A stupid mistake - any advice please

[Mups]

Help!    I need some advice please, and its potentially serious. 

Last night I did a really stupid thing.
I had bought a lovely Beef roasting joint  in M&S  and intended to slow cook it overnight.
I have done this before,  and it is sooooo tender and falls apart.

Anyway,  I put the onions at the bottom,  a few carrots and some herbs and things,   poured the stock over it all,   but  then . . . . . . .    this morning I realised I had forgotten to turn the cooker on last night!

The problem is,  even though I have drained the stock and veg off,  and made fresh,  but I don't know if I dare risk cooking it after all.   It would have been out of the fridge since about tea time yesterday until about 10-ish this morning.

I am reluctant to have to throw a whole beef joint away,  but I am also scared incase it is now contaminated with Salmonella or summat.    Would cooking it for hours in my slow cooker kill any bacteria,  or would you put it down to stupidity and throw it out?

What would you do?

[klondike]

I'd say the risk is zero. I wouldn't even have chucked out the stock. Mind you O level woodwork (failed) hardly qualifies me to judge.

In days of yore meat was out cut and unwrapped on the butchers counter from dawn to dusk. Nobody died. Well ok some did but no butchers were ever prosecuted. 

[Mups]

I'd say the risk is zero. I wouldn't even have chucked out the stock. Mind you O level woodwork (failed) hardly qualifies me to judge.

In days of yore meat was out cut and unwrapped on the butchers counter from dawn to dusk. Nobody died. Well ok some did but no butchers were ever prosecuted. 

Thanks Klondy.
According to what I have just looked up,  meat can go off within two hours!   I didn't know it was that quick.    We can get E.Coli  from it too.
It didn't smell off,  (and I have got a nose like a dog ),  but there were that much onion and herbs I am worried that would have masked the smell anyway.

Just been looking at temperatures to kill bacteria, and the inside of the meat has to reach 74c  to kill germs apparently.   

If I am not around anymore next week,   you will know why. 

[JBR]

(and I have got a nose like a dog )

Oh!  Who told you that, Mups?
I'm sure you have a very pretty nose.

[dextrous63]

How do they age beef for weeks on end?

[Mups]

Oh!  Who told you that, Mups?
I'm sure you have a very pretty nose.

Thankyou dear,  but I meant my sense of smell is like a dog's,  not  the  look of my snout. 


February 25, 2025, 02:58:51 PM

How do they age beef for weeks on end?

But I doubt they would leave it out at room temperature for weeks on end, Dex. 
My beef joint was in the slow cooker on the kitchen worktop all night.

[Alex]

How about chopping it up and cooking on the hob as a stew  ? I'm a bit paranoid about cooking meat, particularly pork.   

[Ruthio]

What would you do?

I'd swear, and then I'd just go ahead and cook it as I originally intended!!

[Scrumpy]

I'm a woosie when it comes to 'Out of date' produce..

I would never take a chance on anything 'iffy' ..
If meat has been left out of the fridge for too long it would be a 'no no' for me..

I bet there are things going on in restaurants that would shock us.. 

[Mups]

Oh dear.   It's been in the slow cooker for a few hours now,  and I am just about to stick a meat thermometer in the middle of the meat to see if it is a safe temperature.
I hope I've done the right thing.

To be honest,  if it had just been a Chop or something small,  I would have chucked it,  but because it was a whole Beef joint for a Sunday dinner,  I've risked it.
Will see what it tastes like later,  see if it tastes normal.  

Thanks ever so much for your thoughts everyone. 

[Ashy]

If you cook it, it will be safe to eat.

[Scrumpy]

There you go Mups.. 
I believe what Ashy says.

[dextrous63]

I'd imagine that the stock you poured over it had salt in it Mups, which will have acted as a brine and fended off bacteria significantly.

I reckon you've got nothing to worry about.

In the meantime, I'll book the undertakers.😬

[klondike]

Don't cook the hell out of it or you may as well have thrown it out unless you have some boots need mending.

[JBR]

My advice is not to eat it, just in case.
Throw it out for the birds,
or the rats, as appropriate.