Frogleg wrote:
> Trick! Trick? I'm far from a food safety fanatic, but this sounds to
> me much like the youngest child bathing in the water the older ones
> left behind. Or wringing out the dish towel over the soup pot.
> Refrigeration doesn't eliminate bacterial growth; it slows it down. If
> you make enough marinade for 2 dishes, what's the problem with
> marinating them separately, rather than passing clumulative bacterial
> growth from one to another? Do you really want your flank steak to
> taste of exuded chicken juices? Oh, ick.

Okay, last off-topic for this...

Prove it.

Give me an initial bacteria population. Make it large to be conservative.
Give me conservative growth rates through several hours. In fact, make it
at room temperature. Make it a nice big bacteria population. Then use the
decimal reduction curves to prove to me how much bacteria are left after
cooking.

Here's a problem for extra credit (it's a word problem, sorry):

Betty wants to make her famous Salmonella-Black pepper Brisket. Here's
the recipe:

1 cup common salmonella (assume 10^20 bacteria)
1 tbsp black pepper (okay, black pepper is naturally antimicrobial, so
let's say just a pinch)

She rubs her brisket and preheats her oven to 149 degrees Fahrenheit.
When it comes to temperature she pops in the brisket. After the oven
comes back up to temperature, how many minutes elapse before her "rub" is
safely deceased? (Hint: you don't even have to search beyond past posts
to this newsgroup, but by all means do)


Extra, extra credit: Describe the flavor of exuded chicken juices.


Disclaimers: Don't try this at home -- it's a mental exercise. Do not
substitute botulinus in this recipe. Don't marinate your youngest child.

NB: Actually, only about 80,000 salmonella fit in a cup, but let's
overlook that for purposes of this demonstration.