Cooking question

homesteadwriter · #1 09/14/10, 12:18 PM

My uncle made bean and Ham soup on Sunday morning. He left it sit in the stock pot on the counter until this morning ( Tuesday) so it hasd been sitting out at room temp for about 48 hours.

He swears that since he heated it up to boiling this morning that it will be fine to eat.

I refused to eat lunch

What do you guys think?

mamahen · #2 09/14/10, 12:24 PM

I think I would NOT eat that soup!

It probably even smells bad and may have a scum on it, by now!

food poisening, anyone?!

Michael W. Smith · #3 09/14/10, 12:29 PM

That would be like searching in the very back of your fridge where "something" (it's unidentifiable) is in a Tupperware container and has been (for who knows how long) and you zap it in the microwave on high for 5 minutes till it's bubbling and say "This is safe to eat, let's eat lunch."

I'd pass on the ham and bean soup too.

**Kris in MI** · #4 09/14/10, 12:35 PM

EWWWW!!!

I know how bad a bowl used for bean soup smells the next day if it didn't get rinsed out and washed. I would never serve the soup itself after sitting out overnight, let alone 2 days!!

homesteadwriter · #5 09/14/10, 12:39 PM

If you listen to my Uncles theory no one needs a fridge, juat heat things up to the boiling point and they will be fine. YUKKERS

I live in the same house but I do ALL my own cooking.

mousebandit · #6 09/14/10, 02:27 PM

Okay, I'm a freak, but I have often wondered about this. I know in canning, we're told that "just to be safe" to boil our home-canned foods for 10 minutes before serving. THat should even kills botulism. So, if it will kill freaking botulism, I would think 2-day old soup that has been boiled should be safe (not to say yummy, though) to eat. I would also say that if there's is mold or anything growing on it, while that's gross (and I wouldn't eat mold!) it is a surface thing, and once removed, the rest of the meal wouldn't kill you, especially if boiled for 10 minutes.

Again, I'm just talking theoretically. I would have passed on the soup, too, but for taste reasons rather than safety ones. I think it would be yucky, but safe.

Mouse Bandit

mnn2501 · #7 09/14/10, 02:59 PM

any food product should go through the unsafe zone (45F-145F) within 4 hours both going up in temp and down in temp. While in that zone bacteria can double every 20 minutes.

There is a big difference between pressure canned food which is heated under pressure to a temp that will kill all bacteria and something sitting on the counter. It is true however that botulism can still grow in canned food (which is why its recommended you boil canned foods 10 minutes) there are many many more types of bacteria that will make you sick or kill you from food just left out on the counter even if boiled. Anyone eating that soup was/is taking a big chance.

No, I would Never Ever eat bean soup that has sat on the counter.

Pelenaka · #8 09/14/10, 03:53 PM

I think we may be related. Your uncle could be my ex-husband.
Before you (all) read this you might wanna go potty 1st, because your gonna ROFLOL.
He actually believed that food stored in a microwave overnight was the same as refridgerated food stored in a closed container. I can never forget watching him pull a dish of BBQ spareribs grilled the night before out of the microwave after a 3 minute heat up. He will also eat cold pizza stored in the microwave without a heat up.
Needless to say he was always comming down with a stomach bug. Unfortunetly nuttin he ever ate made me a widow.

I know that I had read that before refrigeration food was heated thoughly once a day to kill off germs. Hence the childhood rythm;
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, nine days old

~~ pelenaka ~~

Jokarva · #9 09/14/10, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelenaka

He will also eat cold pizza stored in the microwave without a heat up.

Unfortunetly nuttin he ever ate made me a widow~~ pelenaka ~~

LOL! - too funny.

Actually (and no, I am not your ex either) I do this too.

I figure nothing much can happen to pizza overnight - and those who disagree are free to keep that info to yourselves thankyouverymuch. I'm not particularly squeamish, and I'm guessing if the stuff Bear Grylls eats on Man vs Wild doesn't kill him, room temp pizza won't kill me.

I would have passed on the soup though...

watcher · #10 09/14/10, 04:13 PM

Your uncle is right to a point. As long as food is not sealed in an air tight container heating it hot enough and long enough will kill any nasties.

<<<<Gross warning>>>>

Read no farther if you have a weak stomach or are easilied grossed out.
.
.
.
you were warned.

In some survival schools you learn you can eat any meat as long as its cooked. You can take a piece of rotten meat with maggots on it and toss it into a pot and cook up it, wigglers and all.

Nope I never did and I've eaten some stuff I rather not remember.

Joshie · #11 09/14/10, 04:24 PM

Well, you could eat that but then again you could get food poising and die.

My friend's MIL did the same thing. She nearly died... twice. The last time she did that she ended up in a nursing home.

wyld thang · #12 09/14/10, 04:26 PM

rotten, you mean aged, right?

HW, you'll have to write back and tell us if your uncle survived(I'm thinking he did).

If the lid has been on the pot firmly and continuously that "helps"...

Murray in ME · #13 09/14/10, 04:30 PM

In theory, it should be ok. Bringing it to a boil should kill all the microorganisms as almost all of them are killed by temperatures over 140 degrees.

That's the theory. In practice, I'd toss the soup. It's not worth risking food born illness.

mistymomom · #14 09/14/10, 05:12 PM

Yuck. My experience with beans is that they ferment very quickly. They do a little better in chili because of all the spice, but not much. 2 days, they should be pretty ripe.

Karen Kay · #15 09/14/10, 05:28 PM

Next door neighbor lady did that to us one time. Invited us over for bean and ham soup (a favorite soup!) and found out during the meal that she had been cleaning her freezer and found the meat "somewhere near the bottom of the freezer" so who knows how long it had been in there.

I ate a few spoonfuls and couldn't handle the taste. DH ate a bit more than I did and he had the "squirts" for the next two days.

Been talking with her ever since about labeling and rotating her food. And no, we have not accepted another invite for lunch but I do go over and help her straighten and clean her freezers and canning room when she asks for help. She is of the age of the great depression and has a bit of a food hoarding issue.

Ruby · #16 09/14/10, 07:05 PM

I have let beans sit out accidentally forgot them and the next day they would be bubbly. They went in the compost pile. Beans especially with meat in them will ruin pretty quickly.

dragonjaze · #17 09/14/10, 07:10 PM

No, not safe to eat even if reheated. Will kill the beasties living in it, but may not deactivate their wastes (toxins).

Quote:

Some germs produce poisons as they grow which may cause food poisoning in people. The germs may be killed by re-heating, but the poison remains. Botulism and Staphylococcus are two examples.

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/health/foodhand/

jwal10 · #18 09/14/10, 07:26 PM

When I left home at 12, I killed quite a few deer. I had no refrigerater so I salted it down in a big crock.Put it in the springhouse. Sometimes it grew long legs but I just skimmed it off and got down to that good green meat. It was very tender. Never got sick....James

pattycake · #19 09/14/10, 07:40 PM

I wouldn't touch that soup with a ten foot pole!! But, I do remember as a very young child, my mother would leave lots of things out that I would never leave out today. She did not refridgerate eggs, butter, and other things and we never got sick.

crispin · #20 09/14/10, 08:02 PM

I would eat it. I leave food out over night often and eat it the next day. I think we (society) have become a bit to worrisome about everything. IMHO.

OH WAIT!! Nevermind. I just reread the OP, I thought it was only out overnight, not 48 hours, that is too much even for me.

So I WOULD NOT eat it after 48 hours. 10-12 is my limit.