The in-laws picked up the food from a butcher on Friday afternoon, and put it in the freezer. My wife's aunt was supposed to move the food from the freezer to the refrigerator so it would thaw, and be ready to cook for an Italian Christmas Eve dinner. However, instead she put a pound of frozen squid, and a pound of shrimp on the kitchen counter for about four hours, from 5pm to 9pm (the temp in the room is in the low to mid 70s). Once I got there, and realized the mistake I put it in the fridge.

Will it be safe to eat tomorrow around 5pm, after sitting out for four hours, and then going into the fridge?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Just hope someone speaks jive. Or stick with the chicken.


Seafood should be thawed in a fridge for about 2 hours per pound.

(this is from memory from the early 1970s when I ran restaurant kitchens)

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:
Will it be safe to eat tomorrow around 5pm, after sitting out for four hours, and then going into the fridge?

I'll let you know about midnight tomorrow.

All kidding aside, was it still cold when you put it in the fridge? If so, I'd say you're probably good to go, especially if you are going to cook it.

Is it a 1 pound block of squid or shrimp, or in the flatter long packages? If it was more of a block you might be ok. But how cold was it when you got there? IMO it's not worth getting everyone sick over $15 in seafood.

One pound of squid and one pound of shrimp. They were cold, but were soft on the outer sides. The wife is insisting it's safe, and I'm not sure.

The squid is all I really care about. It is supposed to get sauteed with garlic, and then cooked in red sauce.

FYI, apparently I'm an a-hole for suggesting there might be a problem due to the fact the in-laws not following the instructions given, and not using common sense.

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:
One pound of squid and one pound of shrimp. They were cold, but were soft on the outer sides. The wife is insisting it's safe, and I'm not sure.

The squid is all I really care about. It is supposed to get sauteed with garlic, and then cooked in red sauce.

FYI, apparently I'm an a-hole for suggesting there might be a problem due to the fact the in-laws not following the instructions given, and not using common sense.

FWIW, I'm on your side, and you are using common sense.
I err to the side of caution when it comes to foodstuffs.
You don't want to be responsible for the 2018 Christmas plaque.

If it was cool to the touch, I'd use it.
More so to make peace with said wife than anything.
I'd replace it if possible.
Shrimp is easy to come by here locally, even on Christmas eve.
Squid?
Not so much..


You can always give her 'I told you so" in a couple weeks, if everything goes to sh!t, so to speak.....

Merry Christmas...

Probably okay, since it was still cold. But why not replace it if you are worried.

Four whole hours?

From a frozen state?

Unless it wasn't cold any longer surely it's fine.

I'd replace it if able, but it's a no go. Going to get new would let the in-laws know they fouled up, and my wife is adamant that no one be told about the mistake.

Plus the odds of getting squid on Christmas Eve is slim. The reason we got it early and froze it, is few places sell it, and those that do sellout early.I

Because the stuff was bought for me, and I'm supposed to cook it, any attempt to avoid cooking and eating it are going to cause the spouse to blow a gasket.I

I shouldn't have to worry about it, and just toss the stuff in the trash, but I'm being told I can't risk upsetting the in-laws.

You need a counter surfing dog or a sneak attack cat.

Hey, the USDA website on food safety makes the cut to stay open during the partial fed-gov shutdown:

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/...r-consumers/bigthaw2

I hear you monkey; my dogs would have found it when fully froze!

DMF: I can sympathize with you. Maybe try this tact: "out of an abundance of caution, I decided not on cooking the squid & shrimp because it set out too long." Let your wife know that you love her and her family, and you would rather them be upset at you than sick with food poisoning.

I tend to err on the side of caution with food safety. Yep, I use a food thermometer when grilling, and won't apologize for it.

Given the situation I’d just cook it and serve it. I probably wouldn’t eat any of it, though. Somebody should be the “designated driver”.

In the future, I've used my thermopen to measure the temperature of meat that I was thawing and forgot out too long.....to determine whether it went into the fridge or the trash. If it was in the 50's I threw it in the fridge.....60's or above trash...….

quote:

Originally posted by DMF:
Will it be safe to eat tomorrow around 5pm, after sitting out for four hours, and then going into the fridge?

I would guess, to around 85%, that it's probably okay. BUT. Even with good odds, if you've ever had food poisoning of any sort, that's not a wager you'd take. Toss it.

(Also, in a related aside, you shouldn't eat squid anyway. Squid is not food. It's bait.)

Merry Christmas!

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
Given the situation I’d just cook it and serve it. I probably wouldn’t eat any of it, though. Somebody should be the “designated driver”.

Exactly correct! Make sure that your wife's aunt, who failed the simple task of putting it in the refrigerator, gets an extra large portion.

how was it packaged? kryopaked? if so I'd say its fine. id say it be fine regardless of how it was packaged. squid takes a while to get fully thawed

shrimp will give off an odor if it is bad, you will be able to tell,

for that period of time, both would be fine

Probably ok but ask yourself if it’s worth hurling your guts out for the next couple of days. The answer is rarely yes in my house.

I managed to convince the wife of wasn't worth the risk, although somehow I'm still a jerk for pointing out the problem. I snuck out and bought new while everyone else was out doing other last minute holiday stuff. The squid will now be a problem as it won't be thawed completely by the time we start cooking, but I'd rather deal with that than have people miserable from food poisoning.

Smile, serve it up and eat something else. Liberally apply alcohol as needed.

Merry Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsRM2FMEjJA