"When in doubt, throw it out" or "How lucky do you feel?"
In theory, cooking the meat to pasteurization should destroy any pathogenic bacteria present. But food safety is the practice of reducing risks to the lowest reasonable level and leaving a roast out overnight probably violates a primary rule (40F-140F > 2 hrs.) Just because cooking "should" kill any and all bacteria present, doesn't mean that it "will". Under ideal conditions, bacteria can double in number every 20 minutes turning a few harmless bugs into a trip to the hospital (or worse) in a matter of hours.
Sam, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not aware that brine has any significant anti-bacterial properties. That's isopropanol and chlorine you smell in the hospital, not the scent of fresh ocean air.
And Katia is right -- danger zone is basically 40 to 140F. You don't want to exceed two hours in that range. We do have some serious food safety experts on the site, so hopefully one of them will chime in (I'm still at "novice" level). I'm sure there is a formula that could tell you -- based on weight of roast, outside temp, etc. how long it would take to thaw and how cold the brine would be around it (and I'm assuming this would only help if the roast was fully submerged at all times...) that would then tell you at what time the roast entered the "danger zone" (if it did) and you could judge from there.
How many hours?was it still cold when you touched it?if it was less than 6 hours and below 40 degrees Celsius by the time you touched it,it is still safe and out of the dangerous zone.if you are not sure for what I am mentioning better do not risk it
5 Comments
"When in doubt, throw it out" or "How lucky do you feel?"
In theory, cooking the meat to pasteurization should destroy any pathogenic bacteria present. But food safety is the practice of reducing risks to the lowest reasonable level and leaving a roast out overnight probably violates a primary rule (40F-140F > 2 hrs.) Just because cooking "should" kill any and all bacteria present, doesn't mean that it "will". Under ideal conditions, bacteria can double in number every 20 minutes turning a few harmless bugs into a trip to the hospital (or worse) in a matter of hours.
Sam, correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not aware that brine has any significant anti-bacterial properties. That's isopropanol and chlorine you smell in the hospital, not the scent of fresh ocean air.
And Katia is right -- danger zone is basically 40 to 140F. You don't want to exceed two hours in that range. We do have some serious food safety experts on the site, so hopefully one of them will chime in (I'm still at "novice" level). I'm sure there is a formula that could tell you -- based on weight of roast, outside temp, etc. how long it would take to thaw and how cold the brine would be around it (and I'm assuming this would only help if the roast was fully submerged at all times...) that would then tell you at what time the roast entered the "danger zone" (if it did) and you could judge from there.