Chicken meat - I forgot to put it in the fridge, left it in the hall overnight ... is it still ok to have it?

[greenday]

So that was from 10pm ish last night till 7am-ish this morning. If I put it in the oven tonight and cooked it on high heat and made sure they were cooked really well, do you reckon they're safe to have?

Anyone? Pretty please ...

Oh thank you!!! That's a relieve! it was in the bag by the pram, in our hallway. Not too close to the radiator.

would depend how hot your hall is, whether heating has been on near it i reckon.

but i'm usually at the lax end of the spectrum on food safety issues...

i definitely would NOT eat that meat. no way.

i wouldnt touch it to be honest, but I am really squeamish about chicken

I wouldn't I'm afraid.

Oh no! It was a big-ish pack and the one time I thought I'd buy organic too, so hate the thought of wasting all that money .. argh! I can't believe I forgot to put it in the fridge!!!!

The only thing that would make me think its ok to have is that the heating is usually off by 11pm and on at 6am. And temperature in nights are cool, aren't they?
Argh! Its clear that I should bin it, but ... really? really?

I would give them a long, hard sniff. If there is any hint of bad smell, bin them. If not, I would cook them thoroughly (well, you would being chicken anyway).

People never used to keep meat in the fridge - just in a cool place. I'm sure Delia even takes her turkey out of the fridge the night before Christmas, so it's room temperature by the time it goes in the oven. If turkey can live out overnight, I think a chicken could.

Smell it and see!

I wouldn't.

Chicken is funny stuff and food poisoning is not pleasant.

Delia takes her turkey out of the freezer the night before Christmas, Crusha - to defrost it, not to see whether it can give everyone salmonella or not

And in the past people used meat safes - much colder than the temperature in the rest of the house. And the houses didn't have central heating.

I really wouldn't risk it.

Give it a sniff.

Cook it through.

IMO.

Looks like pretty polarised opinions here.

What a quandry! What you going to do??

Delia doesn't use frozen turkey!

I quote "Before you start, please bear in mind that it is important to take the turkey out of the fridge last thing on Christmas Eve to allow it to come to room temperature so that it heats up immediately you put it in the oven."

it depends on many factors - how long heating was on after you left it, how high the heating was set, how cold the chicken was to strt with...if it smells & looks ok it probably is, but it wasn't a particularly cold night last night so I'd be wary (and I am not a cautious foodie!)

I'd say if it didn't smell cheesy or weird when you were preparing it, its probably fine. Having said that I'd also be sure that its cooked through and not give it to 'vulnerable people' ie very small children, the pregnant, the sick or the elderly .

off chicken really does smell awful!

if it smells like fish,don't eat it.if it doesn't, it'll probably be ok

Yes, what mixed opinions! What a quandry! The chicken looks and smell OK. They look like they did yesterday.
What will I do - well, I have already put them in the oven, smothered them in spicy piri-piri sauce so all I can taste is the seasoning, and I'll keep my fingers crossed.

If I have food poisoning, I'll bear the 'I told you so' from you all, and if I've survived, I'll report it too ...

PS - like the 'if it smells like fish ...' philosophy!

I survived!!!! I'm fine ... no funny tummy!!! Yeh!

It takes a bit longer than that to happen! If you haven't felt ill for the next week then you've probably escaped anything - and if you cooked it well at a high heat for a bit longer than usual you probably will. Not sure I'd have used it myself though.

Yay for greenday and her non-sickiness!!!

I think you'll be OK

4 days down the road and I AM FINE!!

i personally wouldnt have cooked it - but glad you are ok x