What would you do: Food safety question

[catherine]

So, of course, after we ate the turkey, we prepped that carcass for soup. I put it in the stock pot last evening, and brought it to a boil, and then reduced it to "low." Usually on my previous stoves, low is a slow simmer, which is what I wanted--and I wanted it low enough to feel safe keeping the stove on when we were sleeping.

We got a new stove in September because he previous one was a piece of crap. Instead of getting a different brand altogether, we got a slight upgrade to our previous piece of crap, because the appliance store offered us a credit.

This morning, I checked on it, and saw that the broth was barely warm--a notch above room temperature. It was not simmering. If that had been the temperature of my coffee, I would have put it in the microwave for 30 seconds to make it hotter.

Do you think it's still good?? How would I know? I don't want to waste it, but I don't want to spend the rest of the weekend in the bathroom, either.

I think the temperature is off altogether on this stove because DH's creme brûlée didn't set right, and neither did my DD's pumpkin pie. Never buy a Premier stove.

[Teacher Terry]

I would throw it away. Saving money isn’t worth being sick.

[jp1]

I agree with teacher terry. If it's been sitting in a lukewarm bath all night that's worse than if it had just been sitting on the counter. On the other hand I read an article the other day about an idiot in florida who defrosts his turkey every year by tossing it in the swimming pool for 24 hours and claims to have never gotten sick...

[Teacher Terry]

If I want to cook something all night I use the crockpot.

[Tybee]

If I want to cook something all night I use the crockpot.

I agree--is this an electric stove? Even without an open flame, it does not sound right to leave it on at night.

I say toss it, although my dh would say boil it for a while to kill the germs and then eat it.

Food poisoning is the worst!

[Rogar]

My take is that it is probably ok since it was boiled first and only set out over night. However, I'd probably toss it. There are some types of food poisoning like botulism caused by a toxin produced by bacteria, so re-boiling might kill any bacteria but not eliminate any existing toxins.

[catherine]

I usually use the crockpot for soup stock, but I had a big turkey carcass and it wouldn't have fit.

I also considered the boiling idea, but I'll tell you what put me over the edge on the side of tossing it--my nose! It stunk. If there were any better clue that it wasn't fit to eat, I don't know what it would have been. Today was garbage day so I was able to get rid of it, and I did.

Bummer.. all that great soup potential, gone.

[JaneV2.0]

I would have boiled it, and turkey always smells pretty bad to me, but you probably did the right thing for your peace of mind.
I'm not the person to consult about food safety--remember, I live on the edge...

[KayLR]

As they say...."when in doubt..."

[Tammy]

Ugh. I’m glad you threw it out. Perfect medium in microbiology labs is a protein based broth at a slightly warm temp. You had quite an experiment going on there.