I wonder if this is an US/the rest thing or maybe a meat eater / vegetarian thing. For exact scientific evaluation, please tell in which groups you fit in when commenting.
When the topic food is brought up here or there is always this guy saying “omg you can’t leave your food for 30 minutes on the counter because bacteria you know” (exaggerated) and I don’t get where that sentiment comes from. Many people agree and say you will get food poisoning from that.
First of all, let me tell you I am not an idiot (at least I hope so) and I know how microbiology works - bacteria is everywhere. I don’t doubt your food on the counter will get populated by bacteria, probably more than it would be in the fridge. The question is, is this bad for you?
Now, where I live (central Europe) people are not so fast with that and I wonder why this is. We have a temperate climate which could play a role, so a large portion of the year the temperature is pretty moderate, compared to let’s say south US. But apart from that I don’t really know.
I am a vegetarian, mostly vegan. I am pretty sure it’s not a good idea to leave animal parts out of the fridge, as they are already populated with bad bacteria when you buy them. But for vegetables? Pasta, soup, lasagna? To be honest, I have no shame to leave that stuff on the counter the whole day and even take a spoon from time to time without reheating. Over night I put it of course in the fridge, and in summer when we have 35°C it’s also a different thing. But in general I don’t really care. I know I cannot extrapolate on humanity, only because ai never felt bad after doing this. But honestly, am I an idiot? Or are you just a bit sensitive? Do you assume everybody eats meats?
Really interested in your ideas. Don’t forget to tell the region you are coming from and your diet preferences.
Thank you so much my respected lemmings and pie people
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American omnivore.
The only reason I leave things out is if they’ll get soggy in the fridge. This generally applies to pizza and biscuits (in a bag). My gluten free bread is refrigerated because it gets moldy before I finish it, regular bread is on the counter.
If I happen to forget to put away leftovers, I’ll refrigerate them when I get to them as long as they haven’t dried out or anything. I’ve woken up in the middle of the night to do that.
Couple stories for you. Had a tray of 100 hot wings we ordered one night drunk. Left it on the counter for 3 days straight eating out of it until they were gone. They never were brought above or below room temperature for that entire time. We didn’t die.
I also regularly order too much food. Forget to fridge the leftovers, and still eat the crap the next day. I’ve yet to be food poisoned from this.
Maybe I am just lucky.
While this is a fun anecdote, yes you are just lucky you didn’t get a food borne illness.
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It’s junk food. Pizza is like that too by being junk food it gets magical powers to stay on the counter until finished
Europe. Technically meat eater but not an “identity” and generally prefer veggie.
This rule makes no intuitive sense, or factual sense. It sounds like one of those US-specific things that have spread through “everyone knows” like the 3 second rule.
We have other nonsense rules here, basically.
Dutch omnivore. I will sometimes leave something on the counter overnight. Usually when I made a big pan of something which I can’t fit into the fridge. But it’s something that will be reheated/boiled. Like a soup or stew. My wife complains about it everytime I do that though 😄
My ex would do the same thing with pots of rice. She would usually get diarrhea and blame it on anything but the rice.
Vegetarian/Germany. I’ll leave food on the counter too as long as I’m still planning to eat it the same day. Never had issues. If I’m planning to only eat it the next day, I’ll refrigerate it.
One big reason for the US guidelines being so strict is that they apply to the entire country, which ranges from Florida to Alaska and everywhere in between, and they are worst case. Plus with a massive population fed by capitalist companies that value money over lives and frequently altered food for profit, deaths in a large population are going to happen.
I don’t leave stuff that needs refridgeration out for more than a few hours so that it holds up for several days and the time varies widely by food type. Food does need to cool down significantly before refridgerating, although sometimes I will put it in within a couple hours to avoid forgetting. For most foods I have a four hour limit outside the fridge.
Commercially raised chicken has a very high chance of having salmonella. Raw chicken is only out long enough to prepare and cook. Once cooked I don’t worry anymore than anything else.
I also use the dates as rough estimates and when to pay more attention to spoilage. I don’t worry about safety for canned foods that don’t have signs of spoilage, but a soup can a couple years past the best by date has likely probably separated and textures will be off. Dates on bags of chips are a sign they are will be going stale within a few months.
Depends on the food but most goes in. In addition to cooling, the refrigerator is critter proof (ants, mice). Not bread not catsup but most all leftovers
Rural US, no dietary restrictions, 40, married with children
I keep my lunch in my work bag all day, not in the fridge, unless it’s salad where it should be crisp.
I did the European thing where I kept eggs on the counter. It’s best that way. Real unwashed farm eggs, not shit from the grocery store.
Ants are everywhere in south east asia so I’d never or build a little tower with a water bowl underneath it.
Mostly vege/france. I don’t mind leaving food out in the open, especially cakes, pies and cookies. I can confirm that sometimes a few days out are too much, but as long as you check for weird scent/look, you’ll be ok. My parent recently ate boiled meat over the course of a week without putting it in the fridge, leaving it in its pot and reheating each day, they threw the last bit because it smelled bad, but they had no problem before that.
On the counter is fine for quite a while. I feel that putting warm food in the fridge will hurt the texture, so I always wait until it’s room temperature and usually a few hours longer before storing it.
So for the remainder of the day on the counter is fine in my book. Overnight it goes in the fridge.
Special case: Taco meat. I usually put the pan back in the (now cold) oven mostly to save space, and leave it there overnight. When I reheat taco meat I use enough heat to probably kill any bacteria anyway.
I’m sure you’ve heard this so many times before. It’s not necessarily the bacteria itself, but their waste products that put you at risk. I’m not sure what the salt content of taco meat is, and if your taco meat is dry or wet, but I do think you may be putting yourself at risk in this particular instance.
Omnivore, Netherlands. Forty years ago my parents had only one small fridge, so most of our food was kept in the cupboard or in the cellar. The fridge was for open containers or jars, some meat, eggs and margarine. Meat was deli meat for sandwiches, meat for dinner usually came from the freezer in the morning and was thawing on the counter all day. So I’m with you on this I guess.
I though eggs on the counter was the way it was done in europe and that the eggs aren’t scrubbed of their coating like in the us. Also netherlands. I mean its not norway but how cool did the cellar stay in the summer. I feel like it could almost be a fridge.
The cellar would be 10-15 degrees in summer. Eggs could go there just as well, but I guess they were kept in the fridge for convenience since it was right next to the stove. The same for cheese.
I’ll leave sauces and soups out overnight without worrying because they’ve been cooked for long periods of time and have a lid on.
But anything fresh especially salads and lightly cooked veggies I’ll want in the fridge immediately, because those few hours out of the fridge make them limp and reduces their long term life.
But I’ll happily open a container of leftover pasta that’s been in the fridge 2 weeks! I know that wasn’t the question but I’m dying to know how long people keep leftovers in the fridge. Vegan btw.
South US, but in the mountains where it is much cooler. SO is vegetarian and I am an omnivore but skew vegetarian, especially at home. I leave heated things out to cool from hot to warm before putting in the fridge. About an hour, maybe 2 when I am being forgetful. Anything over that is taking risk. I’ve had a few nasty bouts of food poisoning before so I skew on the safe side.
My mom on the other hand grew up very differently. Lives by the beach in a much warmer more humid climate. She’ll leave moist dump cakes unrefrigerated for days. She’s more homeopathic than me, says the spices have been used for ages to preserve food. She’s not wrong, but you have to throw in a lot more cinnamon than what our Americanized palate is accustomed to. We are very careful about what we eat when we visit, and even then, small bites to try first.
I leave food on the counter all the time, because If I’m still hungry in a little while, I don’t want my food cold. I have never in my life gotten food poisoning from it.
