2d ago

Certain dishes like Curries and fried rice keep getting better with age, until they don't.

I made fried rice a few days ago. It was good. I had leftovers the next day and it was better. I had leftover again a day after and it was even better (spices and flavours developed and it became more savoury). Presumably this will continue until it spoils, hence the title.

Confession. I thought of this while in the bath, not the shower.

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39 comments

Yeah if you make lasagna it's usually the best like 2-5 hours after being done. If kept in the turned off oven it stays nice and warm but solidifes just right
- Don't eat lasagna that's been between 40° and 140° F for more than 4 hours!
  
  = 4.4 °C - 60 °C
  
  I have been doing it for 10 years and never got sick
  
  Yeah, I mean there's only one hour of real danger there and those are the food service rules, so they're going to be as strict as possible. They also teach that prepared food can't be served after a week in the fridge, even though it often lasts longer before spoiling. I personally don't enjoy puking and shitting my brains out, especially as a direct result of my own avoidable actions, so I play it safe.
  
  Shit I leave food out for a day sometimes, it's cool. The art of iron guts.
  
  Why?
  
  It allows harmful bacteria to reach infectious levels, it's true of most foods and isn't exclusive to lasagna
  
  Starchy foods. Rice is particularly prone to this
  
  And most meat dishes, egg dishes, pretty much anything containing dairy, most raw/cooked produce and produce-containing dishes, opened canned goods, etc, etc. Way more than just "starchy foods"
  
  You're absolutely right. It just doesn't apply so much to foods that are naturally antimicrobial, i.e. foods super salty and/or acidic (or super basic in theory, but I can't think of any examples).
  
  Whatever's between milk and Pepto Bismol I guess
  
  Ah that was my guess
  
  Danger zone. Easy way to get sick.
  
  Are we supposed to immediately freeze leftovers? I thought a night in the fridge was totally fine.
  
  If your fridge is warmer than 40°F, it's not working properly. Commercially, prepared food is acceptable to use/sell for a week in the fridge before it has to be thrown out. Practically, this time is often longer, but a week is the safest bet.
  
  If your fridge is warmer than 40°F, it's not working properly.
  My fridge literally has a setting for 6°C (42.8°F). I usually keep it at 4°C, which is still warmer than 40°F. I don't know anyone who keeps their fridge colder than that.
  
  4°C is 39.2°F, which, at least in the imperial system, is less than 40. And yeah, different governments have different regulatory standards, this is very very very common. Certainly the difference between 40° & 43° is less crucial than the difference between 40° & 100° and of course all foods (and the bacteria involved in their spoilage) are different (some things are considered safe up to 45°F for instance), but you have to plan for the worst-case scenario to be safest. And as I've said elsewhere, this is the industry standard, which is naturally (in America at least) driven by fear of liability litigation more than science, so it's bound to be stricter than is perhaps normally necessary.

39 comments