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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think I probably have to chuck this chicken away?

38 replies

UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 07:25

Last night around 6.30 I made this recipe for the slow cooker https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chicken-chasseur

so basically you fry off the chicken and start off the sauce so everything goes into the slow cooker already hot. I asked my DH to turn the slow cooker on when he went to bed around 11 with the intention of it being cooked for this morning so we could both take a portion to work for lunch and put the rest in the fridge for dinner tomorrow. Of course he forgot to turn it on, so the chicken has been sitting out overnight in Lukewarm sauce. I think I need to bin it? Or would you still eat it?
YABU = no it’s fine eat it
YANBU = yes bin it

Slow cooker chicken chasseur served on a plate

Slow cooker chicken chasseur

Throw a handful of ingredients in the slow cooker at the start of the day and this classic French chicken chasseur will be ready by the time you get home

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/slow-cooker-chicken-chasseur

OP posts:
Ineffable23 · 01/09/2025 07:26

I'd be binning that I'm afraid. I'm not paranoid on sell by dates or anything but 12 hours of half cooked chicken in the summer would be a no from me.

PersephoneParlormaid · 01/09/2025 07:27

Chuck it.

PetuniaPetuniaPetunia · 01/09/2025 07:27

Personally I wouldn’t risk it and would definitely bin it! Frustrating but better than being poorly!

Original poster
UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 07:35

If it makes any difference (?) it’s about £10 worth of chicken 😫

OP posts:
tumblingdowntherabbithole · 01/09/2025 07:36

It definitely needs to go in the bin.

Copiousamountsofpulses · 01/09/2025 07:37

Definitely bin it and I'm on the more relaxed side about food!

Topseyt123 · 01/09/2025 07:37

I would bin it. Not worth the risk.

Ponoka7 · 01/09/2025 07:40

UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 07:35

If it makes any difference (?) it’s about £10 worth of chicken 😫

Have you both got paid sick leave left? Or would you have to self cert, unpaid? That'll cost more than £10.
I leave food/turkey out over winter and occasionally beef, mid seasons, but wouldn't chance chicken.

Myfridgeiscool · 01/09/2025 07:40

I reckon it’s going in the bin, I doubt it’s been cold enough in your kitchen at this time of year to save it.
Chicken is very unforgiving compared to other meats, it is full of nasty bacteria.

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 01/09/2025 07:41

I’d pay £10 to avoid food poisoning. How annoying!

Original poster
UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 08:18

Yep this is what I thought. Also wouldn’t have been so bad if everything was going in the slow cooker cold like precooked chicken, tins and stuff from the fridge as it would have stayed cooler overnight but the sauce was already warm so it’s basically had a nice lukewarm bacteria bath overnight 🤦‍♀️

think I’m gonna have to LTB

OP posts:
Shoxfordian · 01/09/2025 08:19

Yep, ltb but get him to sort out dinner first because you can't eat that

Overthebow · 01/09/2025 08:22

Yes throw it away, but I also wouldn’t want to eat it if it had been left out lukewarm from 6.30pm until 11pm either.

lljkk · 01/09/2025 08:25

depends on the temperature in your kitchen. My kitchen would have been < 18 all that time, close to 13 by dawn. But I'd want to cook it fully now and make sure to eat today if it smelled and tasted ok.

dogcatkitten · 01/09/2025 08:27

It might be OK if it was well fried and that killed off any surface bacteria and the dish and sauce were pretty sterile, then there would be nothing to multiply while it was sitting, but probably not worth the risk.

dairydebris · 01/09/2025 08:28

UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 08:18

Yep this is what I thought. Also wouldn’t have been so bad if everything was going in the slow cooker cold like precooked chicken, tins and stuff from the fridge as it would have stayed cooler overnight but the sauce was already warm so it’s basically had a nice lukewarm bacteria bath overnight 🤦‍♀️

think I’m gonna have to LTB

I'm absolutely furious on your behalf.

Oneearringlost · 01/09/2025 08:32

Ineffable23 · 01/09/2025 07:26

I'd be binning that I'm afraid. I'm not paranoid on sell by dates or anything but 12 hours of half cooked chicken in the summer would be a no from me.

Yup, agree with this, I'm afraid, OP. @Ineffable23has summed it up perfectly.

And I have a very healthy attitude to sell-by dates/ use-by dates.

Galling, all the same.

itsachickeninnit · 01/09/2025 08:34

I’m not that fussy about food dates etc but yes I would bin that, and put DH in charge of sorting lunch and dinner 😂

Heronwatcher · 01/09/2025 08:37

Bin it and get DH to buy a take away tonight!

HelloHattie · 01/09/2025 08:37

I am really lax on that sort of thing but 6.30-11 with warm chicken would be a no no.

Original poster
UpUpAwayz · 01/09/2025 08:53

dogcatkitten · 01/09/2025 08:27

It might be OK if it was well fried and that killed off any surface bacteria and the dish and sauce were pretty sterile, then there would be nothing to multiply while it was sitting, but probably not worth the risk.

Yes in honesty I do think it would probably be ok as it’s been well fried and then had a blast in the hot sauce but like pp say it’s just not worth the risk for the sake of £10 (actually more like £15 once you add the other ingredients but the 1/3 of a bottle of pretty nice white wine which I had to use because I didn’t have any other in the house 😡)

and yes I’ve told DH he needs to sort dinner for the next couple of days!

OP posts:
caringcarer · 01/09/2025 08:55

Never take a risk with poultry or pork. They can make you feel very ill.

GlassofRosePorfavor · 01/09/2025 08:57

I'd cook it but give it to him for his lunches 😂

ShodAndShadySenators · 01/09/2025 09:00

No help to you but I always rely on the tabby test - if the cat eats it, it's all right. But in this instance I don't think I would even try.

I would absolutely forget to turn something on last minute like that, so I set alarms on my phone as a reminder. (I have a daily one saying "Dishwasher on?" as even routine ones can be missed occasionally) I'd suggest your DH does similarly (or you) as it will save lots of frustration and wasted food

Keepingongoing · 01/09/2025 13:45

I got campylobacter from a piece of chicken that I’d cooked and refrigerated the previous day, but hadn’t realised was very slightly undercooked. I was very poorly and ended up on strong ABs.

my GP told me that you have to assume that ALL chicken/poultry is infected with campylobacter or salmonella and it must be fully cooked and eaten straight away, or cooked, cooled and refrigerated according to guidelines. So it’s a definite no to chicken that’s been sitting uncooked overnight.

Tbh I think you could have been pushing it by part cooking it and leaving it in the slow cooker, but not turning the slow cooker on until 11pm. That would have been quite a few hours at room temp for those bugs to multiply!