Minced beef left out over night

[TotoAnnihiliation]

This is my first AIBU, I'm tentatively asking if I am being AIBU.

Last night DH cooked minced beef to go in a burrito. He put the leftovers in a tub in the microwave.

This afternoon, I came across the tub in the microwave as the outside of the tub felt a bit warm and I as I'm too busy to be poisoned, I threw the contents away.

DH is annoyed with me as apparently the microwave will have kept the minced meat safe to eat with it being slightly insulated. He said it would be fine as in the Victorian era people would have left food on the side or in a pot over the fire and it would have been fine. I have pointed out that this is not the same thing as what he has done.

AIBU?

I would have chucked it too. I always follow food safe rules to the letter with meat. Next time let him eat it if he's so insistent, but make something else for yourself (and kids?).

No, it's the temperature that matters and it would have been at a dodgy temperature for ages. I wouldn't have eaten it. In Victorian times people probably just died of food poisoning quite often

If it felt warm then I agree with you.

I was going to say if it was just out in the kitchen it was probably cold enough but if it didn't feel cold...

I wouldn't throw away DH's leftovers. He can choose for himself if he eats them or throws them away.

I would have eaten it.

I quite often cook mince in the evening, and leave it in the saucepan overnight as it’s too warm to put in the fridge or freezer. I’m still here!

I would have binned it too. Room temperature minced beef left out nearly 24 hours?? Gross!

I wouldn’t eat it but I wouldn’t throw it out either, I’d have left it for him to eat/throw it out. Mind you DH is never ill whereas I just have to look at out of date stuff and I’m on the loo for hours

I don’t know the answer but am entertained by your line, OP, that you’re too busy too be poisoned 😂. I’d have done the same as you, I think.

I'd have binned. Out on a work surface with the heating off all night, it would have been fine if it had been spotted in the morning. But having gone warm into an insulated space and left nearly 24h at bug-friendly temps, erm no.

Definitely in the bin!

I would have eaten it. Not raw though.

Definitely wouldn’t have eaten it. I don’t eat meat but even I know you need to take more care with it

Definitely in the bin! The microwave did the opposite of what he thinks, it kept it warm to breed bacteria. Gross.

Your DH is nuts. You definitely did the right thing x

Just eaten a chilli I made yesterday and had left out until I cooked it an hour ago. If you really heat it through, it would have been fine.

@Standrewsschool

I quite often cook mince in the evening, and leave it in the saucepan overnight as it’s too warm to put in the fridge or freezer. I’m still here!

This^ As long as it was cooked thoroughly and covered it should have been fine. I would have used it in a chili or spaghetti sauce. Refrigerating drained cooked minced makes it stiffer and dehydrated.

When I lived abroad in a tropical country the electricity went off for days at a time and people didn't Chuck the meat in their freezers, they used to open the fridge and freezer to 'air' it. Stuff only got tossed if it was literally green or smelt bad. It would have been so expensive with power cuts every week or every other week at times. Meat and everything else was refrozen when the power went back on.
Personally I have (touch wood) never had food poisoning and never cooked food that has given anyone else food poisoning, but I think in this country we can be too cautious which leads us to be wasteful. We should rely more on our senses to tell us if food is safe too eat (colour, smell, taste etc).

I would have nuked it so it got seriously hot throughout and then eaten it.

I would never had eaten that. My MIL always cooks stews and stuff the day before and then leaves it out until we get there for lunch the following day. I have never left her house without a dodgy stomach. Now I no longer eat meat so I don’t have to eat the stuff, my kids also pretend to be veggies when we go there as they usually feel sick too. Not DH though for some reason. 2 hours is the max time cooked meat should be left out, after that bacteria just multiplies over and over again.

If it was warm, then no, I wouldn't have eaten it- that's clearly a risk. If it was cold, then yes no problem at all.
I tend to only throw food that smells or looks bad, or that is clearly very stupid to eat (like when I left the raw prawns out on the counter overnight in the summer by accident! ). I don't go on use by dates etc.

I wouldn't risk it. Yes, you probably would get away with it but I have a real hatred of vomiting so the risk isn't worth it to me and it is a risk, its basically russian roulette.

Also, your DH Victorian argument is flawed. They didn't have central heating in victorian houses, so meat was less likely to spoil

YANBU.

Food safety advice is chill or freeze (or eat!) within two hours of cooking. DH created the ideal conditions for the bugs.

www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-store-food-and-leftovers/

People who leave food out are grim. The ones saying heating it through thoroughly will kill bacteria are wrong. Staphylococcus for example is a toxin that will be produced in food left out for a long period of time. Heating doesn't affect it whatsoever.

The lack of food hygiene knowledge in some people is shocking. It's basic stuff, if it's been out for two hours refrigerate it.

@TotoAnnihiliation

No just NO!

You will get a few posters saying they'd eat meat that has been dropped in the toilet, covered in shit, and left in a 95 degrees F temperature all day.

In reality, most people have the common sense to not eat meat left out on the worktop overnight. It's batshit.