Roasted potatoes left out (mostly) overnight. Good to eat?

[Anonymous]

Yesterday evening, I roasted some sliced potatoes in a little olive oil. Put them in (covered) Pyrex, but forgot to put them in the fridge until I realized they were around around 3am (went to grab some water).

So... they were left out from about 7:30-3am.

Would you eat them tonight? Good to go, or toss?

[Anonymous]

I'd eat them.

[Anonymous]

If it was something like mashed potatoes with a lot of dairy, I'd toss 'em. The way you described it, I'd eat 'em.

[Anonymous]

Good to go.

[Anonymous]

Throw them out.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't serve them to unsuspecting people but I would eat them. Yes, I would.

[Anonymous]

I'd absolutely eat them.

[Anonymous]

Heat them to sizzling again, and you're good to go.

[Anonymous]

^^^
Yup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heat them to sizzling again, and you're good to go.

Yes this is what I would do.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks for the feedback. I warmed them up in the microwave, and ate them. I seem to still be alive thankfully. Hopefully nothing changes.

[Anonymous]

Did you die?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Heat them to sizzling again, and you're good to go.

I would do this. But for funsies, the ways food could go bad

- bacteria overgrowth. This is the first thought that comes to everyone’s mind, ie the “potato salad” scenario. Not that likely, and even in potato salad made with commercial mayo, the preservatives in the mayo actually delays the food from going bad compared if there was no mayo. Homemade mayo is a different animal. Refrigeration doesn’t stop bacterial overgrowth, just slows it down.

- toxins produced from bacteria. This is why you can’t just zap any old food that has been sitting out and assume that if you kill the bacteria, you are good to go. Obvious, I know, but I actually had to explain this to my husband when he tried to eat chicken korma that had been forgotten on the counter for 24 hours. Bacterial overgrowth starts eating the food and produces toxins and waste products. Heating food won’t get rid of them. I had to use spinach becoming slimy in the fridge as a visual to persuade him to give up the korma.

It’s basic to the extreme, but the sniff/taste test is the way humans have figured out what is safe to eat for millennia. And I guess humans had hardier stomachs back than when they ate rotting meat disguised with precious spices from the spice trade.

[Anonymous]

Rice grows bacteria quickly (and just reheating will not remedy) when left out not sure if potatoes have same issue.

[Anonymous]

Anything left out of the fridge overnight is fine except raw meat and fish. Dairy can go bad but you’d taste it. The rest is completely fine