On that steak you left out
Hello Mr. NNVV. I recently left my leftover steak out on my counter overnight (and unfortunately we're talking a nice prime Ribeye). When I found it in the morning, I threw it away, but per your published leftover advice, could I have been safe to heat this up until it was piping hot and eat with a couple of eggs in the morning? It feels like a different scenario with the lack of refrigeration, but would any bacteria have made it through 2.5 minutes in the microwave or a long reheat on the stove?
Steak losses aside, you made a thoughtfully reasoned assessment of food safety risk and it brings a tear to my eye. Let’s review both lines of reasoning:
A health inspector would say: some bacteria could have found its way onto the steak and the lack of refrigeration could have allowed that bacteria flourish throughout the night. The mere possibility of a presence of harmful bacteria means you shouldn’t take the risk in trying to revive it.
I take issue with this narrative for a few reasons:
You left the steak out immediately after having cooked it… so there shouldn’t be any bacteria to grow on this steak in the first place. Unless you have leaky sewage lines crisscrossing above your countertop (or a cat) I don’t see any meaningful opportunity for bacterial contamination.
Overnight (10 hours) isn’t a huge amount of time for bacteria to grow, particularly if we’re starting with a really low level of plausible contamination and a food that isn’t known for explosive bacteria growth (cooked steak). If you had said “scallops” or “lobster tail” I would have advised you to burn your home to the ground.
You’re gonna recook it anyway, eliminating the major pathogens of concern.
Me watching leftovers cook
So how long should you reheat it for? it’s the temperature that matters. You’ll want to scorch that bad boy to 165ºF but I think it’s pretty unreasonable to expect anyone to hit leftovers with a meat thermometer, so “piping hot” is an acceptable shorthand.
I know your ribeye does not deserve this kind of heavy-handed cooking, but well-done steak is better than no steak.
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