 20 minutes.
I do this kind of stuff all the time, especially in the summer when I have the window AC on and can’t run the microwave because they’re on the same circuit and the breakers are only 15 amps. I cook on the stove and leave stuff out overnight, throw in the fridge in the morning and reheat on the stove the next night. I mean, I just put the whole pot in the fridge in the morning, then take it out and onto the stove that night. Some water almost always needs to be added unless it’s a broth-based soup.
Throw the whole mess out and start over. Do it right this time. You’re out less than ten bucks’ worth of ingredients; as life’s lessons go, that’s one of the cheaper ones.
Well, if you made it for guests whom you fear might sue you, I SUPPOSE you could take the wimp’s way out. But really, how long did your grade school lunches sit out between when they were made and when they were eaten? 7AM to 12PM is five hours, and you didn’t think twice. These are foods that started out hot, were probably well sealed, and in that environment the pasta was probably not exposed to anything that would eat it (and the sniff test will tell) and the sauce was acidic, which slows the growth of bacteria. Cook both well and you’ll kill what cultures got started.
And don’t discount what might’ve started growing. I was at a restaurant with a salad bar and the applesauce had “turned.” Still sweet, but with champagne bubbles dancing on my tongue and a bit of a kick. I went back for seconds, so I’m probably not someone you should listen to.
How does one “cook well” already cooked pasta? And wouldn’t reheating the entire pan of sauce on the stove, then cooling it for more leftovers, just encourage bacteria? I heard that somewhere, but I can’t remember where.
And I just answered my own question, by realizing that the thing I read above was probably referring to leftovers warmed up a little and then left to cool, as opposed to “simmer for 20 minutes” as mentioned above, which is almost like cooking again.
So I’m eating it, and will be for the next two nights after this. I figure if I’m (and you all) are wrong, I’ll know soon enough. At least I’ll know who to send my hospital bills to.
(Though if anyone wants to try to stop me now or encourage me, they’re still free to do so!)
I made pasta last night, and since then half a pot of pasta & sauce has been sitting on my hob, uncovered. I’m at work right now but when I get home tonight I intend to heat it up and eat it and I doubt very much that it will kill me.
I used to share a flat with a guy who did it all the time - add a splash of boiling water to his nasty-looking day (or sometimes two day) old pasta and heat it up - and it never did him any harm, and believe me, back then, our kitchen was not the most sanitary place to be.
If were me I’d toss it. Even if it’s ok 99 times out of 100, the bit of money you save by eating it is going to seem pretty trivial when that 100th time rolls around and your digestive system violently purges itself in the most horrific and energetic manner possible. I wouldn’t risk that kind of misery to get an extra meal or two of pasta.
Can’t food poisoning result literally from poisons excreted by bacteria? If so, cooking the leftovers to kill the bacteria won’t solve the problem of the poisons currently in the food.
Not saying I’ve never eaten leftovers like this, mind you, just a question :).
I’d certainly eat it, but then I like to let my immune system know who it’s working for. I spent close to a year in rural China, and lots of guys who came in from the States for a weekend and lived on Power Bars and bottled water found themselves spending a lot of time in very primitive bathrooms, while I ate food from street vendors and never used any of the Immodium I brought with me. I attributed it to the constant low-level exposure to bacteria I get from eating yesterday’s left out pizza and such.
I think you’ve hit on the key question which the OP has to ask themselves.
Did you spend a key part of your formative years living in houses where the residents’ idea of housework was sweeping the pizza boxes and beer cans into a bin bag every few weeks? If so, you’ll probably be ok?
Were your late teens / early twenties spent living like a human being rather than an animal? In that case you might have an issue or two…
Me, I’d throw it out. But I’m overly cautious (probably waaaay too much) about stuff like that. I hate puking more than almost anything else in the world, so anything I can do to avoid potential pukeworthy situations, I do.
To quote Linus from Peanuts: “I have no desire to be racked up by a bad cheesecake.”
(For the record, I’m nowhere that’s unusually cold right now. Northern hemisphere summer weather, though not particularly hot either.)
But really, how long did your grade school lunches sit out between when they were made and when they were eaten? 7AM to 12PM is five hours, and you didn’t think twice. These are foods that started out hot, were probably well sealed, and in that environment the pasta was probably not exposed to anything that would eat it (and the sniff test will tell) and the sauce was acidic, which slows the growth of bacteria. Cook both well and you’ll kill what cultures got started.
