well I beg to differ a bit - I clearly remember my grandmother had a "safe" which was basically as described above, except that this was a freestanding one, more the size of a small refrigerator and with very fine mesh around the sides.It stood on the cold shaded side of the garden.I suspect it was more to keep the flies off the food rather than to keep things cool, although in the UK (even in the "warm" southern area of the UK), summer temperatures in the shade can be cool, and with a breeze blowing through the sides it would be far cooler in the "safe" than on the bench in a hot south-facing kitchen.
uli,
Jan 8, 7:29am
Hmmm - do you know how those "meat safes" work ellie? (Maybe not since you are a vegetarian) - They never become a "hotbox" ...
vashti,
Jan 8, 7:42am
My granparents "safe" was at the bottom of the pantry, it was slightly below floor level and sort of boxed in with wire mesh net on one side that was seeemed to be under the house. Both these houses were built up slightly so there was a lot of air flowing around. I can't really say wether they were effective or not, I was a bit young at the time. Memories ah.
elliehen,
Jan 8, 8:56am
They certainly never became hotboxes in temperate New Zealand.Farmers used to keep their dog tucker in free-standing meat safes.
BTW...am puzzled here... why do you have to eat meat to have knowledge about a design feature of old New Zealand houses?
kaddiew,
Jan 8, 7:28pm
Slightly OT... when I used to stay with my grandmother in the early-mid 60s I was fascinated to see her storing her butter in a large biscuit tin in a hole in the ground.
ferita,
Jan 8, 7:32pm
I hope you do not work in the food industry. You will kill someone with that advice.
Explain to us why food left in the "danger zone" (5°C - 57°C) overnight is safe to eat? Especially hazardous foods like meat.
ferita,
Jan 8, 7:36pm
Also to the super intellectuals who are saying to reheat it hot, sure that will kill the bacteria but not the toxins that the bacteria give off when they die. The toxins that make you really sick....
pickles7,
Jan 8, 8:01pm
If in doubt throw it out. It scares me to think anyone would suggest you could eat it.It is one of those things you may get away with , until one day, your luck runs out. Sort of like Russian roulette.
greenforde,
Jan 8, 8:04pm
OMG TOSS NOW
fetish,
Jan 8, 8:09pm
I'd chuck it rather than risk it, and have done in the past, and before anyone says they've used something similar and it was fine, do you want to be responsible for someone getting food poisoning ?As just because you get away with something once, or even a 100 times, does not mean that you will the next time, or the person you so easily advise to will.
I hate seeing people advise to others unsafe food safe health practiceson here, not everyone by anymeans, but there are some that do, and really before you do that, you should go sit a microbiology course, then come back and see if you still feel the same, and I'd bet noone would.
Food while not cheap, is still cheaper than damage to your or your family/friends health !
lyl_guy,
Jan 8, 8:16pm
Of course there's a risk of Food poisoning from your scenario.That was your original question wasn't it? Agree with you fetish, it IS scary to read what some here have written.... questions the intelligence, surely??
cookessentials,
Jan 8, 8:42pm
I still have a food safe, as elliehen describes, I keep my pumpkins and all my preserves in it and it keeps beautifully cool even in hot summer where we often have 30+ degrees. It has a metal bar running through the top for the hanging of meats and other goods. My old Aunt in England also had a food safe and was as described by kuaka, in that it was free standing. And as we are all IN New Zealand and not Europe, most people understand exactly what ellihen and others are talking about. Friends of ours ( who own a large historic Masterton house and do weddings from there, where I often help out) have an ice house which is a curved brick building where large blocks of ice were hung back in the day and all the meats were hung in there to keep chilled...it is a very fascinating building. Now, the original post was about one night of a stew left out overnight...I am sure it would be fine and so long as it is heated right through, it will be ok.
lyl_guy,
Jan 8, 8:48pm
Just had a thought... I hope people aren't getting mixed up with the old processes of curing meat by hanging to dry (after being salted etc) for days or weeks on end?It's not the same thing as leaving cooked meat at room temp.
wron,
Jan 8, 9:19pm
I'd biff it if it was chicken but like most of the posters just reheat thoroughly, bring to a simmer for a while.
rainrain1,
Jan 8, 9:39pm
You could eat it first and then toss it
0800xford,
Jan 8, 9:39pm
how much difference does the container make? would my stainless stew pot with glass lid be safer than say a cast iron pot with a cast iron lid? or aluminium or copper?
also does slowly heating back to 'eating temp' [very warm, but not hot hot] make a difference? or should it be rapidly heated to boiling then turned down?
skin1235,
Jan 9, 2:47am
in an old house I spent some of my childhood years in which had a full 15ft stud ( trampoline inside), and had 14 bedrooms 4 bathrooms and 2 kitchens, formal and family dining rooms etc, by the main kitchen was a walk in cool room It had concrete walls with a small channel molded into it just below the ceiling - maybe 8 ft high - and a water supply for that channel was plumbed into the house so it always kept the concrete walls damp, it had mesh areas in the ceiling and in a couple of places at floor level, the water evaporation kept that room cold enough to store meats and other perishables for many days, milk in particular, once the cow was milked and the milked cooled the bucket was put in there, the next morning it was so cold you could not comfortably drink a glassfull ( not that we were supposed to drink it before the cream was skimmed off but we did often try to sneak a glass ) you would not have made icecream in it but you could store icecream from town at 2 pm and it would be still firm at teatime)
lyl_guy,
Jan 9, 2:53am
Would you think it's OK for a restaurant or cafe to serve you and your family a meat stew that's been sitting on a bench all night? Forget OSH or PC'ness etc... just think of how YOU would like it?Hmmmm.......
vix.tribe,
Jan 9, 3:20am
I wouldn't risk it either, but then it's been horribly hot here, even overnight.And I have a HUGE aversion to vomiting.If there's even the slightest hint of food not being ok I'd be throwing it out.
vix.tribe,
Jan 9, 3:29am
And a question that's more pertinent than the bench vs stove one... is anyone who will be eating it pregnant? Or has immune system issues? While your average cast-iron stomach rugby player might be fine eating it, your average 3 month pregnant woman wouldn't be.Nor would an elderly person with a compromised immune system.
"...Small portions of vegetables, soups, sauces and casseroles do best when reheated in the microwave oven... "
I think I would give that one a miss - or even anything cooked in a microwave.
elliehen,
Jan 9, 4:27am
That may well be what has happened :)
buzzy110,
Jan 9, 4:39am
What is the difference between a restaurant or cafe serving you a well reheated stew after a night on the bench or a bakery or cafe selling you a chicken sandwich that had been sitting for most of the day in the unrefrigerated glass cases that festoon such places, up and down the country?
And what about sushi. Rice is just as prone to going 'off' and making toxins as meat and yet sushi with raw fish is often left for many hours on counter tops, protected only by a thin sheet of gladwrap.
Why do people buy food like that? I wouldn't and yet it is done daily, up and down the country.
buzzy110,
Jan 9, 4:44am
Mmm. Surely poster #1 would have told us if those conditions were present when she asked the question.
However, I know someone who had giardia a long time ago and she can get sick by just looking at cold meats that have been brought to room temperature before consumption, let alone something that has been left sitting in a glass case inside 2 pieces of bread with limp lettuce and some margarine spread.
And you should see what a freshly made pizza does to her. It is psychedelic barffing for days. We are all different.
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