Accidentally left cottage pies out overnight, will it be ok?

[PinkElephants356]

I made 4 cottage pies last night, they were finished by 9pm, I put lids on them and I’ve only just found them and they’ve gone in the freezer.

Ive done this before and they were OK but I’m so worried now because the mixture was cooling whilst I was cooking the potatoes so they weren’t that warm when I’d finished anyway.

After I left them to cool I forgot about them and never returned to the kitchen and of course husband went in to the kitchen several times after that but didn’t think to mention the cottage pies.

Will it be ok to eat?

They were in the kitchen, away from the radiator and the heating was off by about 10pm.

The people of the past who didn't have fridges, didn’t have central heating either.

I’d eat them though.

They’re full of dead, rotting animals. Treat accordingly.

I often cook a batch pot of soup, chilli, bolognese, etc and just leave the pot out on the hob overnight at all times of year. Never had food poisoning.

Just make sure you reheat it properly when the time comes and it'll be totally fine.

Nothing is going to happen. Just freeze them and heat/eat another time.

Yeah they'll be fine.

i do this sort of thing all the time and have only ever had food poisoning once in 48 years. In actual fact it may even have been alcohol poisoning but still

They’ll be fine. I leave food to cool overnight all the time.

Me too. I wouldn’t give this a second thought.

I think it will be fine, you are not catering for a restaurant and those stricter standards don’t apply in a domestic setting.

Even 70 years ago, most people didn’t have fridges (or freezers). But they still stored cooked meat rather than eating it all at once.

If we were in the middle of a heatwave, I might pause, but they were in a presumably clean kitchen overnight on the coldest night of the year since January.

Depends on how warm your kitchen is. It's snowed here the last few days and my kitchen is close to fridge temperature overnight anyway, so if yours is similar I wouldn't worry. If you have your thermostat on 20° all day and night, I'd be a little more worried but probably still eat it anyway, after a more thorough then usual reheating.

"Perishable foods, including cooked meats, should not be left at room temperature for more than two hours, as this allows harmful bacteria to grow to dangerous levels that reheating cannot destroy. "

Well in that case 1000s of people would be ill every week from party food and this just doesn't happen

No problem at all, OP.

Re-heat to bubbling when you eat them, and enjoy.

They'll be fine. You are going to reheat them which will kill off any nasties. Overnight in uk winter is hardly warm enough to cause any issues anyway.

I'd still eat it. Beef is very flexible!

Absolutely fine, especially in the current climate!

Unless you are facing hunger and a missed meal I wouldn't eat it. I mean I just think about how bad gastroenteritis can be and how bad you feel. My teenage son ended up in hospital and minus his appendix after getting Yersinia.

I would have eaten these without a second thought. And I would have been absolutely fine.

I would toss them.

Totally fine.

As long as you hear them really thoroughly I’m sure it’s fine for most people.

Completely fine. And delicious, enjoy!

I'd eat them, they'll be fine

I wouldn't risk it. Not for the sake of some minced beef or lamb. Very very annoying I realise. The reason being it is minced meat. Not a joint.
14 degrees for about 7 or 8 hours or more is too long and too high. Bacteria grows more rapidly in minced up food.
If it was as in days of old no central heating then you might be fine. But you ask, and it is a no from me.

Really. I'm actually horrified people would waste this much food for such a tiny tiny risk. We've all bee in scared shitless by "food safety".

Yershinia is usually from undercooked food, not food cooked and left. As long as its been reheated to full hot temperature, it's fine.