Mama_Rana Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Ugh ugh ugh!!! I need food advice. Yesterday I cooked a pork roast. After I shredded it, I was supposed to put it back in the crockpot on lo/warm [and it was supposed to cook for the next couple days at that temp]. Well apparently, I forgot to actually push the "start" button, and so it has just been sitting on the counter all night. Now between the ceramic crock and the metal cooker, and the lid, the meat itself is still warm [though I doubt it's at a food-safe temp]. Is it ruined? Do I have to throw it away? I'm so mad I could spit nails. :( DH -- the stomach of iron -- says just heat it up real hot and kill any germs, but it's pork.... :( It was sitting out from about 9:15 last night til 7:30 this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laundrycrisis Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I would not be comfortable with eating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I"m often the odd man out in the "will you eat this" threads because I'll eat lots of things others wouldn't. But this, no. I think it is ruined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I'm so sorry. It's ruined. Meat just cannot stay lukewarm for that many hours without breeding harmful bacteria. BTDT--I know it hurts. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassoonaroo Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 The safe food temps are 40 and below (frig) and 140 and higher (heated). If a food spends more than two hours in this zone in typical house temps (one hour in the heat of summer), then it has had enough time for significant microbial growth. Reheating the roast to well above that temp will kill bacterial but will do no good at all against the toxins that the bacteria produced. And the toxins can make you really sick -- in fact toxins cause more disease than actual bacteria. I gave an illustration in the chicken broth thread. Imagine your food being a nice green yard. Leaving it at room temp too long (or frig temp too long -- as frig's slow things down but don't stop them), dogs (bacteria) get into the yard. Your body can handle just a couple of dogs. Wait too long and there are dogs everywhere in your yard. You can take out your gun (extreme heat) and kill every last dog, but now you have a yard covered in dog poop. The yard is ruined. Toxins ruin the meat in the same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Pitch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama_Rana Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Thanks everyone. That's what I thought too, but DH is hard to convince. I'll share the dog poop analogy. Pitch it. Ok, so the next question is how do I dispose of this crockpot full of meat and greasy broth? I can't put it down the disposal. I guess tomorrow is trash day. Let it cool and then just put the whole thing in the trash? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butterflymommy Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Please throw it away! The fact that it's still warmish is even worse as that is the ideal breeding temp for bacteria. You shouldn't even use the warm setting for more than 4 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GinaPagnato Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Maybe the crockpot is over 10 years old, like mine? Only three settings: WARM, LOW, HIGH. Not high tech, but it's still working, so I can't see a reason to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aludlam Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Maybe the crockpot is over 10 years old, like mine? Only three settings: WARM, LOW, HIGH. Not high tech, but it's still working, so I can't see a reason to upgrade. I bought mine before Christmas at Sam's -- it only has warm, low and high too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I frankly wish I had an older model. The new ones just boil the heck out of things. I can't follow these recipes that say let it cook for 10 hours. It is beyond done after 5. It would be completely useless if I wanted to use it when I had to be out for the day. This is why I still hang on to my old crockpot--I'm afraid of overcooking the food with a new one. Mine doesn't even have a warm setting, just off, low, high. To the OP: Drain the broth and dump the meat in a separate trashbag. Better if you can add newspapers to soak up the extra broth. Since your trash pick up is tomorrow you can just throw it in the bin, but if it was going to be a couple days I'd throw the bag in the freezer until pick up day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I frankly wish I had an older model. The new ones just boil the heck out of things. I can't follow these recipes that say let it cook for 10 hours. It is beyond done after 5. It would be completely useless if I wanted to use it when I had to be out for the day. Mine too. It takes chicken breasts from raw to thoroughly cooked in under 2 hours on LOW. OP, I agree with the others about throwing it out. Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama_Rana Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 Maybe the crockpot is over 10 years old, like mine? Only three settings: WARM, LOW, HIGH. Not high tech, but it's still working, so I can't see a reason to upgrade. Mine is .... hmmm, probably around 10? I'm not sure. It has a digital display, a count-down timer, and also will count-up if you just turn it on so you know how long it's been cooking. It has "keep warm", low, medium, & high. I love it, except it's huge. I'm letting the meat finish cooling off before doing anything with it. So sad. Luckily it was on sale for half-price. *sigh* I suppose I could back and see if they have more on sale, but it won't be done by Thursday like I'd hoped. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatmansWife Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Oh, I feel your pain. What a shame. :crying: I'm curious about your recipe that cooks the shredded meat on low for several days. Is it some kind of BBQ recipe? Do share....if you're feeling up to it, that is. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amey311 Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I frankly wish I had an older model. The new ones just boil the heck out of things. I can't follow these recipes that say let it cook for 10 hours. It is beyond done after 5. It would be completely useless if I wanted to use it when I had to be out for the day. I saw a suggestion once of putting one of two clean tuna cans in the bottom of the outer bit so the crock/liner thing is up off the bottom some, but the whole thing still gets hot. that was recommended if you want to make oatmeal in the crockpot, but the bottom keeps burning regardless of setting. The sides of the outer bit should still get hot, and there may be some heat transfer via the cans, but it won't be the same as the direct contact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama_Rana Posted February 13, 2012 Author Share Posted February 13, 2012 I'm curious about your recipe that cooks the shredded meat on low for several days. Is it some kind of BBQ recipe? Do share....if you're feeling up to it, that is. :001_smile: Can you see this link: http://www.pepperplate.com/recipes/view.aspx?id=910650 I've never made it; it's my SILs recipe. This was going to be my first time. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotAVampireLvr Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 yeah no - there are a lot of things I will eat, but that wouldn't be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I frankly wish I had an older model. The new ones just boil the heck out of things. I can't follow these recipes that say let it cook for 10 hours. It is beyond done after 5. It would be completely useless if I wanted to use it when I had to be out for the day. :iagree: I can't leave mine all day. No way. Frustrating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I frankly wish I had an older model. The new ones just boil the heck out of things. I can't follow these recipes that say let it cook for 10 hours. It is beyond done after 5. It would be completely useless if I wanted to use it when I had to be out for the day. My Rival cooked like this. It was ridiculous. I got this Hamilton Beach and I love it. It cooks like it's supposed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shellers Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Toss it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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