would you eat this....meat left out on the countertop

[ProudGrandma]

I pulled a package of pork cutlets out of the freezer this morning and left them on the countertop.  My hubby was supposed to put them in the fridge this afternoon, but forgot.  When I went to prepare them, one of the pieces was cool to the touch, but the other ones weren't...just warm...the temp inside my house today is about 68...so it's not super warm....I have them in the oven now...are they ok to feed my family???

[Starr]

When we were kids we always left meat out on the counter to thaw all day. Some will say okay others will say no. :D

[Slartibartfast]

I would serve them.

[xixstar]

They would get eaten in this house. admittedly we are far more adventurous (reckless ?) than everyone else I know. ;)

[justamouse]

With all of the crazy, divisive posts here on the chat board, These "would you eat this" threads are my long standing returing favorites. 

 

[mamaraby]

I wouldn't, but I really hate throwing up and other kids of gi distress. It would pain me to throw the food out, but for me, it just wouldn't be worth the risk.

[Heatherwith4]

We would eat it here.

[Chelli]

I thaw meat on the counter all the time. If I try to thaw in the fridge it takes FOREVER! Like days. Counter is preferred here.

 

Enjoy!

[Annie G]

We would eat it. 

 

[Moxie]

Won't cooking it kill anything that might make you sick? I thought most food poisoning was from undercooked food??

[kiana]

I would cook them thoroughly and eat them without a qualm. 

[bolt.]

I'd eat them. No issue at all.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I thaw meat on the counter all the time. If I try to thaw in the fridge it takes FOREVER! Like days. Counter is preferred here.

 

Enjoy!

 

I do the same.  Always have. It does take days to thaw in my fridge too.

[Orthodox6]

Not safe to eat as I understand from the county extension websites.

[Goldilocks]

Yes.

[texasmama]

Well, I don't eat pork, but if I did, I would eat it.

[ProudGrandma]

well, we just ate it...I cooked it well...thanks.

[katilac]

I would totally cook them. What you described is basically my go-to method for thawing meat. 

[Ewe Mama]

I hope your meal was tasty!

 

(I was going to vote to eat it, but was too late.). :D

[Tanaqui]

Won't cooking it kill anything that might make you sick? I thought most food poisoning was from undercooked food??

 

It would kill the bacteria (or parasites, or whatnot), yes. It wouldn't destroy any harmful byproducts they had produced while growing and breeding on the thawed meat.

 

[Catwoman]

With all of the crazy, divisive posts here on the chat board, These "would you eat this" threads are my long standing returing favorites. 

 

 

 

:iagree: :iagree: :iagree:

[Trilliums]

That is how my mom thawed meat.  She always wanted to cook meat at room temperature--especially port and beef.  I think this is a Julia Child thing, no?

[cjzimmer1]

Another I'd eat it.  I thaw all my meat on the counter (or if I'm in a hurry in a bucket of HOT water),  I've had food poisoning once and it was from a restaurant.  My food at home doesn't worry me at all.

[Just Kate]

Just to throw in my two cents...I wouldn't eat meat that had sat out all day. I know many of us grew up with food thawed this way, but I also grew up not wearing a seatbelt, yet I believe that I should wear one when in in a car today. Meat that has thawed on the counter just creeps me out.

[MomtoCandJ]

It would be eaten here, my meat also is thawed on the counter

[LibraryLover]

Meat should be room temperature before cooking, anyway. I see you ate. Please report back that you are all perfectly fine. :)

[Katy]

Um, a plastic laminate counter top I'd eat it.  On my granite, which thaws the thickest of roasts in less than two hours, I'd toss it.  I'm wondering how the opinion splits based on who has what counter.

[DawnM]

YUP, I would eat it.

[KungFuPanda]

I thawed meat on the counter today. I just can't always plan 2 1/2 days ahead. Does anyone actually get meat to thaw in their fridge overnight?

[Seasider]

well, we just ate it...I cooked it well...thanks.

Come back tomorrow and tell us how your evening went!

[ProudGrandma]

So far...so good. It is a granite countertop....and now I am freaking our...a little bit....nothing I do now....guess we will just wait and see. Thanks guys!!

[El...]

Wait a minute.  It makes a difference what kind of countertop it was on?  Does granite have a different room temp?  I've never had anything but laminate or ceramic tile.

[fraidycat]

I always thaw meat on the counter or in the sink. I'd definitely eat it.

[Mergath]

Just to throw in my two cents...I wouldn't eat meat that had sat out all day. I know many of us grew up with food thawed this way, but I also grew up not wearing a seatbelt, yet I believe that I should wear one when in in a car today. Meat that has thawed on the counter just creeps me out.

 

I always thaw meat that way and we've never once gotten sick from it.  I don't think it's quite as dangerous as driving without a seatbelt. ;)

[LucyStoner]

Not safe to eat as I understand from the county extension websites.

That advice is exceedingly cautious. Most people defrost their meat on the counter and have lived to tell the tale without illness. I also bring most meat to room temp intentionally before cooking.

[kitten18]

No, the food science classes I took in college scared the heck out of me.

[ProudGrandma]

We are all fine here...everyone is awake, except my daughter....so, I guess that is the good news I wanted to hear. Thanks everyone.

[strange_girl]

I always thaw meat on the counter...I've never actually heard of trying to thaw it in the fridge. Must take forever!

[flyingiguana]

For the future -- Just cook it to the recommended internal temperature and you should be fine.  This is why we have a meat thermometer.  (And thoroughly clean all contaminated surfaces and utensils)

 

I don't exactly trust that anyone else in the supply chain kept the meat cold either (or that there aren't parasites/bacteria in the meat).  So we just cook it good and don't worry about it.

 

I thaw stuff like that all the time.  My husband the microbiologist doesn't bat an eye.  And he worries about everything in our food -- wants to sterilize the kitchen after every meat meal.

 

Now if you're planning on rare hamburgers, I'd probably give different advice (actually, I just wouldn't do rare hamburgers).

[flyingiguana]

I thawed meat on the counter today. I just can't always plan 2 1/2 days ahead. Does anyone actually get meat to thaw in their fridge overnight?

 

If they did, their fridge temp is probably set way too high and they've got other food poisoning potential that's a lot more serious.

 

[Just Kate]

So most people really thaw meat on the counter??? I honestly thought that it was a huge No No to do it this way. But I will agree that it takes forever to thaw in the refrigerator.

 

Off to research this. My hubby will be thrilled if I start doing this! He's always rolled his eyes at my "thaw in the fridge" stance. I really thought I was doing the right thing. Hmm...

[kiana]

So most people really thaw meat on the counter??? I honestly thought that it was a huge No No to do it this way. But I will agree that it takes forever to thaw in the refrigerator.

 

Off to research this. My hubby will be thrilled if I start doing this! He's always rolled his eyes at my "thaw in the fridge" stance. I really thought I was doing the right thing. Hmm...

 

Food safety authorities definitely say you should not thaw it on the counter.

 

Many people have done so for years with no ill effects. 

[5of5]

So most people really thaw meat on the counter??? I honestly thought that it was a huge No No to do it this way. But I will agree that it takes forever to thaw in the refrigerator.

 

Off to research this. My hubby will be thrilled if I start doing this! He's always rolled his eyes at my "thaw in the fridge" stance. I really thought I was doing the right thing. Hmm...

 

I think it depends on how long it takes to thaw (e.g., a steak versus a turkey).

 

As a PP said, cooking isn't always a panacea because of the toxins that can be produced.

[texasmama]

I most often thaw on the counter.  Two days ago, I put out a six pound package of chicken breasts to thaw all day and it was still partially frozen that evening so I put it in the fridge to finish thawing.

[ThisIsTheDay]

We thaw meat on the counter all of the time .Whole turkey/chicken, or roasts would be an exception.

 

But I like to live dangerously. I make mayonnaise with raw egg, dare to eat cookie dough, and love hamburgers cooked rare, at home or in restaurants.

 

My husband left a pot of homemade soup out in our screened porch the other day and planned to serve it for dinner the next night.  It only dropped into the 40s that night, was 68 degrees the following day, and the room faces south.  I told him absolutely not, under any circumstances, was anyone going to eat THAT soup.

 

As for those government "food safety experts," I group them along with the officials who recommend everyone get flu shots, change the RDA every couple of years, and are pushing to switch to Common Core.  At this point, my best bet is to go against anything they say.

[flyingiguana]

Actually, I thaw in the sink. If there is raw meat on the outside of the package I'd rather have it in the sink than on the counter. It's less likely to contaminate things because I clean the sink more thoroughly and generally never put anything IN the sink that I intend to eat uncooked.

 

But I don't generally leave meat out for hours after it's thawed. That might start to concern me. If I did though, I figure cooking it well would be enough to deal with things.)

 

I've been told that people in England would routinely leave their meat out on a marble slab. That was supposed to keep it cold enough. But I was also told that houses in England tended to be a lot colder than in the US (where I am). And pantries the coldest of all.

[flyingiguana]

Interesting article in the NY times about this topic: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/dining/bending-the-rules-on-bacteria-and-food-safety.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

Boiling for 10 minutes (?) doesn't only kill the bacteria, it also inactivates at least the botulinum toxin.

 

Further down in the article is the really scary stuff -- rice that sits out. There's a bacteria that grows in rice that's pretty deadly.

 

eta: although this page says it may cause a mild illness: http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/can-reheating-rice-cause-food-poisoning.aspx?CategoryID=51

 

Hmm, the web isn't really helping me much here

 

Logically, it seems cooking should denature the toxins if they're proteins, so they wouldn't be a problem any more. But this is not a question I'm comfortable answering with logic. I'd rather have data.

[Katy]

I think the granite must be more...  what's the word?  Thermoconductive?  I think it holds the room temperature better than plastic, so it thaws meat faster.

 

But now that I think it over, I think when butchers age meat, they do it at room temperature.  I could be wrong. But given that, I wouldn't worry about it being thawed out too long.

 

Did you guys get sick?  If you haven't already you should be fine now.

[flyingiguana]

We thaw meat on the counter all of the time .Whole turkey/chicken, or roasts would be an exception.

 

But I like to live dangerously. I make mayonnaise with raw egg, dare to eat cookie dough, and love hamburgers cooked rare, at home or in restaurants.

I stopped eating cookie dough when I was pregnant. Just in case. But I've never had a problem with it. (And I ended up eating raw cookie dough made with eggs that had been recalled for salmonella contamination....) I'm not saying it's a good idea. Just.... most of the time it's an ok gamble.

 

However I'm more comfortable with possible salmonella poisoning than E coli -- so I won't eat raw/rare hamburger. I guess it's just a matter of picking your odds. I've known plenty of people who were poisoned with salmonella (including me -- NOT my cooking or my cookie dough, btw. It involved leaving food out at a nice warm temp for MANY hours). But although we may have been pretty sick for a few days, we all recovered.

 

However, I've known people who died from E coli....

[Cindy in FL.]

I thaw meat on the counter all the time. Sometimes it stays out a little longer than it should, but we have never gotten sick from it (knock on wood)! I often thaw meat in the sink in cold water, changing the water frequently.