Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Are we going to be sick?

42 replies

Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:37

I bought ready made cottage pie for dinner today. I was really busy and lost track of how long it was in the oven for (usually always use the timer).

When i took it out the potato was burning hot, I even waited a bit before callijg DC over but as we were eating some lumps of meat felt cold inside.

We still ate it but I am.now massively worried as I'm usually really strict about reheating til hot throughout.

I've just woken up with cold sweats and really worried its the beginning of food poisoning.

What do you think?

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:39

We're on Day 1 of our holiday and staying at a relative's house where I'm not super familiar with the oven. I'm not even sure I had it on the right setting so maybe it was just grilling the top and bottom which gave me the impression it was hot but the middle wasn't?

We'd had a hellish journey and I was so frazzled. So I don't know if I'm just anxious from the journey and transferring me anxiety on that but I'm sleeping with DC and overanalysing every sound his tummy makes.

OP posts:
BIWI · 21/08/2025 23:40

If it was in date when you bought/cooked it, and as long as you’ve kept it chilled when you brought it home, then you’ll be fine. The dish itself would have been cooked, it just wasn’t piping hot when you served it.

However, if you are as strict as you say you are, why didn’t you put it back in the oven or heat it further in the microwave?!

IfThenElse · 21/08/2025 23:42

Was it already cooked and you were just reheating it? If so you’ll probably be fine. It may well have been heated through but then cooled down while being served up, in any case.

mmsnet · 21/08/2025 23:43

if it was cold it could go either way

why didnt you put it back in the oven for longer?

Smartiepants79 · 21/08/2025 23:43

I think you’re hugely overreacting. The chances of a being ill from a slightly under warmed ready meal are very slim. Unless you’ve missed some info like it been sat out in the sun for the previous 12 hours.

Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:45

We bought it then drove an hour home (it was in a cool bag with a defrosted ice pack) then put in the oven.

It was a small dish amd most of it felt hot, by the time I got to the cold clump everyone had pretty much finished their plate so there was nothing to reheat.

Chatgpt is saying we'll get sick. Lovely.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:47

IfThenElse · 21/08/2025 23:42

Was it already cooked and you were just reheating it? If so you’ll probably be fine. It may well have been heated through but then cooled down while being served up, in any case.

Yes it was cooked and we were just reheating it. I did wonder if the meat cools down faster than the mass and maybe that's what happened. I did wait a while before calling DC over.

OP posts:
Catnapsallday · 21/08/2025 23:50

Was the ready-made cottage pie previously cooked? So that all you would have to do is reheat it in the oven for a fairly short time compared to if it was raw meat?
TBH I've never heard of a cottage pie with raw beef inside, that you would buy at a store.
So that being said if you were reheating a ready-made cottage pie and it didn't get thoroughly heated through, it would be fine.
It wouldn't taste that great, granted, who wants to eat cold, but cooked meat and potatoes in a pie? But it would be perfectly safe.

Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:50

It said to warm up for 35 minutes and I think it was in the oven for at least 30 minutes, possibly more

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:53

Catnapsallday · 21/08/2025 23:50

Was the ready-made cottage pie previously cooked? So that all you would have to do is reheat it in the oven for a fairly short time compared to if it was raw meat?
TBH I've never heard of a cottage pie with raw beef inside, that you would buy at a store.
So that being said if you were reheating a ready-made cottage pie and it didn't get thoroughly heated through, it would be fine.
It wouldn't taste that great, granted, who wants to eat cold, but cooked meat and potatoes in a pie? But it would be perfectly safe.

Yes that's right, it absolutely was fully cooked but you're meant to reheat to piping hot (though the packaging didn't even say that which I was surprised about as usually they do as a disclaimer).

It was quite a small and thin dish and the potato was absolutely piping hot and burning so I'm confused as to how the meat could be cold. Everyone else ate it all mixed in so couldn't really tell.

OP posts:
Catnapsallday · 21/08/2025 23:53

Then it would be cooked, but maybe not being familiar with the oven you didn't have it set at the proper temperature? Or as you say you lost track of the time.
Maybe you even had it on broil, if it was previously cooked, I'm pretty sure it would be, it shouldn't harm you.

BIWI · 21/08/2025 23:53

Seriously? You asked Chat GPT?!

I think you have issues about food.

You bought a ready meal. It would have been a) cooked and b) chilled. You transported it in a chilled environment. And then you cooked it. You didn’t cook it for long enough, at the right temperature - but it was still cooked!. It just wasn’t hot enough.

Why you didn’t cook it for a bit longer/put it in the microwave I have no idea - you ate it when it would have been tepid - but it would still have been safe to eat.

Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:54

I had been quite worried about the time it would have been out of the fridge after buying it already (50 mins drive), plus the time spent around the shop and queuing at the tills. It was a hottish day but already 7pm at that point

OP posts:
WilliamBell · 21/08/2025 23:56

It will be absolutely fine, go to sleep and don't worry.

Not like you ate raw chicken.

Catnapsallday · 21/08/2025 23:58

A previously cooked meal wouldn't go off that quickly you would have it in a bag, and it would be in the boot of your car perhaps.
Standing at the till that's not that long and 50 minutes isn't that long either, and then you put it straight into the preheated oven.
It may not be quite to your liking but if you had had a microwave oven you could have bung it in there, after you found out that it wasn't heated through to your liking, and that would have reheated the meal very quickly.

GypsyQueeen · 21/08/2025 23:58

It sounds like you'll be fine with beef. Just get to sleep and I'm sure you'll wake up fine!!

BIWI · 21/08/2025 23:59

You only have posts in this name. Are you new to Mumsnet?

Original poster
Bsud6houston · 21/08/2025 23:59

Catnapsallday · 21/08/2025 23:53

Then it would be cooked, but maybe not being familiar with the oven you didn't have it set at the proper temperature? Or as you say you lost track of the time.
Maybe you even had it on broil, if it was previously cooked, I'm pretty sure it would be, it shouldn't harm you.

It definitely was on 180, but yeah the setting was probably a bit weird and there was no oreheating light so it may not have been preheated properly. I think it may have been missing 5 or 10 minutes realistically.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 22/08/2025 00:00

BIWI · 21/08/2025 23:59

You only have posts in this name. Are you new to Mumsnet?

Nope, been here ages but name change regularly.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 22/08/2025 00:01

WilliamBell · 21/08/2025 23:56

It will be absolutely fine, go to sleep and don't worry.

Not like you ate raw chicken.

Thank you, anxiety's a nightmare today.

OP posts:
Original poster
Bsud6houston · 22/08/2025 00:10

We've planned a big outing tomorrow- would you still go or play it safe? ,(long car journey)

OP posts:
LifeOfAShowgirl13 · 22/08/2025 00:11

Hope you can get a good nights sleep OP, and that you anxiety is calmer tomorrow. I would say any mild stomach discomfort you get is more likely to be anxiety related than cottage pie induced!

LifeOfAShowgirl13 · 22/08/2025 00:12

Bsud6houston · 22/08/2025 00:10

We've planned a big outing tomorrow- would you still go or play it safe? ,(long car journey)

I would go unless anyone was vomitting before setting off. But that goes for any car journey not just this one!

BIWI · 22/08/2025 00:19

Honestly, you really, really will be fine.

And please - get some help with your anxiety. (As well as learning a bit more about food hygiene - and I mean that kindly)

avignon1234 · 22/08/2025 00:19

You really will be fine. Although it says all that stuff about serve piping hot, it is a ready meal, unless it has been in a hot car for days (clearly not) they cook these things properly in the factory. I know that food poisoning can take between 4-72 hours to manifest so there is no way of properly knowing, but you have to be exposed to some bad sh*t tio get it. I'd definitely go on your trip, try and put it out of your mind. x