is this safe to eat still??

[pmmahan]

I partially defrosted some ground beef and ground pork for another recipe Wednesday night. I wrapped the leftover portions (about 1/2 lb each) in plastic and stored it in the fridge (on a plate, on the bottom rack). Do you think it is still safe to eat??? I found a yummy meat loaf recipe I want to try tonight.

[Gail]

Originally posted by pmmahan:
I partially defrosted some ground beef and ground pork for another recipe Wednesday night. I wrapped the leftover portions (about 1/2 lb each) in plastic and stored it in the fridge (on a plate, on the bottom rack). Do you think it is still safe to eat??? I found a yummy meat loaf recipe I want to try tonight.

I think you're okay as long as you cook it today.

[Kerri]

I'm a microbiologist! Should be just fine.

[Zinnia]

I grew up with the motto, "When in doubt, throw it out!" I am sure it saved our family plenty of trips to the Dr. over the years! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif.Then again, sometimes you can just tell by the color, smell, or "feel" of it. I freeze, thaw, & cook so often that everything in my freezer is rotated (pretty much) on a regular basis-then it depends on how long it's been thawed. According to the "Refrigerator Storage Guide" I jotted down, and is on the side of my fridge:
*Meats-Ground (Beef, lamb, pork, & veal)-1 to 2 days.
*Roast- 2 to 4 days.
*Steaks, chops- 3 to 5 days.
*Stew meat- 1 to 2 days.
I use this as a guide and then take into consideration the time it was frozen, color and smell. Hope this is of help. Take care, http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Zinnia

[Gail]

Zinnia, what a great thing to give us. I think I'll do likewise and clip this one.

...and Kerri, how lucky we are to have a microbiologist in our midst. I could've used your advice on quite a few occasions!

[MrsReber]

Ah, we had a similar problem not long ago. Seems the door on our big freezer in the basement was ajar and most of the meat defrosted! Well, we didn't know what to do,so we actually re-froze most of it and used some of the stuff that had totally defrosted. We went by smell. If it smelled funny, we didn't go near it! Also, you can usually tell by the color, too. I think if you only defrosted it on Wednesday, and it doesn't smell bad, it's probably fine.

[andreajackson]

I had a question on if something is still good or not?
The other day I made the Pumpkin-cheesecake and after it came out of the oven I left it covered on the counter to cool and forgot to put it in the frig! I put it in the frig first thing the next morning when I saw it but was wondering if we should still eat it?
HELP!

[lorilei]

andrea - your cheesecake is probably just fine if you just left it out overnight. A tiny taste will tell you for sure.

[Dorothy]

I've recently discovered that the bottom of drawer (under the vegetable drawer) of my refrigerator is really a meat drawer (I just thought it was another veg drawer). There's a lever on the side of fringe next to the drawer that can be opened to let in frigid air from the freezer to keep this drawer really cold. I've found that I can keep meat & chicken in there for days (I had chicken breasts in there for 5 days & they were just fine when I cooked them). Does anyone else use this drawer for meats & what experience have you had with keeping it fresh?