Food safety

bobbarrowsMember

Aaargh!
About 3:30 yesterday afternoon I brought a $36.00 rack of lamb home from the butcher. It was frozen solid and since i wanted to cook it today, the butcher advised me to leave it out on the counter and put it in the refrigerator before I went to bed. Well, wouldn't you know it ... i got up at 5:30 this morning to discover the d**n piece of meat still out on the counter! C**p! Of course, I immediately put it into the fridge ...

Do I chalk it up as a $36 lesson learned? Or is there a chance that it can be salvaged and cooked?

10/21/078:40 AM

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dan-qMember

At best I would say that your guests may spend long periods of time in the bathroom, and at worst a trip to the emergency room.

I would toss it out and head back to the butcher for a fresh cut of meat. You probably still have time...

10/21/079:01 AM

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bobbarrowsMember

I was afraid you would say that :-(
Unfortunately, it's Sunday and the butcher's not open and even if he was, a frozen piece of meat is useless to me today.

On the "fortunate" side, at least there's no guests involved. I was going to try roasting a rack of lamb for the first time today, and try it out on my family.

Oh well, there's always takeout ...

10/21/079:13 AM

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qnorthNear Traverse City, MI

For your future reference... you *can* stick a frozen piece of meat into the smoker and it won't appreciably increase the time it takes to cook it. Some will even say that there is no difference.

I've dome it with roasts and butts and it works fine and lessens the planning problems. Do a search on 'frozen' and you might find some of the discussions.

Also, I would probably have cooked that lamb. It probably wasn't really thawed until shortly before you found it. But then, that's me.

10/22/078:56 AM

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Former Member

If the lamb had ANY ice inside it wasn't over 32* and therfore NOT in the danger zone(40-140). If it was still icy I would have used it. Especially if it was still in the cryovac.

10/23/076:34 AM

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Former Member

When in doubt....

Even if the inside was still cold, the out 1 or 2 or 3 was certainly above 40 degrees for too long and thus in the Danger Zone.

While plenty of people cook inside the danger zone with no effect, plenty of people get sick easy too.

Just not worth the chance for me.

I have one of those simple minute times that buzz and annoy. I set it for an hour and it makes me go to the kitchen to turn it off. Works to remember to put it up.

10/23/077:36 AM

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Former Member

We should all be thawing meat in the fridge.

My 2 cents.