[lithocarpus]

I've gone without a fridge for 8 years now and do something kind of like this usually - I'll cook a pot of food and then steam or boil it again after ~24 hours to reset the clock on it rotting. It's handy for things like eating a whole chicken or other large soup. I switch between being home and on the road a lot so my pot just comes with me and can be re-cooked on my car stove or my home stove. I tend to cook or re-heat once a day. Ideally I'd rather be sharing freshly prepared food with other people every meal and I do that when I can, but this works for when I'm feeding myself alone - cheaper and easier than any other approach.

[ars]

Resetting it will kill bacteria, certainly. But there are a number of heat-stable toxins that once created will not be destroyed that way.

I guess you've been doing this for a while, and presumably it's been working, plus I know that historically this is how people lived. But be aware it's not risk free.

A suggestion: A pressure cooker - not for the pressure, but because they can be sealed. Heat the food, then let it cool without opening it. Kind of a less secure form of canning.

[nonethewiser]

The bacteria is still there, its just dead. Along with all of its waste. Leaving soup at room temperature over night is crazy. Its usually the biggest food borne illness vector in restaurants so they usually boil then move straight to cooling.

Ive learned leaving soup out and reboiling is fairly common in some cultures which is unfortunate. Bacteria rapidly multiplies at room temperature around the world (well, maybe not antarctica).

[elros]

> Ive learned leaving soup out and reboiling is fairly common in some cultures which is unfortunate.

I know next to nothing about chemistry or biology but I do cook a lot of food, and quite often have leftovers.

After many years in Germany, I got into the habit of leaving food out, and that would mostly be fine. Very rarely would food spoil, at least from a culinary perspective (I'm not disputing the presence of bacteria or harm of its waste).

However after even a few months in Taiwan I learned that this strategy is basically impossible: food left outside spoils within hours.

Given I originally come from a country that is warmer, but much dryer than Taiwan, where food doesn't spoil if left out nearly as fast, I do believe it has to do more with humidity than with temperature.

[lithocarpus]

Both humidity and temperature matter, it's a complex thing going on.

But yes I'm mostly in a dry environment doing this, I haven't tried it anywhere that was warm and humid at the same time.

It helps a lot to not seal the leftovers but let them have airflow and dry out on the surface. Sealed containers with moisture in them get nasty much faster.

[reverius42]

If the container is sealed (airtight) while it's still above the temperatures that (most) bacteria can survive at, and then cooled while sealed, it might actually do better than open-air for a while.

[vinceguidry]

You'd be amazed at just how much tolerance human guts can develop for this kind of thing. I recall reading about a hunter-gatherer tribe the discoverer ran across just going to town on horribly rotten carrion. The more rotten the better.

[xyzzy_plugh]

If your gut is adjusted it can work, sure, but there is still latent risk -- your body is fighting for your survival constantly.

If your immune system becomes suppressed or you become injured, then you're skating on very thin ice.

We've known this for a very long time. There's a reason refrigerators are popular.

[throwaway27448]

> Leaving soup at room temperature over night is crazy.

And yet, this was common before the electric fridge. I've lived without a fridge for years and the amount of food I ate after being left out overnight would give americans a stroke.

[jambalaya8]

I left a bowl of pasta with meatballs out on the table by accident on New Years Eve a handful of years ago, and aside from a power outage the whole night, it was perfectly fine the next day; most food is.

Pork is especially fine if it is properly packaged... That is part of what 'curing meat' is all about.

Most people that brought lunch or dinner to work or school prior to maybe the 1990s thought nothing much of unrefrigerated food being eaten several hours later. Laborers still often do. So do kids.

And tuna at room temperature is surprisingly good (as long as it is not rotten, or the temperature isn't too high). I mean tuna salad, although sushi is served just barely below room temperature.

I remember in grade school taking thermoses of soup for lunch, though I would never do this as an adult (and not only because it was disgustingly lukewarm five hours later).

I wouldn't do it in this weather though.

[maxglute]

During winter I'll run a perpetual stew pot for a few days, maybe week+ because it's going towards heating anyways.