I waited two hours before starting my slow-cooker. Will the food be safe to eat? [duplicate]

What I did:

I browned some beef cubes and put them in the slow-cooker. I then added some spices (a lot of spices), tomato juice, olive oil and vinegar.

For all kinds of reason, I waited a total of over 2 hours since placing the meat in the slow-cooker (mostly covered) before turning it on.

I then turned it on high. I plan on cooking the food for at least 7 hours.

Is it safe?

Thank you!

food-safety

Best Answer

The general rule is that food can only spend two hours in the 'danger zone'. Leaving it out for over two hours before starting the process of heating it out of the danger zone means that it could now be unsafe.

Cooking it for seven hours on high will probably kill all bacteria in the food, however, it is not the bacteria you need to worry about. The problem is if the bacteria have produced any kind of toxin. These toxins are generally proteins, which will not be destroyed at any normal cooking temperature.

I would recommend following your username and throwing it out.

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