Garlic confit left on counter

amother

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 11:47 am

For 6-7 hours uncovered. Should I throw it out?

amother

Saddlebrown

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 12:13 pm

amother OP wrote:

For 6-7 hours uncovered. Should I throw it out?

If it's in oil, oil is a natural preservative. I vote fine.

pause

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 12:18 pm

not a problem

chili-n-cholent

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 12:20 pm

perfectly fine, oil is a preservative.
It would be fine even if you left it on the counter for 2 days

amother

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 12:33 pm

I'm reading online about botulism risks if left at room temp. Is that not really a worry?

seeker

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 2:31 pm

The 2 days claim sounds iffy to me. But 6 hours I'd be ok with

amother

Crystal

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 2:34 pm

It's fine I leave it out overnight every week. Never had an issue or got sick. I make it Friday and it's out till after shabbos

amother

Obsidian

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 3:04 pm

I've left it out for much longer than that. Aside for oil being a preservative, garlic is also a potent antimicrobial.

csstb

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 3:15 pm

If the garlic and oil got hot enough to kill anything while making it, it should be fine. If it didn’t, then throw it out.

amother

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 10:51 pm

We ate it, so hearing everyone else's confidence makes me feel a lot better 😅

zaq

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 11:05 pm

I shall be the voice of dissension. Check out this article:
https://ask.usda.gov/s/article.....n-oil

KNOWLEDGE ARTICLE
Research performed by the University of Georgia confirmed that mixtures of garlic in oil stored at room temperature are at risk for the development of botulism. Garlic in oil should be made fresh and stored in the refrigerator at 40 °F or lower for no more than 7 days. It may be frozen for several months. Package in glass freezer jars or plastic freezer boxes, leaving ½-inch headspace. Label, date, and freeze. For more information, see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Foodborne Botulism.

The fact that you-all left your garlic at room temp and survived does not mean that this is a safe thing to do. Not all smokers develop lung cancer, either.

seeker

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 11:34 pm

zaq wrote:

That says you shouldn't store it at room temperature. But how long constitutes storing? Certainly it can survive room temperature long enough to get from the fridge to your mouth. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it can survive room temperature long enough to go from the fridge to the table and be enjoyed as part of a meal, staying at the table for at least one course, say about half hour. Or maybe it can stay out for the whole meal, which could be more like 2 hours.

If that's not storage, then maybe 6 hours isn't storage either.

And for regular healthy people I think you need a certain amount of botulism to get sick. So even if it could start to develop in 6 hours, it's still safe for almost everyone.

seeker

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 11:35 pm

It also doesn't say if it's talking about cooked garlic in oil or raw. That's a big difference.

seeker

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 11:37 pm

Following further from your link, zaq, it seems very much like it's talking about raw garlic.

https://www.cdc.gov/botulism/p.....81171