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If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot...

radcen

radcen

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If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?

I make my own sauce for freezing. I prefer glass containers, so I let it cool a bit before jarring and freezing, so quick changes in temperature won't cause the glass to shatter. Once I forgot and left it out overnight. I still used it and it was fine. It's a judgment call, and you can't leave it out too long, but the primary factors are in the freezing and the re-heating.

This lady I know recently did it (says she does it "too often"), and is upset because she had to "throw out another batch". What would you do? Yes, I know all about temperatures, bacteria, and all that stuff, but at the same time I think we're going overboard and paranoid as well in all the precautions that are being thrown at us as the only 'safe' way to do things. Some people act as if something sits out for 15 minutes it's ruined, and that mindset is way overboard, IMO.
 
radcen said:
If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?

I make my own sauce for freezing. I prefer glass containers, so I let it cool a bit before jarring and freezing, so quick changes in temperature won't cause the glass to shatter. Once I forgot and left it out overnight. I still used it and it was fine. It's a judgment call, and you can't leave it out too long, but the primary factors are in the freezing and the re-heating.

This lady I know recently did it (says she does it "too often"), and is upset because she had to "throw out another batch". What would you do? Yes, I know all about temperatures, bacteria, and all that stuff, but at the same time I think we're going overboard and paranoid as well in all the precautions that are being thrown at us as the only 'safe' way to do things. Some people act as if something sits out for 15 minutes it's ruined, and that mindset is way overboard, IMO.
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I would try a little bit, put the rest in the freezer and if it didn't make me sick, I'd use it.
 
Assuming you mean tomato-based, I'd stick it in the freezer and use it later. It's so acidic that I doubt anything has had time to be an issue over one night.
 
lizzie said:
Assuming you mean tomato-based, I'd stick it in the freezer and use it later. It's so acidic that I doubt anything has had time to be an issue over one night.
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Glad you mentioned the acidity factor. I was going to say that, but I forgot.

If it was soup or broth and not tomato sauce, I'd throw it right out. That stuff is like Mardi Gras for germs
 
lizzie said:
Assuming you mean tomato-based, I'd stick it in the freezer and use it later. It's so acidic that I doubt anything has had time to be an issue over one night.
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Yup, that's about right. The sauce should be perfectly fine.
 
My grandmother would cook a large meal, and leave all the leftovers on the stove for later that night, and the next day until it was all eaten. No one ever got sick. Now, me on the other hand, I tend to worry about food born illness given that I've had a bought with Salmonella once, after making a homemade chilli for hotdogs and hamburgers for a birthday party for my youngest son - no one else got sick, so I presume it was a lack of proper hand washing that got me. I wash my hands A LOT now when I'm cooking with raw chicken, hamburger and the like. I also wash vegetables and fruit profusely before I eat them raw and even before I cook them in most instances.

As for tomato based sauces after they're prepared, lizzie said it best, and I don't worry about those a much myself.
 
radcen said:
If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?

I make my own sauce for freezing. I prefer glass containers, so I let it cool a bit before jarring and freezing, so quick changes in temperature won't cause the glass to shatter. Once I forgot and left it out overnight. I still used it and it was fine. It's a judgment call, and you can't leave it out too long, but the primary factors are in the freezing and the re-heating.

This lady I know recently did it (says she does it "too often"), and is upset because she had to "throw out another batch". What would you do? Yes, I know all about temperatures, bacteria, and all that stuff, but at the same time I think we're going overboard and paranoid as well in all the precautions that are being thrown at us as the only 'safe' way to do things. Some people act as if something sits out for 15 minutes it's ruined, and that mindset is way overboard, IMO.
Click to expand...

I quite often leave sauce out overnight....especially meat sauce. I'll reheat it the next day to kill anything off then cool it and freeze it. Personally, I think it tastes better that way.
 
radcen said:
If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?

I make my own sauce for freezing. I prefer glass containers, so I let it cool a bit before jarring and freezing, so quick changes in temperature won't cause the glass to shatter. Once I forgot and left it out overnight. I still used it and it was fine. It's a judgment call, and you can't leave it out too long, but the primary factors are in the freezing and the re-heating.

This lady I know recently did it (says she does it "too often"), and is upset because she had to "throw out another batch". What would you do? Yes, I know all about temperatures, bacteria, and all that stuff, but at the same time I think we're going overboard and paranoid as well in all the precautions that are being thrown at us as the only 'safe' way to do things. Some people act as if something sits out for 15 minutes it's ruined, and that mindset is way overboard, IMO.
Click to expand...

I would freeze it and use it as long as it doesn't have meat in it.
 
Lutherf said:
I quite often leave sauce out overnight....especially meat sauce. I'll reheat it the next day to kill anything off then cool it and freeze it. Personally, I think it tastes better that way.
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Anything with meat is where I would totally hesitate to leave it out and then use it. I think if it's just a tomato sauce it would be fine because most of the ingredients can be left out anyways, tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
 
ChrisL said:
Anything with meat is where I would totally hesitate to leave it out and then use it. I think if it's just a tomato sauce it would be fine because most of the ingredients can be left out anyways, tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
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I've done it for years...decades!..with no problem. I just skim any fat that's congealed, heat it back up to a good simmer for an hour or so then, if I'm not going to eat it again right away, ladle it out for freezing. I don't do it with fish but if it's beef, pork or lamb then no problem.
 
ChrisL said:
Anything with meat is where I would totally hesitate to leave it out and then use it. I think if it's just a tomato sauce it would be fine because most of the ingredients can be left out anyways, tomatoes, onions, garlic, etc.
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All those years in my youth, when I left the hamburger pizza out overnight, then ate it for breakfast the next day, would have killed me if meat were the problem. :lol: With chicken, I'd probably be a little more cautious.
 
Lutherf said:
I've done it for years...decades!..with no problem. I just skim any fat that's congealed, heat it back up to a good simmer for an hour or so then, if I'm not going to eat it again right away, ladle it out for freezing. I don't do it with fish but if it's beef, pork or lamb then no problem.
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I wouldn't risk it myself. If it has meat in it, it goes into the refrigerator to be stored. You can still heat it up on the stove and it's just fine. In fact, I think leaving it in the fridge overnight adds to the flavors by allowing them to marry together.
 
lizzie said:
All those years in my youth, when I left the hamburger pizza out overnight, then ate it for breakfast the next day, would have killed me if meat were the problem. :lol: With chicken, I'd probably be a little more cautious.
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My ex got violently ill from a hamburger pizza once. From both ends at the same time. Guaranteed, you do NOT want to experience that! :shock:

Once the meat is cooked, it probably takes longer to spoil, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable consuming meat that's sat out overnight personally.
 
lizzie said:
All those years in my youth, when I left the hamburger pizza out overnight, then ate it for breakfast the next day, would have killed me if meat were the problem. :lol: With chicken, I'd probably be a little more cautious.
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I've never had an issue with leaving pizza out overnight. I still keep it out, overnight in the stove, and it's fine the next day. Never gotten sick, not even once.
 
Bacteria can't survive at temps over 150. Most foods are heated up past that point, even leftovers. As long as there is no dairy or seafood in the sauce, you're golden.
 
radcen said:
If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?
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I would reheat it first to kill any possible new bacteria strain and then let it cool and then freeze it.
 
radcen said:
If you made a large batch of pasta sauce for freezing, then forgot and left it out overnight, would you still freeze it and use it, or would you throw it away?

I make my own sauce for freezing. I prefer glass containers, so I let it cool a bit before jarring and freezing, so quick changes in temperature won't cause the glass to shatter. Once I forgot and left it out overnight. I still used it and it was fine. It's a judgment call, and you can't leave it out too long, but the primary factors are in the freezing and the re-heating.

This lady I know recently did it (says she does it "too often"), and is upset because she had to "throw out another batch". What would you do? Yes, I know all about temperatures, bacteria, and all that stuff, but at the same time I think we're going overboard and paranoid as well in all the precautions that are being thrown at us as the only 'safe' way to do things. Some people act as if something sits out for 15 minutes it's ruined, and that mindset is way overboard, IMO.
Click to expand...

It depends on the temperature in your home overnight. And for how long it actually sat out.
Temperature tends to be cooler at night.....
We're supposed to cool the sauce before freezing anyway, so yes I'd still freeze it. I don't know though about canning.....
 
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Red peppers tend to speed up food getting spoiled....so if you used red peppers, perhaps it's better to re-heat it.
 
Interesting enough, I'm making a batch right now.I just hot pack mine in mason jars, it lasts up to 2 years in a dark pantry. Overnight is no problem for tomatoes. I make large batches, I oven roast the tomatoes first and them peel them, it often becomes a two day job and the roasted tomatoes spend tbe night onthe stove.
 
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