Food safety question - left food out overnight

kl8ton

So my wife worked really hard making jambalaya yesterday.  I smoked the andouille sausage on the BGE.  We had about 6 gallons of it.  Some stayed in a stock pot and was put in the fridge.  The rest I spooned into 4 freezer bags (1 gallon size).  I left them out on the counter overnight.

Safe to put in freezer and eat later (the original plan)?

Toss?

I know food safety guidelines say 2 hours.  

We are looking at 12 hours.

@JustineCaseyFeldown

piney

Its cooked, sealed in freezer bags, I would keep it. What if you were going to work or something and took some with you, it stayed out lets say, in a truck seat all day at 80-90 degrees would you eat that for lunch? The point I'm trying to make is, people won't eat something that has got left out of fridge but will put it between 2 slices of bread add a little mayo, wrap it in waxpaper, throw it on the dash of a truck and eat it hours or even a day later. Just my opinion!

GATraveller

I'd keep it but I know it probably isn't the safest option.

gmac

I forgot stew covered in a pot before. No problems. 

If the food went into the bag cooked you have eliminated many of the spoilage bacteria and most of the bad ones especially. If the bags are new and clean I suspect they are almost sterile (no way to prove this without a swab so I could be wrong but I suspect they are pretty clean) so any bacteria would be pretty low in my opinion. 
I wouldn't think twice about putting them in the freezer but that's me. 

nolaegghead

In early medieval times, the soup pot was neverending.  They just added stuff to it and ate from it day in and day out.  Of course the mortality rate was a bit different back then. 

If you boil it you won't get sick if it was just cooling down overnight. 

SoCalTim

This come's directly from the owner of the restaurant I used to work for, 'When in doubt, throw it out'!

Eggcelsior

Plus, there is a pretty good salt level to jambalaya typically, so that should insulate you some more.

Canugghead

Was the jambalaya still warm when vac sealed, or was it pre chilled?  

StillH2OEgger

I can offer nothing of scientific value to this discussion other than to say I have consumed worse and survived to tell about it.

kl8ton

Canugghead said:

Was the jambalaya still warm when vac sealed, or was it pre chilled?  

Warm. 
Not vac sealed.  Just zip lock. 

Canugghead

Warm food in enclosed bag makes it more 'interesting'.  Even if you'd put it in the freezer right away it would have taken a while (few hours especially if the bags are stacked?) for the food to drop to so-called 40F safe temp?  
Call me paranoid, I cool down or pre chill before bagging/storing, especially when it comes to chamber sealing.

KiterTodd

You'll simmer it when you heat it up for the next use.  Good to go. 

Alternatively, you can leave it out for another 45 days.  Grill it.  Post about it. 

nolaegghead

dry age it.  Yurm.