Kirk
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2005
- Location
- Langhorn...
I know that the safe bet and the recommended strategy is to have meat go right from the fridge to the cooker. On the other hand, a lot of people let their meat sit out until the chill's off or even until it gets to room temp before cooking, especially when they're cooking beef. I have never had a problem with this but how long would consider safe for unrefridgerated meat to sit out like this?
My question stems from an argument I had with a teammate during a cookoff last year. Our chicken was prepped and ready to go into the cooker but the fire was too hot. I delayed putting the birds on the grill for about 20 minutes so the fire would have a chance to die down a bit. Including prep time it was almost 30 min from cooler to grill and my buddy was freaking out the whole time. I literally had to stand between him and the grill to keep him from putting the meat on. Now I know he was right from a safety standpoint but if we would've put the meat on at that point it would've been ruined. I refused to let all our hard work and the money we invested to compete to go "up in smoke." Like I said, I know he was right, technically speaking, but we all know that you're not going to get food poisoning from meat that's been out of the fridge for 30 minutes. I'd like to hear opinions on what y'all think is safe and what you practice day to day.
If you're at home cooking, what would you think of bringing the temp up quicker in the microwave (set on low) to minimize the time in the "danger zone"?
Thanks.
My question stems from an argument I had with a teammate during a cookoff last year. Our chicken was prepped and ready to go into the cooker but the fire was too hot. I delayed putting the birds on the grill for about 20 minutes so the fire would have a chance to die down a bit. Including prep time it was almost 30 min from cooler to grill and my buddy was freaking out the whole time. I literally had to stand between him and the grill to keep him from putting the meat on. Now I know he was right from a safety standpoint but if we would've put the meat on at that point it would've been ruined. I refused to let all our hard work and the money we invested to compete to go "up in smoke." Like I said, I know he was right, technically speaking, but we all know that you're not going to get food poisoning from meat that's been out of the fridge for 30 minutes. I'd like to hear opinions on what y'all think is safe and what you practice day to day.
If you're at home cooking, what would you think of bringing the temp up quicker in the microwave (set on low) to minimize the time in the "danger zone"?
Thanks.