re: Pot of red beans on stove overnight

The rule is 4 Hours in the “Danger Zone” which is 40-140* farenheit. Some bacteria can be killed by reheating above 165 like Ecoli. Other bacteria produce toxins that are temperature stable up to hundreds of degrees. These include Salmonella and Botchulism. The bacteria die, but the chemical toxins that make you sick (or kill you) are not destroyed by reheating.

The odds that healthy people with properly working immune systems will get sick are low for any given situation, but you are rolling the dice anytime you eat food that exceeds the reccomended time in the danger zone.

Will you or your family get sick? Probably not. Could you get sick? Possibly.

This is the answer that food scientists would give you. I know this because I’ve been working with them directly for over 20 years.