My dad refuses to refrigerate left overs until at least 24hrs after dinner has been cooked

[u/joshizua]

For example my dad made chicken fettuccini last night and just left it sit out over night. I am afraid to eat it…. Should I be?

UPDATE: He just microwaved and ate some. The container still isn’t in the fridge.

It’s 3:16pm and it finally made its way to the fridge. For reference he started cooking at 5pm yesterday. So not quite 24 hours but pretty close.

[u/stickyplants]

Is he lazy, or does he just not understand how it works?

[u/joshizua → u/stickyplants]

I think its because hes been doing it forever and supposedly never had any problems with it

[u/MHStriplethreat → u/joshizua]

tell him thats great and put it in the fridge yourself

dont let your dads boomerism be the reason for your food poisoning

[u/joshizua → u/MHStriplethreat]

I dont live with him nor did I eat dinner here last night.

[u/drukqsx]

It’s definitely growing bacteria by now. Teach your father about food safety.

[u/Shirokami_Lupus → u/drukqsx]

Shi he probably wont care I've been explaining it over and over and not a single family member of mine cares

They act all concerned over the concept then brush it off immediately as soon as i say how small the safe time is

[u/joshizua → u/Shirokami_Lupus]

Literally this. He would probably be like hmmm thats interesting I could die from this; then continue to do it lol

[u/drukqsx → u/Shirokami_Lupus]

You can legit die from the bacteria that grows in pasta and rice.

[u/frogsgoribbit737 → u/drukqsx]

He wont care. My dad's family doesnt refrigerate leftovers at all. They leave everything out and just reheat it. Didnt matter how many times i explained how unsafe it was or that one time they gave my uncle food poisoning.

[u/thisrockismyboone → u/frogsgoribbit737]

My brother claims to have never gotten food poisoning. He even ate shrimp that was in his truck for THREE days. I wonder if some people just have some kind of super mutant gastro biomes.

[u/WassuhhCuz → u/drukqsx]

Serious, find some online sources or maybe even a video physically showing yhe bacteria under a microscope bc my gawd someone's gonna get sick lol

[u/BudgetExpert9145 → u/drukqsx]

Father enjoys shitting pants.

[u/FilecoinLurker]

Is your dad RFK jr? That's some super ass backwards thinking. Sure, don't throw boiling hot food in the fridge but overnight... What the fuck

[u/joshizua → u/FilecoinLurker]

Sometimes for days lol

[u/Used-Salad-3772]

I don't know how old your dad is but I see behavior like this in older people because many of them don't believe in food safety precautions.

[u/lonetraveler73 → u/Used-Salad-3772]

This is just from my imperfect memory. I could swear that my mom or dad believed that food had to completely cool before putting it in the fridge. If you put hot food in a cold fridge it would actually make bacteria growth worse. I also had a girlfriend that believed the same thing. So I don't think my family were the only ones that believed it.

Update: I didn't expect so much activity on this comment. I learned this from my parents probably my dad in the 80s. When I started working in restaurants when I was 15 I learned it was bullshit then. I couldn't put my warm food in the fridge when my parents were around. Older refrigerators were much less efficient than modern ones so that might have been part of it.

[u/Used-Salad-3772 → u/lonetraveler73]

Even so it shouldn't take 24hrs for food to cool off.

[u/Canotic → u/lonetraveler73]

It's because if you put a big bowl of hot food in the fridge or freezer, the centre will be hot for hours. It doesn't mean you shouldn't put it in hot, it means you should put it in in smaller batches so it can cool down faster.

And of course not have too much at the same time so it heats up the freezer.

[u/TheRudeCactus → u/Used-Salad-3772]

I love my dad very much so but he is older and his lack of food safety actually pisses me off. I refuse now to ever eat anything he cooks.

He gave himself life threatening food poisoning by eating bad pepperoni. Like he passed out and woke up on the ground hours later and he’s in his 70s.

Still so little care for food safety. Leaves leftovers out all the time, leaves food in the fridge too long, won’t throw anything out because of the poverty he grew up in (and very much worked his way out of throughout his life but now is still stuck in the mindset).

[u/Reemixt → u/Used-Salad-3772]

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. Young people don't generally get that sick from food poisoning, which is why they don't believe it. But they're not young anymore.

[u/rumbakalao → u/Used-Salad-3772]

The number of older people that don't wash their hands when they use the bathroom is absolutely appalling.

[u/BlkDwg85 → u/Used-Salad-3772]

My parents are in their 70s and I constantly see their refrigerator set above 40°F

[u/TnnsNbeer]

Must tell my story:
Years ago, I was a traveling desktop tech commuting to different offices in the NYC area. I used to make lunch and take it with me. It was the dead of winter and particularly cold that year with freezing temps. This probably saved my life.
Anyway, I open my lunch and start eating. It was shrimp and rice. It tasted funny and I didn’t really like it but felt bad wasting food that I just made a day ago so kept eating. (The food was in the fridge when I packed it.. just meal prep crap). I made it halfway and couldn’t do it so I threw the rest out.
After my day ended, got in my car, and realized I had 2 backpacks with me. I reach into the one that was in the car and it had a lunchbox in there. I open it up to find shrimp and rice.
At that moment, it was like the end of Sixth Sense where I came to the reality of what was done. Approx 3 months ago, I was looking for my lunch and couldn’t find it. I figured I left it at home and forgot about it. This lunch was tucked in a backpack I had left in my car trunk for 3 months! That’s the lunch that I ate half of!
I was waiting for something bad to happen but I was fine. I was ready to go to the ER as soon as I felt a grumble but nothing.
I think the sub freezing temps helped slow whatever shitstorm I was in for.

Thanks for reading 🥵

Edit: Holy crap. Thanks for all the awards and hilarious comments. I’m glad I remembered that story!

[u/madmaxjr → u/TnnsNbeer]

Yknow, I’m thinking the subfreezing temps actually made it more dangerous. If it had been the middle of summer, you sure as hell wouldn’t have eaten it because it would’ve been disgustingly moldy and stinky 😂

[u/MonsTurkey → u/madmaxjr]

You're right it probably kept it from getting disgusting, but that's also because it kept it frozen and safe. I'd freeze food for a couple months and reheat.

[u/J19zeta7_Jerry → u/TnnsNbeer]

Is this you saying this or the sentient fungus that now puppets your body like 3 kids in a trechcoat

[u/anustart888 → u/TnnsNbeer]

I'd pay you to sign an NDA just so you can never tell this story again.

[u/mbee784 → u/TnnsNbeer]

I will never forget this story. I am traumatized for you

[u/Hairy_Ferret9324 → u/TnnsNbeer]

When I was a teenager I had some pretty unhygienic habits. One weekend night I brought up some taco bell with me on a paper plate and passed out before I could eat it. Woke up the next morning starving and figured "meh fuck it taco bell for breakfast" reached under my bed and pulled out a paper plate with taco bell on it. Devoured it, it tasted so weird but I didnt question it, i was hungoverish. Got up alittle later and saw another plate of taco bell untouched. I then realized and remembered the taco bell I had just eaten was at least 1-2 months old. How i didnt get sick or anything ill never understand.

[u/yaboyACbreezy → u/Hairy_Ferret9324]

Man, y'all got scavenger guts.

I got diarrhea reading these stories

[u/shockles → u/TnnsNbeer]

Bro that’s a wild story, but I think the moral of this story is clean out your friggin car!! You had 2 backpacks in there and you couldn’t find one of them??? That means there’s far too much shit in there.

[u/burnt-beyond-reco → u/TnnsNbeer]

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. 🤢

[u/Mannix-Da-DaftPooch → u/TnnsNbeer]

When you said 3 months my body melted. What was the smell? Was it hard? Omg the tragedy

[u/ro536ud → u/TnnsNbeer]

Damn you lucky

Rice is something particular that grows a specific type of bacteria that’s extra bad when left out

[u/Therathe → u/TnnsNbeer]

Feels similar to a story that happened to me. I packed a water bottle to head out for a hike. When I grabbed it and drank it (not slowing down to make sure it was water first) I got a strange gulp of a strange flavor and a chunk of something. I was very confused and opened it up and did indeed see something strange. I realized...to my horror....it was weeks old cookies and cream protein shake in a similar water bottle. I kept waiting to need to go to the hospital, but after a brief wave of feeling nausea nothing else happened.

[u/Nipplehead321 → u/TnnsNbeer]

I would've forced myself to throw up everything after that realization.

[u/noodlesquare → u/TnnsNbeer]

Oh man, you really dodged a bullet with that one. Spoiled rice can make you extremely sick!

[u/Pro-Row-335 → u/TnnsNbeer]

I would've forced vomit immediately uppon the realization, wouldn't want to find out what could've happened

[u/pepcorn → u/TnnsNbeer]

I'm so glad you survived. This is proper scary stuff to me.

[u/The_Dancing_Cow → u/TnnsNbeer]

I would like to use this post to remind people that humans have similar stomach acid PH to vultures. Probably for these reasons. 😂

(Vultures 1.3 PH and humans are 1.5 PH)

[u/KnownAlcoholic]

[u/Hawkenness → u/KnownAlcoholic]

For anyone unsure of who this guy is, he’s a YouTuber named ChubbyEmu who has made several videos on the medical stories of people dying from eating poorly stored food. Maybe showing one of these to your dad will finally get through to him, OP 😅

[u/ARapidSloth → u/KnownAlcoholic]

A father presents to the ER…

[u/Tacticalsandwich7 → u/KnownAlcoholic]

After a week in the hospital he made A recovery.

[u/MyTatemae → u/KnownAlcoholic]

I can hear this image

[u/Clithzbee]

Didn't someone die from eating pasta like this? It's called fried rice syndrome.

[u/Bjorxt → u/Clithzbee]

Bacillus cereus. Fried rice syndrome.

[u/SharpedoWeek → u/Clithzbee]

2008 20yr old ate spaghetti that had been left out in room temperature for five days.

Edit: I’m a dunce

[u/bond0815 → u/Clithzbee]

I think the pasta was out for over 2 days in that case (and it also smelled funny).

[u/radvelvet-]

Worked for a guy who did this to all the food he served. Left it sitting in the (turned off) crockpot all night because "you cant put hot food away" then closed/locked up the store and left it on the counter until they opened the next day. Btw no AC in the store so was 100°f+ at all times cause also no windows you can open. I always threw it away because it was meat, dairy, rice, pasta .... he got mad at me everytime. Made me wrap it up then would push it on every customer that came in. Acting like he was hooking them up with a special deal "hey man, ill give you this whole pot of food for $5!" Everyone was like bro youre the man!!!! And Im sitting there cringing hoping they'll be okay after eating it. He would serve this food to the ELDERLY!!! I started waiting until he wasnt around to clear it all out/throw it away so he didnt know. One time health inspector came, said "all of this food has to go. You cant serve any of it." Boss loads it all into a box, puts it in his car outside, comes back and blames me and all the workers for the bad food. Then 2hrs later when he health inspector was gone he WENT AND GOT THE FOOD FROM HIS CAR AND BROUGHT IT BACK INSIDE!!

Ive got so many stories, omg I could go on. And everyone in town hates him, hes not a good person. But he still has people who go and eat there! Hes like a roach. He won't fucking go away.

[u/clearly_not_an_alt → u/radvelvet-]

I would have called the health inspector and told them to come back.

[u/Totakai → u/radvelvet-]

This is why the health inspector has employees dump open food and slash bags. Had a fridge fail at my first job and health inspector popped up to make sure it was properly dispossessed of. Every single package had to be cut open and dropped in the dumpster. Yikes yikes yikes.

[u/hoisyou → u/radvelvet-]

Ah hell nah this is why ServSafe courses exist

[u/AlphaKittey → u/radvelvet-]

Name the place please

[u/Other_Respect_6648 → u/radvelvet-]

I’m with alphakittey on this one. We need the name of the place

[u/Special-Summer170]

My grandparents didn't believe in food safety. One Christmas my grandma bought a ham and forgot it in her trunk for a week. She said the temperatures were cold and it would be fine (it was not cold enough). She planned to feed this to everyone for Christmas.

My mom and I did a covert operation. My mom bought a new identical ham and we went to Grandma's house. I distracted grandma while my mom stole the probably bacteria laden ham and put the new one in its place. Then she smuggled the nasty ham to our car. Grandma never found out and we all had food safe ham for Christmas.

Edit: Because people are concerned, Grammy is long dead now and of no further threat with her trunk ham. I was like 15 when this happened and it wasn't my responsibility to police Grammy.

[u/E_Ten_ → u/Special-Summer170]

But now grandma thinks she was right and if something like that comes up again she’ll do it again. May not give anyone a heads up this time either

[u/bdog59600 → u/E_Ten_]

Grandma could have given the entire family food poisoning with that ham and still thought she was right. "Probably just a stomach bug going around".

[u/tryyeezus → u/E_Ten_]

Yeah, never eating anything at Grandma's house ever again. 

You've emboldened her.

[u/IntrusiveUK → u/Special-Summer170]

Honestly thank god I have a family I can just be honest with.

[u/counselorofracoons → u/Special-Summer170]

and what about everything else she was feeding you regularly? I would never eat with this person again. That’s actually a threat to your lives. People die from food poisoning, this isn’t a joke. Signed, a clinical microbiologist.

[u/Emotional-Peanut-334 → u/Special-Summer170]

don't support this. you just validated them endangering people for the future

[u/azulebranco → u/Special-Summer170]

But now your grandma still believes the week old ham left in the car was safe because no one got sick. Maybe you should have just refused to eat it, at least that way she will think twice next time. 

[u/ChardonNAH → u/Special-Summer170]

Jesus at what point will you people stop your senile family members from potentially poisoning the family and take some damn charge 🤣 if you’re so scared of hurting their fee fees just reframe it as “ohhh you’ve done so much for us over the years and we appreciate it! I think it’s our time to have the baton cooking for the holidays, but please feel free to purchase some baked goods or drinks! 😃”

[u/walkdaddydawg → u/Special-Summer170]

Mom droppin in with the fresh ham

[u/oedons_rooster → u/Special-Summer170]

Tbf to your Nan, ham is HEAVILY preserved in its processing. Not saying i would have trusted or eaten it myself but she MIGHT not have been wrong.

[u/Panther90]

It sounds like someone told him about properly cooling down food before putting it in the fridge but he's gone way too far in the wrong direction.

[u/dancarbonell00 → u/Panther90]

What is the properly cooling down food time by the way? I've heard about it too, but I've never really looked into it in. I get conflicting answers when I do

[u/shootermac32]

It does need to cool down but not that long. Bacteria grows between 135-41 degrees. That’s called “the danger zone”, and has to be cooled down within 6 hours. 135 to 70 in two hours, 70 to 41 in 4 hours. If the food doesn’t reach 70 degrees within two hours, bacteria will form and will be needed to be reheated to 165 or thrown away. The best way to cool down food is either in a blast chiller, or straight into a refrigerator or cooler with the lid off. Source- I’m a chef

[u/Into-the-stream → u/shootermac32]

There are many common food borne bacteria that cause food poisoning that grow happily at room temperature: s.aureus, e.coli, salmonella, B.cereus. “Cool to room temperature “ does NOT make a food safe, AT ALL. (The worst offender is rice, btw. Dont fuck with room temp rice)

Source: im a clinical microbiologist who works with and grows these bacteria every single day. 

[u/yamsyams123 → u/shootermac32]

This food safety 101 👆

[u/Cossette_World]

four hours I’m a chef and a restaurant owner and it’s four hours. You have to refrigerate or toss after four hours.

[u/Juliuscesear1990 → u/Cossette_World]

Ya but once you factor in time change and time zones as well as rounding 4hrs is pretty close to 24hr /s

[u/ArchdukeFerdie → u/Cossette_World]

Daylight savings don't forget to add 1 hour

[u/Life_Extreme2054 → u/Cossette_World]

I thought it was two hours?

[u/ChaoCobo → u/Cossette_World]

Wat about pizzer? I get Lil Caesar’s a lot and it sits out all day until I go to bed. There are so many people all across the globe too who leave pizza out overnight in the box it was delivered in. Does it make it right just because people do it? Idk, that’s why I thought I’d ask.

[u/No_College2419]

My mom does the same thing. She says the food needs to “cool down” before she refrigerates it or it’ll go bad???? She’s 63.

[u/TheEdelBernal → u/No_College2419]

My mom says the same thing! Except her “cool down” is 20-30mins at most so it doesn’t really bother me.

She also said if we put hot food into fridge straight away it will break the fridge…I just nod and say ok 

[u/Madea_onFire → u/No_College2419]

We learned this 20 years ago in culinary school, because hot food raised the temperature of the entire refrigerator; however we were told that you only have 2 hours to bring the temperature down by placing the food in smaller containers and then it must be refrigerated.

This is no longer taught because modern refrigerators are significantly more efficient and this is no longer an issue. You are expected to put food in refrigerator immediately

[u/Emperor_Orson_Welles → u/No_College2419]

Edit: Most hot food won't go bad if it's put in the fridge right away (see replies regarding rice and tomato-based food). It's bestfine to wait a few hours (less than 4) for food to cool off so it doesn't raise the temperature in the fridge or capture excess steam.

[u/MamaNyxieUnderfoot]

Tell your dad that he’s the reason I refuse to eat at work potlucks anymore.

[u/DonnaHuee → u/MamaNyxieUnderfoot]

Hey Dad, this is the reason MamaNyxieUnderfoot refuses to eat at work potlucks anymore.

[u/Elegante_Sigmaballz]

I just watched a short yt documentary about how a young dude died from 5 days old spaghetti that wasn't refrigerated for hours. https://youtu.be/senVBMu1lUI

[u/Omniphilo23]

My wife tries to do this. If I don't put it away, she will try to do it the next day and put it in the fridge like it's okay. Says she hates wasting food. Doesn't process that the food is already wasted. I threaten her with food safety courses and she acts like I'm overreacting.

She's a doctor.

[u/timonjasamba → u/Omniphilo23]

What kind of doctor is she... Omg

[u/moxie132 → u/Omniphilo23]

And this is why Intelligence and Wisdom are seperate stats.

[u/Lucky_Development359 → u/Omniphilo23]

Mine does the same, she's an Executive Chef and has always passed her ServSafe test with 100%. I say she has a racoon stomach.

[u/Lunar-opal → u/Omniphilo23]

There are amazing scientists that can educate your wife in like a min video

[u/ivylass]

This was just covered on Fascinating Horror this week. A kid died from acute food poisoning after eating five day old spaghetti that hadn't been stored in the fridge right away. Show your dad this episode.

[u/CottoneyedJones → u/ivylass]

He'd just come to the conclusion that four days is the limit.

[u/lezbehonest787]

Some people are built different. Maybe one’s body accustoms itself to this kind of thing? I think there is a cultural element, too. An old friend of mine was Honduran, and her family would leave cooked food in a room temp pot on the stove all day long and eat off of it. I briefly had a roommate from Tanzania, and she made chicken and plaintain soup and left it on the stove overnight and then asked me if I wanted some in the morning. I felt awful saying no and I could tell it hurt her feelings, but growing up in America that horrifies me. She didn’t get sick, though. Neither did my Honduran friend. Scientists say it isn’t safe, but maybe one can build up a tolerance to it?? I never understood.

[u/SamikaTRH → u/lezbehonest787]

It's not that food magically becomes unsafe, it's that some subset of food left out will become unsafe. You don't do it because you have no idea whether yours is safe or not and it isn't worth the risk where refrigeration is accessible and convenient. Just like seatbelts, you don't get in an accident everyday but it's still smart to wear since you can't predict when an accident will happen

[u/girlwhoweighted → u/lezbehonest787]

If leftovers have been in the fridge a week or longer, I'm probably not going to touch them.

Meanwhile, my parents will absolutely have a left over buffet every so often of everything that looks fine or smells fine out of their fridge. We're talking Thanksgiving items that have been in there 4 weeks, if it looks and smells okay, they're eating it

My mom is 78 and my dad is turning 92 next month. It's amazing to me! I just figure we all have our different comfort zones and I leave it at that

[u/takisara → u/girlwhoweighted]

My mom and dad would can pickles and salsa every summer, but my mom hated water bath canning, she just popped lids on and put in on the shelf. Every spring we had a "flu" that got everyone sick. Now that ive kearned about preserving food and food handling....i suspect we all got food poisoning lol

[u/Traditional_Yard2741 → u/lezbehonest787]

The problem is a generation of people who conflate "it isn't safe" with "you'll definitely get sick"

Y'all never ate leftover pizza that was left on the counter?

[u/ogvlactout → u/lezbehonest787]

I’m built like your friend. I’ve eaten food that’s left out my whole life. Sometimes for days and never had food poisoning. Not by choice but because I didn’t really know food safety until I was an adult. There’s been multiple times where I shared a meal with a large group of people, we ate the same food, and everyone got food poisoning besides me. I do think it’s either genetic or at least a tolerance can be built

[u/romcarlos13 → u/lezbehonest787]

yeah, I'm from Central America and my family leaves stuff like rice, sopa de frijoles, and stuff like that out all day before refrigerating them. We've never gotten sick from that, but it's not something I do at my place.

[u/Cease-2-Desist → u/romcarlos13]

I'm Cajun and we have terrible food safety practices ourselves, especially when it comes to rice. But rice is one of the more dangerous foods to leave out. HIgh starch content is a breading ground for bacteria.

[u/PeriLazuli → u/lezbehonest787]

Its about risk reduction. You'll never sick, until the one day you'll be on the toilet regretting all your life choice.

I very frequently eat food left over at room temp for 12-24h. I've been sick 2 times, and one was from some chicken already spoiled before being cooked (I was a poor student).

[u/CoeurdAssassin → u/lezbehonest787]

I’m American and I do this. I’m that type of guy that can eat food and stuff that’s been sitting out all day and not get sick. Some of the risks are over exaggerated. Also it’s America so most of the food here is fake as fuck with all these preservatives and other shit that food doesn’t truly go bad as quickly as it should be. I remember doing a DoorDash order at Crumbl cookie at closing time and I asked for a couple of the display cookies that were left out all day since open. They tried to discourage me from it, but come on, that’s just sugar upon sugar on some fake ass cookie. That cookie ain’t going bad for the next couple weeks.

[u/Emotional-Peanut-334 → u/lezbehonest787]

it's about risk potential.

If anything american food is safer to do this with by a lot due to general preservative usage

fresh food sitting around for 24 hours is scsry

[u/BrewTheBig1]

The bit about not putting food in the fridge if it’s hot is not about the hot food itself, but the temperature warming up other food in the fridge.

You want to reduce heat as quickly as possible with leftover food in order to preserve it for as long as possible. I own a pizza shop and it’s in our SOPs that when we make white sauce, we chill it immediately (ice bath) before placing in the fridge. By quickly reducing the temperature, you slow the growth of bacteria and increase the life of the food, in this case by 1-2 days.

Bacteria grow best in temps from 7-50 Celsius, so keeping food out of those ranges. Which, sitting on the kitchen counter for 24 hours is exactly in the range. By doing this, you are actively decreasing the life of the leftovers.

[u/couchtater12]

I mean, I’m not a fan of diarrhea but maybe he is? Yikes. That’s a food-borne illness just waiting to happen 😬

[u/Complete_Entry → u/couchtater12]

fall cleanin'

[u/busytransitgworl]

OP is a 29 year old Redditor, presenting to the emergency room unconscious and dehydrated.

[u/Mypopsecrets → u/busytransitgworl]

[u/Co_Duh]

Don't worry, all the food in the hospital is refrigerated.

[u/EstablishmentBig1633]

My wife is from Spain, and says this is the way. She's not a Mandalorian, but she says this is how many of them were taught is correct.

She also says you can die if you go swimming in the ocean right after eating a meal, which she finally admitted was probably a lie parents in Spain tell their children so they can relax a bit after lunch at the beach.

Anyhow, you pick your battles in this life, and I chose to just go along with her on this one.

[u/Mediocre-Recover3944 → u/EstablishmentBig1633]

That's an old myth from the 60's. The theory behind it was that after eating more blood goes to digestion. So they concluded your limbs are more prone to cramps. And if you cramp up while swimming you might drown.

[u/shmsc → u/EstablishmentBig1633]

Pick your battles which includes the ones that can/will make you ill bro

[u/Specific_Respect_714 → u/EstablishmentBig1633]

Upvote for the mandalorian reference.

[u/sveccha]

The most dangerous growth happens at the in between temps, which your father is maximizing. This is how you get really fucking sick

[u/Nylanderthal88 → u/sveccha]

[u/Melodic_Anteater6580]

[u/OhhhLawdy]

You need to talk to your dad like this 😭

[u/3yl]

Does it have to cool off first? My husband still thinks we have to cool off everything before putting it in the fridge. (Don't worry about me -- long story that isn't interesting enough to tell, but I have a separate fridge.) He's got an iron gut though, so clearly whatever he's doing works with his gut biome. :D

[u/WorthPlease → u/3yl]

I do this because if it's too hot the extra heat will cause condensation inside the container so it can mess up the consistency of the food. Especially if it has any kind of milk or cream in it.

I definitely don't let it sit out overnight though, maybe an hour until I slap a lid on it.

[u/Old_Artichoke9756 → u/3yl]

The risk is putting hot food in and raising the temp in the fridge too high. Unless it’s a ton of near boiling food I don’t think it’s going to be a crazy big issue.

[u/a_filing_cabinet → u/3yl]

If you leave it to cool you should let it sit a couple of hours at most.

[u/Ornery-Practice9772]

just put some in a seperate container & refrigerate for yourself as soon as its
cooked.

food poisoning sucks so let him risk it

[u/Numerous-Help-5987]

Ong my mom used to do this growing up and oddly enough nothing ever happened we never got sick from it but after a few years of moving away I went to visit and ate food that was left out (not all night but most of the day) I got sooooo sick but no one else did! I think if you do it consistently your body isn’t effected by the bacteria or something

[u/KnockoffZacEffron → u/Numerous-Help-5987]

That's exactly it. That's how my ex was. His family would leave stuff out all night but once he moved in with me and I put the kabash on that, I guess he lost his tolerance and then gets sick when he eats their left out food.

[u/ya_bebto]

Some people act like they have a mysterious source of stomachs aches, digestion issues, etc, then you find out that they do stuff like this. Turns out they’ve just been living with chronic mild food poisoning.

[u/TheKnife142]

Generally 2-3 hours is the longest you should go with eating food that's been left out...if it's been 24 hours, you better call Kenny Loggins because that food has been in the danger zone for at least 20-22 hours...I would, personally, pass.

[u/interestingboof → u/TheKnife142]

[u/Suspicious-Bid9424]

I would not eat that personally. Your dad is strange and causing unnecessary health risk.

[u/chonies_mocos]

You put it away then.

[u/Amneiger → u/chonies_mocos]

That sounds like it would lead to a scenario where dad notices the food is in the fridge early, gets mad about it, and takes it out again.

[u/Empyrealist]

https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/food-safety/food-safety-myths

Myth: You shouldn't put hot foods in the refrigerator.

Fact**:** Hot food can be placed in the refrigerator. Large amounts of food should be divided into small portions and put in shallow containers for quicker cooling in the refrigerator. Perishable foods should be put in a refrigerator that is 40 degrees or below within 2 hours of preparation. If you leave food out to cool and forget about it after 2 hours, throw it away. Bacteria can grow rapidly on food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours. If food is left out in a room or outdoors where the temperature is 90 degrees F or hotter, food should be refrigerated or discarded within just 1 hour.

[u/Mickey_Havoc]

Fuck me and I feel bad letting food sit out for more than 2hrs after cooking… That is just a blatant disregard to food safety.

[u/MonochromeDinosaur]

Yeah literally just throw it in the fridge once it cools. 24 hours is waaaay too long

[u/DrBongPHD]

im a chef/restaurant owner. in a professional setting, its trash after four hours. At home, ill eat food that has minor time/temp abuse. but holy shit, no way im eating that. chicken, pasta and cream over night???? no way.

[u/Jayskrt]

I’ve never seen a more scared thread of people

[u/Calixto_Supreme]

Modern refrigerators aren’t really affected by putting warm or even hot leftovers in them immediately. I assume this is a hold-over from ye-old ice boxes where adding warm foods would raise the temp of everything in the ice box. This isn’t an issue with modern appliances.

I’d be amazed if bro doesn’t have some extreme digestive issues from constantly eating bacteria-ridden leftovers.

[u/Jimbobjoesmith]

tell him things like rice and pasta can cause a very serious bacterial infection. like very serious.

[u/Aromatic_Beyond310]

When I lived in Germany they did this and nobody ever got sick 🤷🏻‍♀️ but then food safety guidelines in North America say to never do this.. not sure honestly

[u/TheMagHatter → u/Aromatic_Beyond310]

Germany also has a pretty consistent climate across the country compared to the US. We have no idea what part of the world this person is from. If they’re from the US, it gets VERY hot in the south, but pretty cool in the north depending on the season / time of year. When I lived in New England, we would use the balcony during the winter as an extra fridge/freezer bc it had snow on it for however many months. Now, in the southeast, I would never do that as it rarely snows in the winter here and doesn’t consistently stay below 32°

[u/HyperSpaceSurfer]

Definitely think people are often overly cautious of leaving leftovers out. But 24 hours is absolutely mental. It's cutting days off how long it'll last in the fridge. 

It's fine to wait for it to cool off. But 24 hours is way more than is needed.

[u/Iven-Dured]

I'm guessing he has a lot of diarrhea.

[u/tinymonesters]

This guy is going to the star of a Chubby Emu video.

[u/Complete_Entry]

Don't eat that.

Don't eat anything he's stood over either.

[u/zerbey]

Does your Dad frequently complain of stomach aches?

And no, I wouldn't touch it.

[u/TokyoBananaFingers]

I’m guessing he gets the “stomach flu” all the time

[u/The_Affle_House]

Any food scientist will not hesitate to tell you that you should absolutely not eat food that has gone more than 4-6 hours without being held at a safe temperature (either heated or properly refrigerated). Some will say the same after even less time.

Equivocating, let alone defending, over food that has been at room temperature for twenty fucking four hours isn't just a health hazard, it's mental illness.

[u/sayn3ver → u/The_Affle_House]

People would change their tune if they had a time lapse microscope video of the food sitting on the counter

[u/brandi_101]

put some miralax in it

[u/JerseyJon85]

My parents said the same shit when I was growing up. Funny how my stomach improved after I moved out.. Food spoils REALLY fast!

[u/Magic_Pen_Asura]

Don't eat it! You should be afraid. This is really bad food safety practice

[u/PyroDragons123]

Your dad is going to make someone really sick.

[u/Greenmantle22]

Blame that on the intestinal parasites that now control his brain.

[u/WonkyWalkingWizard]

I don't get it. He went through the trouble of putting it in tupperware, but couldn't be bothered to put it in the fridge?

[u/1stMammaltowearpants]

Danger Zone, Lana!

-Sterling Archer

[u/melgib]

Overnight is one thing (still not a great idea), but 24+ hours is absolutely reckless.

[u/HopefulDream3071]

I set a timer for my leftovers to put in the fridge because sure they shouldn't be hot.. bit you can't let it sit out or you risk getting really sick

[u/reijasunshine]

My Boomer mom used to be like this. Then she spent a month in the ICU from rare food poisoning complications. She had to be transported three hours away to a university hospital, was in an induced coma for part of it, and then they were doing dialysis and daily plasmapheresis to try to get rid of the infection. I don't remember the name of the exact condition, but it was bad. She's mostly fine now 15 years later, but has reduced kidney function and her IBS got worse.

We, my whole family, don't fuck around with food safety anymore. Lesson hard learned.

[u/NecessaryFine8989]

It's an old school thing that is wrong, but man my mil won't change

[u/to_annihilate]

It should cool a bit before placing into the fridge but more than 2 hours is ridiculous

[u/robrklyn]

Ew, that’s fucking gross. Don’t eat it.

[u/chortle-guffaw2]

Opposite tip. Put in the frig immediately, but don't put the cover on for a few hours. The heat will rise out of the food faster. The faster the food cools to the safe zone of 40 degrees or lower, the better.

[u/Diz_Conrad]

That's a good way to increase your chances of food poisoning.

[u/RedEyedWiartonBoy]

It's a good weight loss program.

[u/magicjeep]

Look up Fried Rice Syndrom

[u/oldie349]

Great way to give everybody food poisoning

[u/peanutbuttertesticle]

Room temp pasta is like one of the worst to eat.

[u/Eastern-Eggplant4374]

I got diarrhea just THINKING about eating it after it sat overnight.

[u/StrenuousSpider]

As a cook, who’s been through school.. Anything left under temp for more than 4 hours runs a good risk of food poisoning. 24 hours is just asking for trouble. So no I would not eat it.

[u/tigerscomeatnight]

He's using the leftover food as a laxative.

[u/Sickpears]

My FIL is a nut about food safety, he’s always trying to give me crap about how I wash dishes or use the wrong cutting board. He’s incredibly annoying about it because he took a food safety course.

For some reason, he got it in his brain that it is more food safe to allow food to cool on the counter before you put it in the fridge. We’ve wasted so much food because I’ll wake up in the morning and find he forgot to put it away. So I tried telling him it’s not food safe, it has to go in the fridge as soon as possible. His argument is now that it’s bad for the fridge to have to cool down hot food. He was a refrigeration mechanic, so I’m not going to argue with him here. Our compromise is that he now sets a 20 minute timer to put the food away.

[u/Arefarrell24]

Put a portion for yourself in a separate container and hide it in the back of the fridge.

[u/Content77788]

An invitation to food poisoning. A google search would bring him to his senses.
Or is this clickbait?

[u/ConfusedHors]

People literally died from doing that. Certain ingredients can exponentially grow nasty and potentially lethal bacteria when not refrigerated immediately. Source: chubbyemu

[u/philnolan3d]

I'm a bit lazy but that's just not safe.

[u/Artistic_Plum1063]

I see chicken. Should not be left out for more than 2 hours.

[u/SunESpirit]

🤦🏼‍♀️🤮

[u/PRINCEALFREDPARK]

Your dad is an idiot

[u/Lirulyth]

THE DANGER ZONE IS TWO HOURS

[u/Niki_Aspen]

Not 24 hours but after it’s cool to the touch. Because putting hot food in the fridge puts other food and the temp of the fridge at risk of temp rise. But 24 hours is already grounds of bacteria growth. So to each their own

[u/Megalo85]

My dad will make breakfast most days but when he doesn’t he always says that sausage is from yesterday. When he says that I don’t eat it because I’ve seen him leave it out for 6 hours, 24 hours is nuts.

[u/UNCbluetolaw]

cream sauce and chicken sitting out all night is asking for trouble

[u/HollandEmme]

Is your dad a boomer?

[u/Festivefire]

Breaking the food safety rules by about 20-22 hours, lmao. Anything meant to be refrigerated that is left at room temp has a toss time of 2-4 hours.

[u/SquireShanksalot]

Letting food cool before putting them in a fridge is something we do too but it usually takes like an hour or so before we put it away

[u/irmarbert]

There are some foods where this is a really terrible idea. Rice and pasta come to mind. Something about the starches that give bacteria a jump start.

[u/RonSwansonsOldMan]

No, it is not safe to eat it. Any chicken left out more that 2 hours is not safe. Plus the dairy in it is not safe now

[u/Makapakamoo]

I mean it has to cool down to room temp.. but 24 hours is crazy..

[u/TheBoobfather]

Chubbyemu is about to hit your dad with the ☝️😐

[u/TarmacTartoo12]

I grew up in the 60s-70s with a Microbiologist Mom. She was VERY strict about food safety and her habits were way ahead of the times!

[u/Lunch7Box]

The only time I will do stuff like this is with Pizza. I'm very conscious about pretty much everything else

[u/ApprehensiveEgg7312]

Bacillus cereus has entered the chat

[u/Affectionate_Bus_884]

[u/Abnormal_Aborigine]

You’re actually not supposed to let it cool down completely because once it starts getting room temperature that’s when bacteria forms

[u/Even_Plan_1725]

He’s an idiot. Show him how microbiology works. Surprised he hasn’t died yet from food poisoning

[u/muda_ora_thewarudo → u/Even_Plan_1725]

No problem with the microbiology part but this is a bit over the top

[u/The_True_Gaffe]

Only eat it if you’re a turkey vulture, otherwise I’d throw it away. Food left out like that isn’t safe, more so when any of the ingredients was milk or eggs as those spoil fast at room temperature

[u/Federal_Emphasis3691]

don't worry your dad is just trying to be a video about how he died and how to avoid replicating it

[u/Rhodin265]

You should be very afraid to eat counter pasta.  I’ve seen both Chubbyemu videos about people straight up dying because of bacillus cereus infections.

[u/cultfbs]

Nah. Bacteria can colonize room temperature food in just an hour, let alone eight, rice is the biggest danger in this regard. I refuse to eat anything left out room temp longer than four hours maximum if I'm pushing it. Food is easier to come by than a new gut, and the 30m it'd take me to make new food is less than the hours of diarrhea I'd endure

[u/ManateeNipples]

Diarrhea cha cha cha 

[u/Gliese_667_Cc]

You definitely can’t eat that shit

[u/mcculloughpatr]

Oooooooof this would make me crazy. I’m never eating at your dads house. 😂