I'm Inclined to Throw it Out (Culinary Help Requested).

[warwick.hoy]

I usually just toss the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving but we decided to turn it into stock. We don't have all the tools (a siphon or a big enough sieve) which is what I was waiting to acquire as the carcass sat covered in the fridge.

My wife decided to start on it without my knowledge and then as a result of a miss-communication, it got left out at room temp over night.

It was brought to a rolling boil for a few hours before it sat.

There are some things with poultry I'm pretty confident with (temps and such) but I'm not sure if it's too chancy to consume this stock due to it sitting at room temp for so long. I don't think I can strain/siphon the stock and bring it back to a boil as I don't think that kills bacteria,...just stops it from growing.

What would you do chefs?

[winston]

Throw it out!
I wouldn't do anything with a week-old bird to begin with, but the overnight out of the fridge absolutely clinches it.

I am a professional baker trained in food safety.
The rule of thumb is that if any food requiring refrigeration gets above 40 degrees F for 4 hours, it must be tossed.

[tink9975]

the stock was left out over night? Toss it.

The guidelines that I am familiar with say that food shouldn't be left in the "danger zone" (40-140) for more than 2 hours. overnight is more than enough time for a nasty bacteria to establish itself.

[fenderhutz]

No chef, but I play one at home quite often with very fine cuisine (good friend is a sous chef at a 5 star restaurant as well). Turkey is one of the worst fowl to leave out for any extended period of time and it is recommended to throw out after a couple of days even if KEPT refrigerated.

Check this out.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/help/faqs_h...tion/index.asp

Is it safe to eat leftover food that was left out on the counter to cool at dinnertime, then forgotten until morning? Will additional cooking kill the bacteria that may have grown?
No. Bacteria exist everywhere in nature. They are in the soil, air, water, and the foods we eat. When they have nutrients (food), moisture, and favorable temperatures, they grow rapidly, increasing in numbers to the point where some types of bacteria can cause illness. Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, some doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. Some types will produce toxins that are not destroyed by cooking.

Pathogenic bacteria do not generally affect the taste, smell, or appearance of a food. In other words, one cannot tell that a food has been mishandled or is dangerous to eat. For example, food that has been left too long on the counter may be dangerous to eat, but could smell and look fine. If a food has been left in the "Danger Zone" – between 40 and 140 °F – for more than 2 hours, discard it, even though it may look and smell good. Never taste a food to see if it is spoiled.

Winston was dead on with the temps and timeframes.

[warwick.hoy]

I'm a cook too (with a little baking ) and I was relying on (probably) the same food safety training that you guys are (the county is the bureaucracy in charge of that). I just wanted to confirm my gut feeling. Thanks.

[lunarpollen]

Maybe I'm missing something, but wouldn't almost all leftovers linger in the danger zone between 40 and 140°F for more than 2 hours? For instance, you order a ton of Chinese food, eat some of it, and put what you can't finish into containers and pop them into the fridge to enjoy over the next couple of days. There's no way that all that hot food is going to cool down below 40°F in just 2 hours in the fridge in sealed containers.

[MikeyFingers]

What about still in-tact meat? I have a good deal dark meat and one entire turkey leg left over.
It's been wrapped up in the fridge since Thanksgiving.
Any thoughts on that? I haven't touched it in a few days, so I'm starting to wonder myself.

[jp58]

I go with the "If there is any doubt, throw it out" approach.

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by jp58

I go with the "If there is any doubt, throw it out" approach.

A wise ideology.

[Hutzbordello]

my family makes a soup out of it everyear, its amazing.....idk how they do it. its kinda a secret but uh...yea its the best soup ive had

[Munjibunga]

What a bunch of WUSSES!

[Eric Perry]

Seriously.... That damn turkey lived its whole life in the "danger zone"!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Originally Posted by Eric Perry

Seriously.... That damn turkey lived its whole life in the "danger zone"!

Wasn't that a Goose?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8rZWw9HE7o

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

What a bunch of WUSSES!

I don't think avoiding liquid expulsion from every orifice of my body makes me a wuss.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

What a bunch of WUSSES!

^^^This.

I'm actually grateful for the opinions of the more experienced chefs here who have weighed in with their professional opinions. It's good to know that there are standards for this sort of thing.

But, having said that, I'll also point out that I've been cobbling together soups and stews for over 30 years, and in all that time I've always left the pot out overnight to cool before refridgerating it. Never got food poisoning, never had a batch go (noticeably) bad, never had any negative ramifications. That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stronger, I guess.

[Fishheadjoe]

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

What a bunch of WUSSES!

This!^
I would be inclined to use the soup and enjoy it!
The soup would have to have spent time, even in the fridge getting the temp down to the above noted temps.
Does it smell bad? Does it bubble on it's own when it comes out of the fridge?
Your turkey leg is also fine. Cut it up and add it to the soup.
Fishheadjoe
Mind you, I can eat things that would make a billy goat puke!