Why did my gumbo go bad?

Question

Two years ago my mother and I began making gumbo as a addition to the Thanksgiving meal. We made two types of gumbo, chicken and seafood, to satisfy all guests at dinner. Each gumbo included the roux, tomatoes, okra, onions, garlic, bayleaf, pepper, chicken and its broth, crab meat, shrimp, and crab legs. The crab legs we added to anyone's bowl who wanted some but were not in the inital pot. The gumbo turned out great and everyone wanted more. We decided we would continue the gumbo addition at Christmas and last Thanksgiving. On both of these occasions the gumbo went bad after just 24 hours. On each occasion we added the same ingredients. The crab legs became a part of the mixture considering their popularity. We made sure to refrigerate the gumbo the same night we cooked it, however, it still went bad. Was it the crablegs? Any native New Orleanians have any idea? With Thanksgiving around the corner, I really need to know.

Answer 1

when you refrigerated the gumbo how hot was it . when you cool hot items first you must let it cool down some then when you do put it in the frige you will have to stir it occasionally because when you cool hot stuff the cold cools the outside of your food and may never get to the center .when that happens the hot spoils the cold

Answer 2

There could be many reasons as to why your gumbo went bad if it was a really big pot and you waited to long to refrigerate it, it would be hard for a refrigerator that you have that probably needs to be much colder to make the whole gumbo pot cold enough to keep it fresh. If your sure your its cold enough and you put it in there on time the other thing could have been with some things like soupy stuff need to be at a certain temperature before you put them in the refrigerator or for some reason the go bad so I would suggest as soon as your gumbo cools down you put that sucker in the refrigerator not a second to soon or to late.

Answer 3

Gumbo To Go

Answer 4

After you finish eating put the whole pot in a cool water bath and keep changing the water and stirring th contents inside the pot, keep doing this til it is cooled down enough to refrigerate.

Answer 5

Raised in LA, I don't see why it went bad unless the meat (crab / chicken / sausage...) was going bad before hand! You did nothing wrong...that is really odd!

Great, now I have to make some gumbo! Living in the midwest sucks...no one sells roux! Better get busy!

Thanks for making me hungry! hehe

Answer 6

bacteria grows very fast between 41 and 139 degrees which is considered the danger zone you need to keep any food away from that range (keeping it hotter or colder) and when cooling down the food it need to go fast through the danger zone: (from 140 to under 70 degrees in less than 2 hours and and from 69 to 40 degrees or less in the next 4 hours. you can use any of the methods mentioned in posted answers: several smaller batches cooling in an ice bath and stirring occasionally. And when you reheat that food it needs to go fast through the danger zone. that method works for me every single time. Greetings

Answer 7

I would keep all the seafood separate and add it as people want it...clearly that is the issue. I actually have no idea why it happened but given what it all costs who cares? Better safe than sorry, right?

Answer 8

Maybe seperate into smaller portions to refrigerate faster. (instead of one large pot going into the refierator, make two smaller tupperware like containers to go into the fridge)

Answer 9

I noticed the ingredients....Either the crab meat, shrimp (I think the shrimp), or crab legs did not "endure".