Maybe I should, if people think it means I will eat poison.
Lamb is nasty. I’d toss it for that reason.
Thems fight’n words!
One night is fine, especially if it’s not sweltering hot. But eat it all; don’t save leftovers in the fridge, at least, not for more than one additional day.
I make this mistake all too often. I’m very glad it’s not an issue, and that it doesn’t make me sick.
Selection bias would be an issue if it was an all-or-nothing thing (either you’re fine, or you die). In reality, you can get a nasty case of food poisoning and live to learn a lesson. (I have, and I won’t ever do what I did to get it! Sickest I ever got.)
Unless you see bugs floating in it from the lid being off, my advice is unchanged. I’d eat it.
No one should listen to anything you say ever on account of having such a stupid opinion on lamb. Lamb is delicious.
And the OP should eat the stew. It’s fine.
I’d eat it. What time is dinner? 
I’d have already invited myself over if you hadn’t mentioned adding mushrooms.
Lid on or off, it’s safe to eat. Eat it and love it!
Personally, I’d make sure the damn thing was at a boil for 10-15 minutes again before I ate it.
Got food poisoning from soup that had been refrigerated the entire time, it was just a few days old and the guy reheating it didn’t get it to a boil. We were both down for two full days. And that was without meat being involved (squash soup).
Were you thinking botulism?
Just to reiterate, we are talking five hours here. Do people really never take lunch to work and eat it five hours after preparation? I do. Food doesn’t magically become toxic if it’s not in a refrigerator at all times. If it did then the human race would have died out long before Nathaniel Frigidaire first invented ice in 1920.
[citation needed]
I agree, 5 hours is not a long time - but food can become toxic without magic.
Under the right conditions, bacteria can double in number every half hour. It’s possible, but not extremely likely that in 5 hours, food left uncovered and unrefrigerated could become dangerous to eat.
Before the introduction of refrigeration, people generally stored food differently anyway, so that’s not a fair comparison.
I’d probably have regretfully thrown the food away - 5 hours is not a very long time, but as it was uncovered, the risk increases a little.
I stand by my previous post though. I can’t think of any other topic where the advice commonly given is as frequently bad as it is in these ‘is this safe to eat?’ threads.
Bizarrely, I plucked the name Nathaniel out of thin air at random, but check this out:
Spooky powers, long-forgotten factoid or odd coincidence? :eek:
Did you say lamb bourguignon? I wouldn’t risk it, were I you.
However, I am not you, I am me, and I am willing to take the dire risk of horrible stomach discomfort in order to ensure your dish is safe.
I’ll be right over.
Lamb bourgignon? Don’t risk it!
PM me and tell me where I can pick it up and I will safely dispose of it for you for a nominal fee. I make this offer out a deep concern for your safety.
GAH! Ninjaed!
Lamb; I’d skim the bugs off the surface, reheat-n-eat.
Give it a nose test (our sense of smell has had quite a while to be refined enough to detect bad food) and then, if it smells okay and there is no visual ickiness (bugs, strange discoloration, etc), heat it up real good so it’s bubbling away for a good 10 minutes to make sure.
I’m assuming it is actually acidic; if not then throw it or make it acidic.
Most of this advice is false.