I left the dish out all night, is it ruined?

[eowyn0523]

it has 4 cups of cheese, 2 cups of milk, 9 eggs plus chilies and spices. I cooked it at 350 for :30 minutes and put it on the stove to cool off...this was 10pm last night...I went to bed and forgot to put it in the fridge. I wasn't hot last night and I had planned to cook it the rest of the way (additional :15) this morning. Is the dish ruined? If I cook it more is it safe to eat?

 

[MreCuriousRidesAgain]

Your good to go. The cheese alone brought enough sodium to the dish to preserve it for such a short period of time; the eggs are cooked, and the spices and chili's also add to the preserving factor.
Just make sure to heat it thoroughly thru, possibly cooking at 275ºF for 25 to 30 minutes more instead of only 10 minutes more at 350ºF; this will defeat any chance of bacteria growth.
Oh by the way, I've done this very thing but for a longer period of time and still went on and finished cooking it and I'm still alive.
I hope this helped, good luck.
{???Chili's going bad???WTF???Capsain is a natural preservative}

 

[MichaelE]

Smell it. If it doesn't smell bad then reheat it fully to kill any bacteria. Try and hold a heat of at least 75 degrees celcuis for at least 2 mins. Then taste a bit. If it doesn't taste sour it will be fine. Think of it another way, you cooked it all last night so when you left it all the bacteria was cooked so it is unlikely it is spoilt that quickly. The official answer would be no but trust me, I am a chef and work with food all day. I serve food that "shouldn't" be served but I have faith in my senses to know if food is risky or not. I am confident I never make anyone sick and try everything before I send it out and I have never had food poisoning in my life!

 

[~~mmMemm~~]

Don't eat it. :/

 

[Linda]

Eggs & milk? go ahead, if you want to be sick

 

[curiousone1]

That's a lot of dairy.... I don't think I would eat it.

 

[Rora]

I would just recook it to safe eating temperature to kill any germs but I also have no fear of food, which is probably a bad thing.