AIBU to be worried about my mother's idea on food safety? Or am I acting the wanker?

[Wombmates]

I decided to 'host' Christmas at my house this year as my brother is with his wife's family and it's not fair for mum and dad to always cook... However, mum has said she will buy the lion's share of the food (very sweet offer).
We are not exactly traditionalists and every year, we have the same thing - chicken breast ''rolled and stuffed' - if I had to guess I would say it was about 5-7lbs of meat, which we eat for the roast and then have as leftovers.
Mum has already bought this joint of meat and frozen it, so I said to her, I shall collect it on the 23rd so that I can defrost it in my fridge in time for the morning of the 25th. Mum says to me ''No bother, I shall defrost it on the worktop on the 24th and you can collect it on Christmas Eve night''. I said, "oh, I don't think it should be defrosted on the worktop - isn't that unsafe?" Mum breezily assures me that is the way she does it every year ''a day on the worktop and it's fine''. To be fair, we have never been sick from it (what we don't know...)

In 2007 I got seriously ill from chicken from a pub which was later found to have been kept in cold water in the filthy sink instead of the fridge (ok I was nicely compensated but the almost three weeks in hospital weren't great). Since then, I've probably been a bit ''over the top'' with food safety.

Since she said about leaving it on the worktop for ''a day'' I've been freaking out.

Sorry if this seems pathetic - but it's causing me no end of worry. Any advice? Do you think I should just tell her the 24th is no good for me and collect it -frozen- on the 23rd and just defrost it myself in the fridge? Again, I realise this may sound trite when there are so many other things to worry about, but any advice would be great. Thanks

Wombmates

In 2007 I got seriously ill from chicken from a pub which was later found to have been kept in cold water in the filthy sink instead of the fridge

Whatever any one else says it's going to be hard for you if you're so worried about the food safety that you're not going to enjoy your meal, so make your arrangements accordingly.

FWIW though from the above, it sounds like the pub had forgotten to take chicken out to thaw in good time and so they tried to speed up the process with the cold water. Quite apart from the sink being filthy, it suggests that they chicken hadn't been thawed properly in the first place.

I also deal with food hygiene and what we know about how we're meant to do it and what we do at home are different.
I've always thawed stuff in a tray on the worktop unless it's warm weather. If it's warm then I do use the fridge and thaw for much longer.
Again, as has been said, I always know if there are any vulnerable stomachs and immune systems coming to dine, so am not totally gung ho.

I always forget to defrost the prawns for the Christmas prawn cocktail and i end up defrosting them under tepid running water until just thawed and no more. I know it is not ideal but i have never caused any food poisoning.

Agree with whoever said it'd be harsh to say you're acting the wanker, but defrosting on the worktop will be fine. I'd be more worried about making sure it was cooked properly on the day than whether it was defrosted in the fridge or not.

Uk advice is that on a worktop is fine

www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Healthychristmas/Pages/cooking-turkey.aspx

Are you confident in how to make sure it's properly cooked? That's probably more important than how you defrost it. I always allow 30-60 minutes for the turkey to sit once it's cooked (under foil and a towel to keep warm) so I can really focus on getting the turkey cooked right and not on how the rest of the timings are going.

Just to throw a spanner in the works for that size joint you need to allow a good 40 hours for it to defrost properly in the fridge will picking it up on the 23rd give enough time. If you do it early in the day fine but if you're leaving it till evening you'll be struggling for enough time. Depending on weather we try to defrost in the garage, some years its too cold to do that some years too warm in which case it defrosts in the fridge.

I've always defrosted on worktops overnight then put in fridge in morning. When I try to defrost in fridge it takes 2 days just for a Tupperware of pasta sauce so a joint would take a week!!

The US advice linked to above says its ok to refreeze food without cooking (as long as it was defrosted in the fridge) and that you can cook meat and poultry from frozen so I think they have some different ideas to UK...

I usually defrost big things on the worktop overnight then stick them in the fridge in the morning to be cooked that evening. Small things are put on the worktop in the morning then into the fridge when they're defrosted. Main concern is to clean the worktop where the raw stuff has been.

I cook meat and poultry from frozen sometimes. As long as it is properly cooked all the way through, and piping hot in the very middle, it's fine. Having had food-poisoning myself some years ago I am careful.

Fine to defrost on worksurface. I was when I saw my mil defrosting turkey in the washing up bowl! Now that is not good.

It's fine to defrost on a worktop, as long as your kitchen isn't swelteringly hot. The recommendations are ideally a fridge but if you can't, a cool room is fine. As long as it is thoroughly cooked the risk is low.

I never put my food to defrost in the fridge, it would defrost at all.