FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Oops, I left a pot of tomato sauce out all night

Peter A

In article >, says...
> > Complete claptrap. What part of "sterile" do you not understand?
>
> It's not sterile. As the pot cooled, the contraction
> of the air inside the pot would have drawn in
> unsterilized room air containing bacterial spores.
>
> I used to prepare Petri dishes in my kitchen
> using a pressure cooker, and I know how difficult
> it is to prevent contamination. One of the lessons
> I had to learn was to prevent unsterilized air
> from entering the Petri dishes while they
> were cooling.
>

I see your point, but I still do not think that there's the slightest
chance of dangerous bacterial growth overnight.

--
Peter Aitken