Can meat spoil outside the fridge if it's baked into bread as a filling?
I made some meat buns tonight (that is, buns with cooked chicken stuffed inside them before being baked), and I'm wondering if I should bother keeping the buns inside the fridge, because that would mean having to reheat them later.
Will the chicken inside them even go bad if the bread's there to protect it? It seems to me that the bread will act basically like a tin can and keep the meat preserved as long as the bread is, since the meat inside was heated and all the bacteria that might have been on it was cooked to death.
Is this a wrong way of thinking? Should I just refrigerate them just to be safe?
Best Answer
There are two differences between your buns and a tin can.
First, your buns were heated to a core temperature of under 100°C. Yes, your oven was probably set way higher, but the water content in your filling prevents it from getting hotter than boiling water. Commercial canning is done in the vicinity of 120-130°C, which is possible because the cans are cooked under pressure. So unlike in a can, most pathogens were destroyed, but not necessarily all of them. For human consumption, that’s perfectly fine as long as the remaining ones don’t get the time-temperature combo to regrow.
Second, a bread dough may be dense (although the aim is usually something different), but by no means airtight. Interestingly, wrapping meat in dense dough was used as preservation method in medieval times - the “ancestor” of today’s pork pies and pastries. But while the hard flour crust (not intended to be eaten originally) did form a protective layer and usually extended the shelf life more or less, it was by no means food safe judged by modern standards - although some pies were stored for months. But your fluffy buns are truly not a protective layer. Which means you should refrigerate your buns, but also that you get to enjoy the whole dish.
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Bacteria grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 \xb0F and 140 \xb0F; meat pie should be discarded if left out for more than 2 hours at room temperature.How long can cooked meat stay out of the fridge?
Cooked food sitting at room temperature is in what the USDA calls the \u201cDanger Zone,\u201d which is between 40\xb0F and 140\xb0F. In this range of temperatures, bacteria grows rapidly and the food can become unsafe to eat, so it should only be left out no more than two hours.Do stuffed breads need to be refrigerated?
But your fluffy buns are truly not a protective layer. Which means you should refrigerate your buns, but also that you get to enjoy the whole dish. Spot on. Those pies might get you a couple of days safety in a cool climate, a little more at acceptable risk levels when they became common, but no more.Ask the Test Kitchen: How Long Will Meat Last in the Fridge?
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Answer 2
I don't know about chicken specifically, but pork filled baozi (steamed buns) need to be stored in the refrigerator. Bread crust isn't exactly non-porous after all (squeeze a bun, the air doesn't bulge out of another part of the bun, it escapes and then flows back in when you release it).
I wouldn't risk it.
Answer 3
Stephie's answer is thorough. I just want to add a couple more points in favour of refrigerating:
Firstly, the cooked meat inside is not the only thing that can spoil. Fluffy bread itself is prone to growing mold within a few days in a moist environment (especially if exposed to people's hands and breath), or drying out and being unpleasant to eat in a dry environment.
Secondly, since the meat was cooked before being stuffed into the buns, it means it was exposed to the atmosphere, to your hands and to kitchen tools between being cooked and being baked. Which means it is potentially re-contaminated. How contaminated depends entirely on your kitchen hygiene practices.
EDITED TO REMOVE: In the post I had a rather generous time-limit for leaving freshly cooked food out of the fridge. It was neither well-thought/researched, nor as strict as I would actually do for myself. And was in no way meant as legal hygienic advice. To prevent potential misuse, I have removed that sentence.
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Images: Polina Tankilevitch, Rachel Claire, Rachel Claire, K Zoltan