Eli5 why is it that food can be left in steamers and under heat warming lamps for hours but it harbors harmful bacteria if you leave it in a hot place like a car for a few hours?

Question

Eli5 why is it that food can be left in steamers and under heat warming lamps for hours but it harbors harmful bacteria if you leave it in a hot place like a car for a few hours?

In: 312

Answer 1

To put it simply: You don’t want your food to have the temperature of your body for long. Very cold is fine, you can’t survive at that temperature, very hot is fine, you can survive either. The bacteria want environment like you, wet and warm.