help asap...chk stock left out...wwyd?

[WildNettle]

nak
thought crock pot was on all day, but dh turnrd it off. stock made in c.pot overnight, but it;s been sitting out on counter all day. can i syill use it to make soup tonight? it smells and looks pretty normal i think. would you use it?

[dogmom327]

I'd boil it (probably for at least 5 minutes) before using it. This isn't based on anything specific--just intuition. If you boil it, it should kill anything bad.

[Toolip]

Health department standards say bring it up to a boil for 15 minutes and then cool it in an ice bath quickly unless you are going to use it right away. I've eaten stock that I've left out much longer than that. I feel confident that boiling it for 15 minutes will make sure it's safe.

It would be sad to throw out a batch of homemade stock!

Hope your soup is delicious!!

:

[guestmama9904]

well i feel strongly that chicken stock is one of the least safe food items to eat if it has been sitting out more than an hour or two. my father has been a professional chef and owns a seafood store and usually is pretty lax and TF about food in general but with chicken stock he says it is a perfect medium to grow potentially pathogenic bacteria and other microorganism and no matter how much you boil it you cannot boil out toxins that may have grown on it.