eli5: Why you can safely cook meat in a slow cooker (approx 8 hours on low), if after 2 hours on the counter it needs to be tossed?

Question

Surely it’s in the “danger zone” for a long time before being fully cooked, right? Could you leave out meat for 4 hours THEN toss it in a slow cooker?

In: 0

Answer 1

Meat in the danger zone allows bacteria to proliferate. Once it is raised above the danger zone (for the recommended time) enough bacteria have been killed to make it not infectious. IF you leave a roast for 4 hours at room temp and then eat it, it has an infectious load. If you have it in the danger zone for 4 hours and then it goes into the safe zone above the danger zone then it is eliminating the pathogens.

This is why sous vide is safe; bc different heats for different times kill pathogens. 2 min at 165f might do the trick while 2 hrs at 130f will also do it.