how long can you keep food

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Hey guys.... i'm wondering how long its safe / heathy to keep cooked food? My housemate made some thai green chicken curry on Sunday evening and its been stood, in a covered container in our kinda cool kitchen - smells alright, but would it be safe to eat (heated up)?

Cheers
Sam
 
Siliconslave said:
Hey guys.... i'm wondering how long its safe / heathy to keep cooked food? My housemate made some thai green chicken curry on Sunday evening and its been stood, in a covered container in our kinda cool kitchen - smells alright, but would it be safe to eat (heated up)?

Cheers
Sam

no its not unless its been in the Fridge
 
It's Russian rulette, I certainly wouldn't be putting it anywhere but the bin however.

Tell your housemate to stick any leftovers it in the freezer in future so you can have them whenever.
 
MookJong said:
It's Russian rulette, I certainly wouldn't be putting it anywhere but the bin however.

Tell your housemate to stick any leftovers it in the freezer in future so you can have them whenever.

oh beleave me i've tried! bloody messy git.... still its his house so what can you do. Given up on the whole idea anyhows and gone with a soup + the bits of lamb left over from the roast i did yesterday (which were stored in the fridge)
 
Try it on your housemate first :p

I wouldn't eat it if it had been left sealed at room temperature for more than 12 hours really. I reckon it would probably only keep for 4-5 days in the fridge if it was in a sealed container.
 
Not if its been left out, but if it had been in the fridge id eat it if it was in there for no longer than ~4-5 days.
 
If you use the microwave, surely that kills any bacteria in the food? I wouldn't think any bacteria survive 900W of microwave power, though I guess it could possibly not hit them :confused:
 
Take it from an Ex chef, a person with letters after his name for food hygine and a major supermarkets food quality control officer.......



Dude! bin it!!

or give it to the dog :)





Above person is me.
 
Dr.EM said:
If you use the microwave, surely that kills any bacteria in the food? I wouldn't think any bacteria survive 900W of microwave power, though I guess it could possibly not hit them :confused:


Maybe but some can turn into spores.
 
Last edited:
Dr.EM said:
If you use the microwave, surely that kills any bacteria in the food? I wouldn't think any bacteria survive 900W of microwave power, though I guess it could possibly not hit them :confused:

but it's the poisons they've already left on the food as well.
 
Dr.EM said:
If you use the microwave, surely that kills any bacteria in the food? I wouldn't think any bacteria survive 900W of microwave power, though I guess it could possibly not hit them :confused:

Nop because some bacteria such as bacillus cereus (found in rice) produce exotoxins which Survive the microwaving so even though you have killed the bugs you still have the toxins in the food. Some other bacteria have toxins in the membrane (Lipis A) which are released when you kill them.

It’s a rather simplistic explanations but basic moral of the story is don’t eat it
 
Ok, so it's not so much the bacteria as thier toxins which are dangerous? I always thought it was the bacterias, you swallowed them and they could multiply in you and....do....bad things. I'm sure the way that Wendies fast food avoided further outbreaks of E-coli was by microwaving thier patties first, but mabye that is a different kind of bacteria.
 
Microwaves at that power kill just about anything that will fit into the thing, purely by heating them very rapidly? It wouldn't take long for the liquid in something the size of bacteria to boil and presumably burst it apart in doing so seeing as how a spoonful amount can boil in under a minute :D
 
What you're cooking may heat up rapidly, but here again you have the problem that it may just be the surface that is hot. Microwaves do not cook from the inside out, that's another myth. You've got to reach 70 Deg C for at least 2 minutes, but as other posters have already pointed out, it's the toxins that will get you. ;)
 
Yep, I won't be relying on that in future (not that I usually do) :) . Sure I saw it on some program about that Wendies thing though, quite a while ago now.
 
Chuck it. Room temperature for 48 hours =
nono.gif
 
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