Meat...left out to unfreeze, but too long.

I left out my mom's organic ground beef overnight by mistake. It was completely defrosted when it went back into the fridge, and probably had been for a few hours. Is it okay to eat? If so, how should it be cooked?

It should be. They age beef sometimes for a week outside of the fridge.

Just be safe and cook it all the way done and then a little more.

[QUOTE=checkyourhead]I left out my mom's organic ground beef overnight by mistake. It was completely defrosted when it went back into the fridge, and probably had been for a few hours. Is it okay to eat? If so, how should it be cooked?[/QUOTE]
It's not like you left it out in the Sun at high temperatures. Anyway, that's the best way to defrost meat.

Suppose it was completely defrosted and still out for 10 hours? That would be okay? I don't think it was completely defrosted for that long, but you never know.

If it was out for 10 hours after being defrosted I wouldn't eat it. Two or three hours would be about my limit.

Well, I cooked it and ate some of it about 8 hours ago, and feel okay so far. The rest is in the fridge, I'll probably have more tommorow if I don't have to be rushed to the emergency room before then.

[QUOTE=checkyourhead]Well, I cooked it and ate some of it about 8 hours ago, and feel okay so far. The rest is in the fridge, I'll probably have more tommorow if I don't have to be rushed to the emergency room before then.[/QUOTE]
It sound like you're in the clear now but for future reference here's some info on ground meat that will help keep eveyone safe :D. When meat is ground, more of the meat is exposed to the harmful bacteria. Bacteria multiply rapidly in the "danger zone" -- temperatures between 40 and 140 °F. Food must be kept at a safe temperature during "the big thaw". While foods are safe indefinitely while frozen., as soon as food begins to defrost and become warmer than 40 ºF, any bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to multiply. The more bacteria present, the greater the chance and severity of the illness. Bacteria reproduce by dividing themselves into two. They generally reproduce every twenty (20) minutes. Due to this fast reproduction, one thousand bacteria can multiply to four million in approximately four hours. Bacteria need temperatures between 45 F and 140 F to grow rapidly. If you can control the temperatures, you can control the population growth on the bacteria, thus making your food safer.
It is not safe to thaw meat on the countertop at room temperature as this allows dangerous bacteria to grow in just two hours, or 1 hour in high summer heat (90°F and above).Partial cooking of food ahead of time allows harmful bacteria to survive and multiply to the point that subsequent cooking cannot destroy them. To keep bacterial levels low, store ground beef at 40 °F or less and use within 2 days, or freeze. To destroy harmful bacteria, cook ground beef to 160 °F and 165 when reheating leftovers., and when reheating ground beef 165.

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