My Schrodinger’s Chili Dilemma

You are likely familiar with Schrödinger's cat thought experiment where a hypothetical cat is sealed in a box with a flask of poison and may be considered simultaneously both alive and dead.  Only upon looking in the box does one know if the cat is either alive or dead, but not both. 

Throughout a fitful, tossing-and-turning night, I ruminated on my Schrodinger’s Chili Dilemma – the dilemma: is my new batch of chili safe to eat OR is it a bacteria-rich food poisoning dish best NOT served hot!

The reason for the dilemma – unplanned plan change!  Can you relate?  

I left the pot of freshly made chili to cool during a one hour ticket-taking volunteer stint at a church Christmas concert, unaware that my 1 hour commitment would became a 5 hour role.  A critical volunteer did NOT show up and I was asked, and I volunteered to fill the spot.  Why – my ego would say “because I’m a servant;” however, my soul would more honestly say “because I would get frequent glimpses of my granddaughter as she and the kid’s choir entered and exited the sanctuary.  Either reason, I got home 5 hours later with the now room temperature chili on the kitchen counter. 

According to food.unl.edu, food safety guidelines, chili should not sit out at room temperature for more than two hours; if the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, it should be kept out for no more than one hour.  This is because bacteria can rapidly grow within the “danger zone” between 40- and 140-degrees Fahrenheit.  Just one bacterium, doubling every 20 minutes, can grow to over 2,097,152 bacteria in 7 hours!  (Bolding is mine)

My question for you:  what would you do?  Serve it and risk food poisoning OR toss the chili and start again.

My decision – toss and remake.  For me, a quick trip to the grocery store, some tedious chopping, browning, and simmering was worth avoiding a potential food poisoning episode.