On Sat, 21 Feb 2009 15:44:19 -0800 (PST), AndyHancock wrote:

> On Feb 21, 4:14*am, Lynn from Fargo Ografmorffig >
> wrote:
>> On Feb 20, 10:36*pm, AndyHancock > wrote:> So I was boiling up some chicken soup using cooked chunks of chicken
>>> meat. *I stuck a spoon into the boiling stew, then without thinking,
>>> used the same spoon to dig into a jar of chili/garlic sauce and plop
>>> it into the stew. *Then I realized that it was a bad idea since that
>>> jar of chili/garlic sauce could last for months. *I debated whether to
>>> toss the jar. *What a waste of yummy sauce.
>>
>>> Any thoughts? *Would the hotness of the chili sauce prevent any
>>> contamination from turning into food poisoning? *The chicken stew sure
>>> tasted hot (and hence, good).
>>
>> =========================================
>> Unfortunately, spicy/hot doesn't kill little beasties but *temperature/
>> hot does. * As long as the stew was boiling when *the spoon hit it and
>> then *the spoon went right into the chili stuff you should be good to
>> go. *Just to be on the safe side, keep the chili garlic stuff in the
>> fridge or freezer.
>
> Hi, Lynn,
>
> What is the difference between putting the spoon into chili sauce that
> will be used for months and keeping some liquid from the stew in the
> fridge for months?
>
> P.S. Really from Fargo?

i'm not lynn, but presumably the stew liquid would be a better growth
medium than the chili sauce, which typically has lots of salt, maybe
vinegar, and other preservatives.

not a good practice, but probably not fatal.

your pal,
blake