Is this going to kill us all?

[HolidayDjinn]

DH is flapping.

On busy days when no one is going to be home until 18:30 I sometimes make up a tray bake and put the oven on timer so it will be ready just as we walk in the door. The ingredients come out the fridge about 6am and oven comes on about 17:45 so that’s nearly 12 hours at room temp. Today’s has no raw meat but does have chorizo. Sometimes I do sausages. Have done chicken thighs before. I feel like this is probably fine but DH is convinced we will contract food poisoning. NB his worries don’t come with an offer to sort dinner.

I wouldn’t eat it.

Too long out of the fridge I think, so no I wouldn’t do it. Slow cooker would be better

No.

The fact that it’s cooked after being out of the fridge will kill any potential nasties.

We leave cooked chicken in the microwave overnight and eat it the next day. We’ve never had any problems.

I wouldn't eat meat that had been sitting 12 hours. Danger zone for bacteria growth is room temp.

Why not leave it in fridge and then transfer to microwave when ready to reheat?

I wouldn't.

I would make up the tray bake, and pop it in the fridge. Put it in the oven when I got home.

If it was all veg and shelf stable items, I would, but not meat or fish.

Slow cooker food is so gross though. Bland and watery.

Yes being cooked should kill off the bacteria, however some bacteria produce a toxin that doesn't get removed by heating so it will still make you sick. I wouldn't do this. Slow cooker would be a better alternative.

You're doing the slow cooker wrong.

Your DH is right, sorry. Chorizo would be fine but not fresh meat.

If your slow cooked food is bland and watery you are doing something wrong. Slow cook food is lovely, mine is never bland and watery.

I do this all the time and we've never got ill. I don't do it in the summer when it's hot.

Chorizo, vegetable, cheese yes, raw meat or fish no way.

I probably wouldn’t do that during a heatwave but otherwise consider it fine. Chorizo is cured meat so irrelevant. Not having to worry about this kind of thing is one of the joys of being vegetarian.

Cook it the night before, put it in the fridge.

Reheat when you get in the next day.

Chorizo is cured and was designed to be kept back in the days when there were no fridges. Vegetables are fine at room temperature. Your oven will be insulated so everything wil stay cool until it comes on anyway.
I wouldn't chance it with chicken though. If you're going to use raw meat you'd be better off with a slow cooker.

You probably won't get ill, but do you want to risk it? I do that with vegetarian tray bakes and pulses. But I prefer using the slow cooker. Agree with PPs you are not using your slow cooker properly.

OP try this. Marinate your chicken legs or thighs or drumsticks for 24 hours in a mixture of chopped onion, garlic, coriander, lemon juice, pepper, salt, some chilli if you wish. Sear in a pan in butter until nicely brown. Put in slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 7-8 hot on low covered halfway by hot water. I promise you will lick your fingers!

Chorizo and veg fine. Absolutely not (to me) for meat or fish. If you were home, would you meet you’d left on the side for 12 hours, I wouldn’t.
If you want to have something ready, slow cooker or perhaps batch cook and heat up.

*7-8 hours not hot

Not safe.

Why can't the tray bake be prepared and in the fridge, and slung in the oven when the first person gets home?

I’m too paranoid to run an oven when I’m not home. What if I’m delayed or something catches fires?

Also, 12 hours at room temperature is too long for meat. Some bacteria produce endotoxins which aren’t broken down by cooking, so you could still get food poisoning even if the cooking kills the bugs. Don’t do it.

How long does a slow cooker take to get hot? Is good not semi-warm for a good while first? I might have regarded that as riskier.

There's absolutely no reason why slow cooked food should be bland or watery; in fact I find the flavours wonderful when I use my slow cooker. If your food is bland and watery then you're not seasoning enough or getting the consistency right; it's definitely not slow cooking per se.

I'm with your dh, vegetables wouldn't bother me but I wouldn't eat fish or meat that had been at room temperature that long.

Instead of asking mumsnet, read through this information provided by the FSA.

www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/safer-food-better-business-for-caterers

Sorry, I’d eat an hour later and just not risk it! Unless it’s vegetarian, food spoilage microorganisms can be on raw, cooked and cured meats. It’s not the bugs themselves that make you ill but the toxins they produce, which as others have said, are not broken down during cooking. A slow cooker is perfect for this, but does mean being on all day. We batch cook and have things in the freezer that can be defrosted during the day and then quickly heated.