Navy bean and ham soup. HELP! Need advice. (Update)

[Behind the Aegis]

OK, I actually know how to make this recipe. I keep really odd hours and this recipe calls for 8-10 hours in the crock pot. I never found a recipe that said I could go the 'fast' route and turn it on high, so I stick to the rules, as it were. I am not a great cook, so I am usually afraid to veer off of recipes until I make them many times. Anyway, I had everything ready to go, but because I have an odd sleeping schedule, and I wanted it for dinner, I asked my husband if he would put everything in the crock pot before going to work. He did. He followed my list to a "T" until the last line, PLUG IT IN! That's right, he put all the ingredients in and didn't turn the fucking crock pot on! Oh, the switch was set to low, but it wasn't plugged into the wall! I even thought he might be offended that I added that line, "plug it in", to the list. Seriously,

So, here's my question: Do I just throw it out? It was sitting, for almost 5 hours, covered by the crock pot lid, everything immersed in chicken stock, except a small top part of the hambone.

For now, I have turned it on (yes, I plugged it in). I searched the internet and most places say 2-3 hours left out is OK, after that toss it. But this was in a broth and covered, which according to some sites, gives it an extra few hours.

So, do I...

(ETA: When I took off the lid, the broth was ice cold, as if it had just come out of the fridge. It wasn't even room temp, which actually made me madder, but may be a good thing.)

(UPDATE: I did go ahead and make the soup. It will be dinner for tomorrow night. I tasted it and it came out pretty good. Thank you to everyone who responded!!)

6 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Throw everything out
	0 (0%)
	Keep cooking it
	6 (100%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I'd keep cooking it.

And, if he were my husband, I'd smack him!

I mean, really!

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Trust me, I thought about adding it as an option in the poll!

Sometimes people can be so absent-minded.

[Major Nikon]

2. I second Peggy's advice

On one hand you have a piece of bone and meat that have been left out for several hours which could lead to pathogen growth. On the other hand, ham bones are typically cured so the risk of leaving it out for 5 hours is minimal and you're going to cook it for many hours which should decrease any potential pathogens to even less concern.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. That's was what I was reading on the web.

When I spoke to my mom, she asked me if it was cold or room-temp. It was actually still ice cold.

[Warpy]

3. 5 hours isn't enough for that much bacterial growth

so the flavor won't be affected, the biggest worry when you're just going to cook everything, anyway.

Factoid: boiling for 10 minutes destroys botulin toxin in iffy canned foods.

[Galileo126]

6. All good advice here...

If your worried, just boil for 10 mins (see above), then back to simmer...

"I'd keep playing. I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite awhile." - Bill Murray as Carl in Caddyshack.

[kdmorris]

7. Truly that will be the most awesome soup ever

or the worst.

But you'll have to cook it to find out. I imagine that sitting for that long in broth should make it awesome.

And should provide some protective properties.

[elleng]

8. Glad you've received such good advice.

I agree.

Here's a bit of frivolity, re: directions:

[Retrograde]

9. The human race survived a long time without refrigeration

hams were cured so they could be stored for months at room temperature. If it were mine, I'd boil it for about 10 minutes, then go back to the crock pot.

I used to frequent a cooking site that was full of people who would freak out if something was left unrefrigerated for 2 hours and 1 minute, thinking food has some sort of magical clock that goes off at a precise time. And they were just as bad about "use by" dates - there are a lot of people who don't know how to use their own senses to tell whether or not something's still good.

i recently read a reprint of the memoirs of a Civil War soldier: he talked about how he and his fellow soldiers would get food packages in the mail from their families back home - especially whole roast chickens and turkeys. While the US military postal service was especially efficient for the time, that's stretching things a bit far even for me!

[dem in texas]

10. This won't hurt at ALL - Cook the soup!

You could have left it out for many more hours before worrying about spoilage. Also if any bacteria is in the food, cooking it for a few minutes at a high temperature will render the food safe. Many foods that people trust like hot dogs should always be cooked a few minutes at a high temperature to insure that they are safe to eat.

I lived in Germany in the late 1950's and early 60's and had a small refrigerator, not as big as the dorm refrigerators sold now. I learned then that many foods do not need to be refrigerated. Just can't keep them as long as you do when they are refrigerated.

Think about the instructions in many bean recipes to soak the beans in water overnight. Never any worry about spoilage.

I make navy bean soup all the time, using chicken stock, ham hock, onions, carrots, celery and some crumbled fried bacon. I finish it off with some milk to thin it down. I usually do what you do, cook it on low overnight in the crock pot. I have also forget to plug the crock pot in, I just cook it in a soup pot, usually takes about 2 hours on low simmer.