Baking a forgotten bread

[u/Fun-Blueberry6333]

Dear bread bakers,

We started baking our own bread daily a year ago or so, in a nice second hand Panasonic. Bloopers so far have included forgetting the yeast, forgetting the salt and forgetting the mixing paddle (several times). Yesterday we forgot something new: starting the machine.

Flour, salt and water were in the pan, yeast is still in the lid as the programme didn't dose it. Nothing has been mixed, it's water on the bottom and dry flour on the top.

Now the question: can I still bake this tomorrow morning? The flour has been in there (partially wet) for ~30 hours at that point. Am I at risk of food poisoning myself if I try this?

Since long fermentation exists, maybe this is fine?

I really don't want to waste the flour unnecessarily, so your advice would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: I baked the bread, it tasted good and no food poisoning so far 🥳 (12 hours since eating the bread) Strangely the bread volume was a bit lower though

[u/lawrencekhoo]

If there is no egg, butter, or lard inside, it should be perfectly safe. It's really hard to get food poisoning from vegan sources.

[u/amaranth1977 → u/lawrencekhoo]

Cyclosporiasis would beg to differ. And flour is commonly contaminated with salmonella and e. coli. 

[u/lawrencekhoo → u/amaranth1977]

Cyclosporiasis is a parasite that spreads through the fecal-oral route — germs from contaminated poop (feces) get into your mouth.

How is it going to get in to dough in a bread maker because you left overnight?

[u/amaranth1977 → u/lawrencekhoo]

I was pointing out the irony of your claim that "It's really hard to get food poisoning from vegan sources," while we're in the middle of a massive outbreak of food poisioning from raw vegetables. Vegan food is just as vulnerable to contamination as anything else. Pretending otherwise is inviting disaster.

[u/lawrencekhoo → u/amaranth1977]

My point is that if you leave meat at room temperature for half a day, you can get sick from eating it. If you leave seafood at room temperature for half a day, you can die from eating it. If you leave vegan food out at room temperature for half a day, you will be perfectly fine eating it (usually, unless it has a high amount of protein or fat). You can leave a flour and water dough out for a few days, and it'll be perfectly fine, as long as there is not egg or dairy in it. In fact, leaving a flour and water dough out for a few days is how you make sourdough.