Left taco meat out overnight. Am I fricked

YOU ATE A SPOONFUL?! Sorry man but that may be your last post on Tigerdroppings ever.

Because people honestly believe this matters.

Youre fine dude

IWEI still, without question.

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I don't know why she doesn't place in fridge right away.

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I think the thought process used to be that you should allow food to get to room temp before placing in the refrigerator, but I think that has been debunked.

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I think the thought process used to be that you should allow food to get to room temp before placing in the refrigerator, but I think that has been debunked.

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If you put 5 gallons of boiling liquid directly into a fridge or freezer, you run the risk of overwhelming the appliance's capacity to hold a proper temp, and thus potentially spoiling everything inside. So old-school cooks often leave stuff out to cool to room temp before refrigerating. Doing so is almost always a bad idea. Spoilage, esp w/certain foods, can begin very very quickly. Ground beef is pretty much a big ol E Coli factory....it is definitely one of those things that need prompt refrigeration.

So invest in a bunch of wide, shallow fridge/freezer containers. Stuff will chill much more quickly when it has greater surface area exposed to cold. If something is super-hot and you want to stick it in the fridge, pop a re-freezable ice pack atop the container to quick-chill.

One bout of chicken-induced salmonella lasting 4 days was enough to turn me into a zealot & evangelist for proper food safety/sanitation. Never again....though it did whittle away about 8 lbs.

Likely won't agree with me, but resteam the meat and get the temp up high.

It likely doesnt have as much bacteria as when you cooked it the first time.

i think the real question here is why did you cook 5 pounds of taco meat to freeze? probably takes as much time to reheat it as it does to just cook a pound

anyway, i wouldn't risk it. not ground beef left out 8+ hours. but my dad definitely would. guess it just depends how much you trust your gut.

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i think the real question here is why did you cook 5 pounds of taco meat to freeze? probably takes as much time to reheat it as it does to just cook a pound

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Except it doesn't. We buy big packages of ground beef from Sam's and cook the entire batch at once. Freeze them in 1 lb portions. Run a little warm water on the Ziploc, once it can be broken into a couple of chunks to get it out of the bag, it goes into the skillet. About 3 minutes on medium and it is completely thawed, and then you can season for whatever you're cooking. Tacos, Spaghetti, Chili, etc. Saves a ton of time and money.

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Except it doesn't. We buy big packages of ground beef from Sam's and cook the entire batch at once. Freeze them in 1 lb portions. Run a little warm water on the Ziploc, once it can be broken into a couple of chunks to get it out of the bag, it goes into the skillet. About 3 minutes on medium and it is completely thawed, and then you can season for whatever you're cooking. Tacos, Spaghetti, Chili, etc. Saves a ton of time and money.

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Agree all the way--I do the same thing, except I freeze in small, 1/2 or less portions in glass containers. It can go straight into the microwave & is ready in less than 2 minutes. Perfect for quickie nachos (made w/Beanitos for even more protein), as part of a burrito or quesadilla filling, etc.

I do a similar thing w/ground pork, except I use garlic, fresh ginger, and onions, plus a little soy or oyster sauce. Insta-Asian beef topping for a stir fry or steamed veg & rice, or stirred into a bowl of ramen.