SC - NEED AN OPINION

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Seton1355 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> My family and I are heading off to Syracuse University after school today.
> It's about a 4 hr trip.  I am packing a picnic dinner.   If I pack hot
> boneless chicken cutlets in foil and then wrap in newspaper and then store
> them in a picnic cooler.  Will they go bad in 4 hours? Or do you think they
> will still be OK to eat?
> Thanks for the advice...I'm too young to die!  LOL
> Phillipa

Hmmm. I'm not sure. I'm assuming that by the time your hot cooked food
is actually wrapped, the temperature will have dropped somewhat from the
near-boiling temperature you'll have reached in the cooking process. The
question is, how much? There's probably a mathematical formula involved,
but I don't know what it could be, in my uncaffeinated state.
Ultimately, the question is, for how much of that four hours will your
chicken be under 140 degrees Fahrenheit?

Wish I knew, Phillipa, wish I knew. You'll probably be all right; while
one hour in the "danger zone" is often a legal safety guideline, two
hours is still pretty safe from a practical standpoint (which is why the
law or health regs usually specify one hour). If your chicken is good
and hot when you pack it, it should probably remain so for at least two hours.

>From a clinical, by-the-book approach, I'd have to say you'd probably be
better off cooking and chilling the cutlets, and keeping them cool in
the cooler. Of course, you could always keep them warm on your engine
block ;  ) .
 
Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com