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20 hour room temperature Lasagne - Eat or bin?

My life may have got a bit safer in recent decades.
I used to add what was left of yesterday's veggie and rice stirfry to today's, day-in, day-out.
Ironically, thinking back, I left the stirfry in the wok, but the wholegrain rice was cooked in a batch and left in the pressure cooker (?), but in the fridge ...
Now that I'm old and it's a struggle to keep my weight down, I don't eat grains with dinner and only buy my (usually cold) lunchtime grains pre-prepared - and microwave rice is heat-treated to destroy bacterial spores...
 
gentlegreen said:
My life may have got a bit safer in recent decades.
I used to add what was left of yesterday's veggie and rice stirfry to today's, day-in, day-out.
Ironically, thinking back, I left the stirfry in the wok, but the wholegrain rice was cooked in a batch and left in the pressure cooker (?), but in the fridge ...
Now that I'm old and it's a struggle to keep my weight down, I don't eat grains with dinner and only buy my (usually cold) lunchtime grains pre-prepared - and microwave rice is heat-treated to destroy bacterial spores...
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Have you not mentioned on this thread that you do your cooking in the toilet yet? Because if you're trying to wind people up...

In Perpignan in France there was a perpetual stew that reputedly lasted from the 15th century till ww2. It's widely done. My in laws tried it here with some supposed medicinal bollocks for my wife after she had her first (they wanted her to do the full bit staying in bed and not washing for a month too) but she didn't want it and I made a little fuss so it only lasted three days. Tbf it was spring so not so warm and they boiled it for a good half hour each time but she'd just had a caesarian and it didn't seem wise.

Meat at room temp for 20 hours is pretty borderline but I wouldn't because of the weather (25 degrees is surely generous unless there's air con in the kitchen, my house has been 30 plus indoors for a week) and because food poisoning is just so fucking horrible (and potentially serious) if you get it.
 
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"guests" LOL :D

At least I prepare mine from scratch once a week - and it takes ages with an enormous pot on a 1.5kw hob... reheating 30-45 minutes ..
The difference with my "pottage" is that it gets to cool down each day :hmm:

My own pot-au-feu, originally discovered in Alexandre Dumas's ''Grand Dictionnaire de la Cuisine'' and given a few refinements of my own, was born not of laziness but of convenience. The bachelor who melts female hearts by producing kitchen miracles is, alas, only a myth. The successful single cook must be able to prepare his specialties in the brief period between 6 o'clock when he gets home from the office and 7:30 when his guests arrive, with time left over for a shower and a shave. His main dish must be self-preparing, so he doesn't have to spend most of the evening in the kitchen. It has to be ready when he is ready to serve it, so his guests don't have to gulp down their drinks and rush to the table to keep it from spoiling.
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www.nytimes.com

FROM, A POT-AU-FEU, MANY HAPPY RETURNS (Published 1981)

www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
gentlegreen said:
My perpetual stew is vegan, but I leave it in the pressure cooker and reheat it after 24 hours - I used to do a fresh batch midweek, but I go the whole 7 days now.
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In fairness though, your food and hygiene standards are uniquely poor. I once had a dream that I had dinner at your gaff and woke up screaming in a cold sweat.
 
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Roadkill said:
My sister tells me that in Laos, where she's spent quite a bit of time and where a majority don't have refrigerators, the usual rule with reheating rice is to fry it hard for three minutes plus an extra minute for each day it's been stored, but only up to three days. After that it's food for the pigs.

I wouldn't do that, personally: it sounds like a great way to pick up a dose of the galloping shits. I often do an extra portion of rice to fry up the next day, but I only keep it for about 24 hours, and in the fridge in a covered bowl. If it doesn't get eaten in that time it goes on the compost heap.
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I've spent a bit of time in Laos. To say the majority don't have fridges is a massive understatement. Hardly any of the population has a fridge. Laos has never given me the galloping shits or any other shits.

It's funny you mention it because I'd been thinking myself how the hell Orang Utan would survive if he ever did get further than Calais.
 
Orang Utan said:
it's not just the beef you should be worried about - any cooked food needs to be chilled either soon or immediately after cooling
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He has half a point though. We used to have a pan of curry and a pan of rice on the stovetop all day. People helped themselves to some of each and heated it in the microwave throughout the day. Then they went in the fridge overnight and we’d help ourselves from there until it ran out 2 or 3 days later so the rice was always reheated. As far as I know nobody got vaguely ill, let alone died, and every other Asian family that I know of does exactly the same.
 
Spymaster said:
He has half a point though. We used to have a pan of curry and a pan of rice on the stovetop all day. People helped themselves to some of each and heated it in the microwave throughout the day. Then they went in the fridge overnight and we’d help ourselves from there until it ran out 2 or 3 days later so the rice was always reheated. As far as I know nobody got vaguely ill, let alone died, and every other Asian family that I know of does exactly the same.
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Part of it is that modern farming methods increase the likelihood of food poisoning, maybe not so much with rice but definitely meat. The Japanese eat chicken sashimi but they don't use factory farmed chicken.

And anecdotally when I worked in China stomach upsets (d & v) were the most common reason for work absence.
 
People die from food poisoning primarily through eating contaminated raw food such as lettuce, or insufficiently cooked food such as chicken. To die from thoroughly cooked food takes quite a bit of effort, because cooking destroys all the harmful bacteria. The main culprit is Bacillus species whose spores can survive high temperatures, but deaths from this are very rare.
 
Provided I was happy it had been properly cooked all the way through the first time (ie was basically sterile) I would have no hesitation in reheating (thoroughly) and eating it. Lasagne in particular, as the innards have been double cooked - first in making the ragu, then in the baking. The risk is not nil of course, but in my opinion is negligible.

I standardly make stock with chicken etc carcasses by bringing to the boil, simmering for several hours and then leaving to cool, covered, in the pan overnight until cooked before freezing (could easily be 20 hours later) - the stock is always brought back to the boil again when using. Been doing this for 20 years with no issues.

Ultimately it’s a risk assessment of course - ymmv.
 
Looking at past threads it seems a massive amount of energy on here is devoted to topics such as reheating food and beef that is kept in the fridge one day past the stated expiry date, whilst there is hardly anything to do with washing lettuce and cucumbers before consuming them raw.

This is hugely disproportionate to the actual risk of death from these things.
 
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prunus said:
Provided I was happy it had been properly cooked all the way through the first time (ie was basically sterile) I would have no hesitation in reheating (thoroughly) and eating it. Lasagne in particular, as the innards have been double cooked - first in making the ragu, then in the baking. The risk is not nil of course, but in my opinion is negligible.
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Exactly. Some people are so ignorant, they cannot appreciate that cooked food is much safer than raw, and should have different levels of caution applied.
 
maomao said:
It's worth having food hygiene rules and sticking to them. Leftovers should be refrigerated overnight.
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Should be, but if something cooked gets left out overnight accidentally and looks and smells ok the next day I don't get too worried about it. Mrs S left some chicken breasts on the worktop overnight on Tuesday or Wednesday when the nightime temperature was 25 degrees. They went straight in the bin.
 
I'd eat it. Although not a fan of the term snowflake, I'd tend to agree with Saul Goodman on this. My nan, who is a ripe old age of 96 and still strong as an ox, cooks a lamb or beef joint on a Monday, then leaves it in the oven, unrefridgerated for as long as it takes to eat it, often unheated. She's always done it and doesn't see any sense in doing otherwise. She does still drink whiskey at lunch though so maybe that helps.
 
jontz01 said:
I'd eat it. Although not a fan of the term snowflake, I'd tend to agree with Saul Goodman on this. My nan, who is a ripe old age of 96 and still strong as an ox, cooks a lamb or beef joint on a Monday, then leaves it in the oven, unrefridgerated for as long as it takes to eat it, often unheated. She's always done it and doesn't see any sense in doing otherwise. She does still drink whiskey at lunch though so maybe that helps.
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And when we got home our Dad used to cut us in two with a a breadknife and it never did me no harm
 
jontz01 said:
I'd eat it. Although not a fan of the term snowflake, I'd tend to agree with Saul Goodman on this. My nan, who is a ripe old age of 96 and still strong as an ox, cooks a lamb or beef joint on a Monday, then leaves it in the oven, unrefridgerated for as long as it takes to eat it, often unheated. She's always done it and doesn't see any sense in doing otherwise. She does still drink whiskey at lunch though so maybe that helps.
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Thing is, people used to do this when they didn't have fridges so maybe people like your nan just continue to do what they grew up with. We now have fridges, readily and reasonably cheaply available* so I don't see why some people seem so resistant to...moving with the times and putting stuff in the bloody thing....

*Quick look on the Argos website tells me you can get one for less than £100.
 
Sue said:
Thing is, people used to do this when they didn't have fridges so maybe people like your nan just continue to do what they grew up with. We now have fridges, readily and reasonably cheaply available* so I don't see why some people seem so resistant to...moving with the times and putting stuff in the bloody thing....

*Quick look on the Argos website tells me you can get one for less than £100.
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Plus running costs ...

In retirement, I may have a social life and need of a fridge, but it will be a modified chest freezer for efficiency...
 
equationgirl said:
The running costs of a fridge are minimal and not an excuse to avoid getting one. Also a freezer is not a fridge as your post implies.
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Small chest fridges are probably difficult to get... though I suppose one could pack out unused volume at the bottom...
If I manage to extract my camping fridge I may experiment with that - though it's an absorption device so inherently inefficient.
 
gentlegreen said:
Plus running costs ...

In retirement, I may have a social life and need of a fridge, but it will be a modified chest freezer for efficiency...
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Running costs are low, especially for more modern models.

' For instance, an A rated 180-litre fridge freezer could cost only £43 a year to run, whereas a larger 525-litre fridge freezer with a better A+ rating could cost £57 a year to run. '

energysavingtrust.org.uk

Choosing energy efficient appliances

When buying energy efficient appliances, look out for the energy ratings label and consider the size of the appliance you need.
energysavingtrust.org.uk energysavingtrust.org.uk

And a small fridge without a freezer would be even cheaper.
 
The time to consider it will be in a couple of years' time when I will hopefully be looking for somewhere new to live ...
 
I’d eat it ( nothing like cold next day lasagna- food of the gods)

If you are worried put thin amounts in the microwave and nuke them for three or four minutes till the sauce bubbles and then leave it to cool a bit.
 
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