Help! I Accidentally Left Food Out All Night! Is It Still Good?

Emma Christensen
Emma Christensen
Emma is a former editor for The Kitchn and a graduate of the Cambridge School for Culinary Arts. She is the author of True Brews and Brew Better Beer. Check out her website for more cooking stories
published Feb 20, 2013
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Sent by Heather

Editor: Oh, I feel your pain! Technically speaking and if this were a restaurant situation, your pork was in the “danger zone” (between 40°F to 140°) for longer than recommended and should be tossed. This said, you could also re-heat the dish to above 140°F to kill any nasties and be ok eating it. Normally, reheating like this would also kill the food’s flavor and texture, but since this was a slow-cooked dish to begin with, I don’t think it would be affected as badly by reheating.

Readers, what do you recommend?

(Image: Nealey Dozier)