Chicken left in crockpot unplugged. Can we get food poisoning?

Question

I bought chicken breasts and put them in the crockpot. I realized an hour later that I forgot to plug the crockpot in. So the chicken wasn't cooking.

Is it ok to still make the chicken? Or has it been sitting too long and we could get food poisoning?

Answer 1

1 hour no problem to cook

2 hours iffy

3+ throw it out

Answer 2

How long does cooked chicken last outside of the refrigerator?


Answer

If it's extremely hot, any left over chicken or turkey should be refrigerated immediately. If you home is cool just leave it out until it is warm. Believe it or not it's not always the best thing to put a hot chicken in a cool refrigerator. I am extremely fussy during the summer so if I have potato salad, any salads with mayonnaise in it or sour cream, chicken or any meat (also seafood) I serve my seafood on a bed of ice; as soon as my guests have filled up their plates I take all that food and put it back in the refrigerator and then haul it out again for seconds. You can never be too careful.






Answer
Repeat after me. Any food should be unrefrigerated no more than 3-4 hours total during it's life. Since SOME unrefrigerated time is unavoidable during processing and transportation, you should never eat anything that's been unrefrigerated more than an hour.

(This is true primarily for foods containing protein, but it only takes a tiny amount of chicken to drop into the rice to contaminate the whole, so use the rule for everything.)

Also, rules about letting a food come to 'room temperature' before refrigerating were devised in previous decades, when refrigerators weren't as efficient as they are now. No matter how hot a food is, refrigerate it!

Trust me, it's easier to discard some leftovers than to go through a real toilet-hugging, stomach-pumping bout of food poisoning.

Answer 3

Assuming the chicken breasts were fresh and properly handled before putting them into the crockpot; assuming also that your kitchen's room temperature is, oh, 80 degrees F or below, I doubt you're going to get food poisoning from an hour in a cold, covered crockpot. Many of the ingredients thrown in with crockpot recipes often act as a sort of preservative, or antibacterial (for a while) also. I wouldn't worry about it.

Answer 4

My concern would be cross contamination, it's the reason we don't put raw hamburger in a crockpot. If it's only been an hour then it will most likely be ok, however next time you need to be very careful.
I know some people who still thaw their chicken out of the fridge and they are okay...I'm not saying you should do it but most likely you'll be okay.

Answer 5

If the chicken was fresh and covered with cold liquid you will not get food poisoning. You can go ahead and cook it.
Food poisoning occurs most easily when one eats something that has been partially cooked and left in a warm liquid without reheating the dish to over 70 degrees celsius and fully cooking the meat.

Answer 6

You will not get ill from chicken thats been out one hour. The cooking process will destroy any bacteria that might have formed, But be sure to cook the meat fully trough.But since crock pots head up very slowly I would take the dish and bring it to the cooking point in a pot over the stove and then put it back into the slow cooker.

Answer 7

Assuming the chicken went from the fridge to the crockpot an hour won't really hurt. If its closer to 2 hours, trash the chicken.

Answer 8

Chicken is supposed to be kept cold at all times up until the time of cooking, but I personally would still use it after 1 hour. Just be sure to wash it thoroughly in cold water, including the pot, and also be sure to cook it thoroughly which would kill any potential bacteria.

Answer 9

They sit in the shop tray for a lot longer and we still buy them. But an hour won't make any difference. Just remember to refrigerate leftovers as soon as you finish. Don't let them cool down out of the fridge.

Answer 10

I am not a doctor, however, I believe it takes a lot longer than an hour to spoil. In addition, I heard from a doctor that if you cook food at a reasonably high temperature, the germs in it will be killed.