# Forgot to refrigerate chicken bought from supermarket 4 hours ago



## Amy (Mar 10, 2010)

Is this no longer safe to cook/eat for dinner tonight?  I'm so made at myself; I thought I had put away all perishables.


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## BevL (Mar 10, 2010)

I'd do it.  Eight hours, no, but if it's well cooked, it's probably fine.


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## Luanne (Mar 10, 2010)

I would think it would still be okay to cook tonight, especially if it's not really hot in your house, or where the chicken has been sitting.


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## DeniseM (Mar 10, 2010)

If it is still quite cold, I'd cook it.  If it is room temp., I wouldn't chance it.  It's not worth a few bucks to get food poisoning.


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## Amy (Mar 10, 2010)

I hope so.  I'm trying to do a quick search online and keep seeing the "refrigerate promptly" message, which worries me.  But it still feels cool to the touch and I don't think I have time to return to the market before I need to go pick up DS.


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## Amy (Mar 10, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> If it is still quite cold, I'd cook it.  If it is room temp., I wouldn't chance it.  It's not worth a few bucks to get food poisoning.


 
I wouldn't describe it as "quite cold"; it is cool.  It has been sitting in a plastic bag left on the kitchen floor since I returned home from a run to the market.  You think this is chancy?  I guess I could make spaghetti instead.


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## Passepartout (Mar 10, 2010)

You've already figured it is not good practice. If it was me I'd rinse it well with cold water, skin it if I could, pat it dry with paper towels and cook it well. Getting it to 160 degrees will kill any bacteria that are left.

Jim Ricks


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## BevL (Mar 10, 2010)

To follow up on Jim's note, I probably wouldn't stir fry/saute it.  I'd bake it and then use it for stir fry or bake it and eat it.  Just to make sure it's really thoroughly cooked all the way through.


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## MuranoJo (Mar 10, 2010)

My husband's family is very lackadaisical about this, in spite of my warnings.  Potato salad out on the deck in the summer for 4 hours?  No problem.  Thawing out frozen meat on the counter top all day?  No problem.  Chopping veggies on the same cutting board as you just chopped meat? "It hasn't killed us yet, has it?"

And they are right--hasn't made any of them ill.  I think some people must just build up immunity to this kind of thing or as a society we overreact.  Better safe than sorry, but I personally wouldn't be too concerned about your example--especially if cooked to a good temp as others have suggested.


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## Amy (Mar 10, 2010)

I chickened out, tossed the chicken, and made another trip to the market after I picked up DS.  I had been thinking of BBQ chicken all day and just didn't feel like having spaghetti.  Of course the delay meant we had dinner an hour later than usual and my kids were crabby.  The PP's post about hubby just reminded me that I grew up in a house where meat and fish are left to defrost on the counter all day; and I've seen both in-laws mix knives and cutting board that touched raw meat with other foods (which so troubled me that I've insisted on cooking all meals when they visit).  So perhaps I overreacted.  This was a luxury act due to our ability to pay.  My mom would have been upset with the waste.


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## ScoopKona (Mar 11, 2010)

In a restaurant, any protein that spends more than four hours in the zone should be tossed.

I would have made stock with it at home. (So long as the chicken didn't feel slimy -- inside or out. Yes, I know they feel slimy inside. But there's "normal slime" and "massive bacterial growth slime.")

So long as the bird wasn't in danger of reanimating, no way any pathogens would survive more than an hour of roasting and three hours of simmering.

Bone the bird. Chop the bones in half with a cleaver. Roast the bones on a sheet pan for an half an hour or until those bones are DARK. Add the meat and some onions, celery and carrots. Roast another half hour. Smear it all with a can of tomato paste and roast another 20 minutes. Then dump everything in a pot. Deglaze the pan and add to the pot. Fill the pot with cold water and slowly, slowly, slowly bring to the barest of simmers. Skim any scum -- de'pouillage sounds better -- and simmer and skim for three hours. 

(It would yield a clearer stock if you skimmed, then added the mirepoix and then skimmed some more. But this is lazy "good enough for non-paying customers" stock creation.)

Then strain everything. Cool in an ice water bath. Separate the fat in the fridge, skim that off. Then back into a pot and simmer and reduce until the total volume fits in a couple ice cube trays. Make dark chicken stock ice cubes and use them as "flavor bombs" in gravies and sauces.

Do this, and your journey towards the dark side of foodiedom will begin!


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## 1950bing (Mar 11, 2010)

Why do you put chicken on the floor?


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## wackymother (Mar 11, 2010)

1950bing said:


> Why do you put chicken on the floor?




She didn't put the chicken on the floor. She came in from the car with the groceries and put her grocery bag, a plastic grocery bag, possibly a paper-and-plastic grocery bag, on the floor. In the plastic grocery bag was a styrofoam-and-plastic package with chicken in it. The chicken was nowhere near the floor.


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## DeniseM (Mar 11, 2010)

1950bing said:


> Why do you put chicken on the floor?



I wondered the same thing - obviously the chicken was wrapped, but I always put groceries on the kitchen counter.


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## scrapngen (Mar 11, 2010)

DeniseM said:


> I wondered the same thing - obviously the chicken was wrapped, but I always put groceries on the kitchen counter.



Some of us still have tiny kitchens w/minimal counter space 
I, too, put my groceries on the floor (in their bags) until I put them away in the fridge or cupboard.


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## lvhmbh (Mar 11, 2010)

Great website is www.shelflifeadvice.com  Linda


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## silverfox82 (Mar 11, 2010)

Cooking it well will kill any bacteria, you could leave it out all day and not get sick as long as its cooked but if you were not comfortable you did the right thing. Most folks worry about mayo being left out too long, not a problem, it's made out of natural perservatives (oil, sugar, vinager,salt) and then pastuerised, homemade mayo no, store bought is fine.


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## Stricky (Mar 11, 2010)

silverfox82 said:


> Cooking it well will kill any bacteria, you could leave it out all day and not get sick as long as its cooked but if you were not comfortable you did the right thing. Most folks worry about mayo being left out too long, not a problem, it's made out of natural perservatives (oil, sugar, vinager,salt) and then pastuerised, homemade mayo no, store bought is fine.



+1

Since it was not cooked yet you will be fine. Cooking it will kill any bad stuff. I would use it tonight as any bacteria on it will spoil it much quicker now. Meaning in a day or two it will have "that" smell to it.


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