I forgot about my beans on the stove overnight. There is no meat in them. Are they still ok, or should I be concerned about bacteria?
I started to cook some beans last night following this recipe: http://www.seriouseats.... Per the recipe, I soaked the beans for 30 mins, brought to a boil, and simmered for 30 mins. Then I covered and forgot about them on the stove. It is now about 15 hours later. Can I just simmer them now to finish cooking, or is there something unsafe about getting halfway through cooking and forgetting about them? Is this all clear or bacteria city?
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Pathogenic bacteria are *everywhere*. You should just assume that everything is or will be contaminated. Give bacteria the right conditions and they can replicate at a staggering rate, doubling in number every 20 minutes. One can become millions overnight. Fortunately most are easily killed at normal cooking temperatures (the pasteurization point) so when you cook your beans, they become safe to eat. Some bacteria, such as C. botulinum and B. cereus which are ubiquitous in the soil, can produce toxins that are not destroyed at pasteurization temperatures but can be inactivated at higher temperatures. Certain cooking techniques, such as slow cookers and sautéing are insufficient to reliably destroy such toxins. There have been countless cases of food poisoning resulting from improperly cooled rice used in stir-fries. And there have been numerous cases of food poisoning from undercooked kidney and other beans which contain a potent toxin from the get-go. Soak your beans, boil for 10 minutes, problems averted.
And, yes, food scientists are well versed in the microbiology we're discussing, it's just that we are dealing with third level food safety here. Consumers are (hopefully) taught that food should be refrigerated after 2 hours (1 hour if the ambient temperature is above 90F). Professionals are told food may only be in the danger zone for 4 hours, a more complex concept but allows greater flexibility. We're discussing how -- and why -- the rules can be safely bent. For more information, I encourage you to read the article written by Harold McGee (linked above).
Because botulinum toxin is destroyed by high temperatures, persons who eat home-canned foods should consider boiling the food for 10 minutes before eating it to ensure safety.
The whole website is here http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/botulism/clinicians/control.asp
Thank you.
According to USDA guidelines, you should discard the beans.
That said, I, personally, wouldn't. I'd bring them to a full boil for 10 minutes and then proceed. That is, assuming the beans had not turned to mush by that point, always a possibility when boiling soft beans.
Here is what Harold McGee has to say about bending the rules:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/dining/bending-the-rules-on-bacteria-and-food-safety.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.curiouscook.com/site/2011/08/bending-the-rules-on-bacteria-new-york-times.html
Three minutes will not kill Bacillus Cereus for example (6.7 - 8.3 min. @ 212F). Ten minutes is the accepted time period for deactivating bacterial toxins.
They aren't denatured at pasteurization temperatures if that's what you're thinking about. I see Greenstuff posted the answer below.
There are many aspects of food safety that are not settled within the scientific community. Add to that different rules for home and commercial operations. Multiply that by the number of myths and the amount of disinformation running around since before our parents' time………..The bottom line is you should never deliberately create a hazardous situation such as the one being discussed here. And if you accidently do, either be safe, follow the guidelines and throw it out, know *exactly* what the dangers are and how to eliminate them, or be prepared to suffer the consequences.