left out all night.. can i still eat it?

[LiLStar]

We made some yummy chicken enchiladas last night then forgot to refrigerate the leftovers. I was really looking forward to having them for lunch! From the time they were out of the oven until they were put in the fridge was about 13 hours. The house is air conditioned and set to 72. Would you still eat it?

[BedHead]

I would.

[Thalia the Muse]

I would give it the sniff test, because I'm pretty laissez faire about food poisoning. But honestly, I don't recommend doing what I usually do in this case -- enchiladas seem like the type of thing that really has a high potential to grow a mess of bacteria and make you sick as well. the interior is all moist and would take a long time to cool when left out; everything's sort of happily blended together, which means any germs got spread thoroughly through the whole moist warm welcoming dish; you've got chicken, which can contain real nasties ... I think in this case, it might be better to just toss them.

[rhiOrion]

No real advice, but don't you just hate that?! I left out an entire pan of lasagna one night not too long ago! I was so angry at myself! I know it probably would have been fine, but I'm weird about leftovers anyhow. I put it back in the fridge but then I could never stomach the thought of eating it. So not only did I ruin my lasagna, I had to throw it away two weeks later when I remembered that it was still in the fridge. Yuck!

[LiLStar]

Originally Posted by Thalia the Muse

enchiladas seem like the type of thing that really has a high potential to grow a mess of bacteria and make you sick as well. the interior is all moist and would take a long time to cool when left out; everything's sort of happily blended together, which means any germs got spread thoroughly through the whole moist warm welcoming dish

Oh man, that description is just :Puke Does this mean I have to put more energy into lunch than simply turning the oven on and inserting the dish? Bah.

[noobmom]

I might eat it if it had been a full pan of enchiladas that you had cooked and forgotten in the oven without ever touching it. But once you took it out, starting serving it (did you use a clean serving spoon every time, etc.) and exposed it to air--not so much. Sorry.