Expert: Keith Patton - 10/9/2009

Question
i left some rib eye steaks in the car over night maybe 8 hrs.at about 75 degree temp.is it safe to eat?It was cold from the store frig but not frozen.

Answer
Art:

With meat you have to remember several things. First, you cook the meat and that will kill bacteria that may have grown on the meat if it was left sitting out.  Second, most bacteria on meat was put there during the processing and handling.  I would not worry about the meat "spoiling" if left out over night.  Most meat is recommended to be brought to room temperature before cooking anyway.  

With the exception of poultry most red meat is not as susceptible to contamination by things like salmonela bacteria since that is introduced by way of poultry feces.  Poultry plants are pretty filthy places, I know I worked in one in High School.

Rinse off your steaks to remove any surface blush, the absorbent napkin under the meat might have an odor, but this is from the myoglobin, the clear red tinted fluid leaking from the cells of the meat, it is not blood.  Pat the meat dry and cook it.

Not to worry.  Our ancestors ate a lot of carrion.  Meat is aged at cooler temperatures and I don't think rot will have set in overnight in your steaks.