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Refrigerate pumpkin pie?

there are eggs and milk in the ingredients to spoil

I don't refrigerate cake it has eggs and milk in it. I am still alive after 30+ years of leaving the pie sit on the counter. It sometimes makes it to the fridge if there is room, or out on the 2nd floor balcony occassionally as well.

Either way i don't think it will kill you
 
The purpose of cooking, or freezing any type of food is to kill, or inhibit harmful bacteria growth. As I stated earlier the "Danger Zone" for raw, uncooked foods is a temperature above 41 degrees Fahrenheit.( this includes foods meant to be refrigerated). For cooked foods the "Danger Zone" temp is anything below 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The minimum holding temp for hot foods on a buffet is 140 degrees F.

A refrigerator will not kill bacteria in any raw, uncooked food, only inhibit its growth. This is why food must be fully cooked before consuming. It's not a coincidence that the minimum acceptable temperature for rare, roast beef or prime rib is 140 degrees F.

Harmful, food borne bacteria thrive in warm, moist environments high in protein are highly susceptible. (meat, eggs, milk etc.) The milk and eggs are the culprits in your unrefrigerated pumpkin pie...yes they have been cooked, but unless the pie is cooked to the point of absolute dryness, the bacteria will still be present. This is also why your baked cookie argument crumbles so to speak. The bacteria have been rendered harmless by baking out the moisture that they need to multiply. Unbaked cookie dough must be kept refrigerated because of the raw eggs in it. If you use pastuerized eggs, and evaporated milk like many large factories, you reduce the potential of the bacteria to be present, and or multiply.

In the food service industry there is an acronym, called F.A.T. T.O.M. which stands for, Food-protein rich foods susceptible to spoilage, Acidity- food needs to be below a ph of 4.5 to kill microorganisms (water is ph 7) Time- food must not be kept out of the safety zone temps for more than one hour if possible. Temperature- below 41F, above 140F. Oxygen- All foodborne pathogens require oxygen to grow(except botulism) Moisture- all pathogens also require moisture to grow(dried foods carry little or no moisture).

Many people have actually had food poisoning, and never realized it. It is often misdiagnosed in all but the most serious cases. The most common is when someone says "oh, I must have a stomach flu."

Anyway, hope this provides some useful information. A good holiday host does not get their dinner guests sick, unintentional or otherwise. Saw this post, and thought I could put my ServSafe certificate to use after a few years.

Happy Holidays. :santa:
 
I refrigerate any leftovers, but never stick it in the fridge until it has been freshly enjoyed...or enjoyed freshly...you know what I mean!
 
I don't think refrigeration is necessary. Actually, I think that refrigeration negatively affects the taste of pies. People have cooked pies for 100's of years and not regrigerated afterwards. The eggs and milk are cooked. Cooking has been making bad food safe for 1000's of years.

I have never heard of a pie related death due to bacteria, maybe over consumption.
 
The purpose of cooking, or freezing any type of food is to kill, or inhibit harmful bacteria growth. As I stated earlier the "Danger Zone" for raw, uncooked foods is a temperature above 41 degrees Fahrenheit.( this includes foods meant to be refrigerated). For cooked foods the "Danger Zone" temp is anything below 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The minimum holding temp for hot foods on a buffet is 140 degrees F.

A refrigerator will not kill bacteria in any raw, uncooked food, only inhibit its growth. This is why food must be fully cooked before consuming. It's not a coincidence that the minimum acceptable temperature for rare, roast beef or prime rib is 140 degrees F.

Rare prime rib is 120-125 degrees. 140 degrees is way too done for prime rib, unless you like overcooked beef. Minimum temperature standards for the food service industry are overkill.

Leave your pie out. It'll be just fine.
 
Rare prime rib is 120-125 degrees. 140 degrees is way too done for prime rib, unless you like overcooked beef. Minimum temperature standards for the food service industry are overkill.

Leave your pie out. It'll be just fine.

Prime rib is safe at 120-125 degrees because the bacteria are on the OUTSIDE of a steak, and the outside is cooked to a much higher temperature. That's why hamburger is NOT safe at 120-125, because the OUTSIDES of the steak have now been ground up and become the INSIDE of the hamburger.

I store cream pies and pumpkin pies in the refrigerator. (I'm an infectious diseases physician, FWIW.)
 
I had this same issue pop up last week. I won't put forth my opinion since my family tends to be more lax and my stomach is often called the "garbage disposal", and not because I'm a picky eater if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the popular cooking book "The Joy of Cooking" says to refrigerate them. However, it does not say to refrigerate their pecan pie recipie.
 
Anyway, the popular cooking book "The Joy of Cooking" says to refrigerate them. However, it does not say to refrigerate their pecan pie recipie.

Exactly, pecan pie filling does not contain eggs or milk.

Pumpkin pie filling does.

And for those who believe they never had food poisoning: you did. Sometimes diarrhea, gas, indigestion, cramps, etc. are food poisining. You just brushed it off as a case of "the runs", or something else to that effect.
 
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I bake them the night before and leave them out to cool and don't refridgerate until the next evening when all the leftovers are being put away. My family has always done it this way and nobody has ever gotten food poisoning from it.

Clayton
 
Exactly, pecan pie filling does not contain eggs or milk.

Pumpkin pie filling does.

And for those who believe they never had food poisoning: you did. Sometimes diarrhea, gas, indigestion, cramps, etc. are food poisining. You just brushed it off as a case of "the runs", or something else to that effect.

Pecan pie most definitely does contain eggs.
 
Pecan pie most definitely does contain eggs.

It sure does.

Lets leave it at this If you choose to refrigerate your pumpking pie, go ahead it won't hurt you. If you so choose not to, while ther could be some risk, it has been done for many years, without harm.

Please eat you pie before spoiling, bacteria, and getting sick become a issue. See you next thanksgiving.

BTW "I stayed at a holiday inn express last night"
 
I can't remember the last time I had the runs.

Maybe because I refrigerate eggs and dairy....
 
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Rare prime rib is 120-125 degrees. 140 degrees is way too done for prime rib, unless you like overcooked beef. Minimum temperature standards for the food service industry are overkill.

Leave your pie out. It'll be just fine.

You are correct, I incorrectly stated that rare roast beef temp was 140 degrees fahrenheit, when that's the temp for Medium -rare.

The temperature range for very rare, rare, and medium rare is 115-140 degrees fahrenheit, anything above 140F is overdone in my opinion as well. I forgot to mention that pulling the prime rib from the oven 10 degrees before your target temp is the correct procedure. (temp rises 5-10 degrees) during the resting period.

I know that some like their prime rib "bloody as hell", but I prefer mine just a bit below medium-rare.

Kingfisher is correct in stating that, the minimum temps are more crucial in cooking ground meats versus primal cuts, for the reason he stated. I was a meat cutter for many years (not a butcher) as I never broke down any sides etc...just processed primal cuts, into counter product.

People were incredulous when I told them that the package of slightly oxidised(Brown spotting) package of steaks on clearance, would be much more tender than the bright red ones. It's sort of a secret among meat cutters, butcher's etc. :death:
 

Slash McCoy

I freehand dog rockets
If it is not left out for hours and hours and hours, then it is not going to grow enough bacteria to make anybody sick. But I vote refrigerate. It tastes better cold, and whipped cream or even the fake stuff lsts longer on cold pie.
 
The only time I eat pumpkin pie warmed up is thanksgiving.

Other than that it's either out of the fridge or in a container on my desk for a couple hours.

I've got my food safety and scored almost perfect on the test. I leave hot food on the stove or counter to cool down for a couple hours before it goes in the fridge (or it creates a hot spot in the fridge).

But yeah, asking if you need to toss cookies and cake in the fridge is useless... they're not going to last long enough. The 2nd day if you're lucky. Pies usually last into the 3rd or 4th day.
 
I did put them in the fridge as I didn't see any reason not to, and as one of you has pointed out it's best not to start an argument with the girlfriend on Thanksgiving (or any other time for that matter!) :biggrin1:

The thing that gets me though is the argument that because the pies have dairy and eggs in them, they need to be refrigerated. Cookies and cakes have eggs and dairy in them, and I've never heard anyone suggest they need to be refrigerated after cooking.

Haha, I totally agree! :001_smile

On that note though, my 2-year old granddaughter and I shared a slice of our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie last night. It has been refrigerated since Thanksgiving evening. She lost it in the middle of the night, I am still not 100%. :bored: I threw the remaining slice out first thing this morning. Never happened before.
 
Haha, I totally agree! :001_smile

On that note though, my 2-year old granddaughter and I shared a slice of our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie last night. It has been refrigerated since Thanksgiving evening. She lost it in the middle of the night, I am still not 100%. :bored: I threw the remaining slice out first thing this morning. Never happened before.
Look back farther if you suspect food bourn illness. Most take 24-48 hours to incubate and make you sick. Possibly longer.
 
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