I forgot to refridgerate my cheesecake last night. I have to throw it out, right? Its not worth everyone getting sick on Easter!
Too much baking=stupid mistakes!!!

I would toss it in a heart beat.

You might have folks come on here and say, 'Oh we ate it after two days and we didn't die.'

If you are willing to serve it to the very young, very old and the infirm then serve away. Otherwise I'd toss it.

Toss it..............look at it like this..........a couple of $$$ wasted, or a couple of hundred $$$$ spent being sick??????????

toss it. No question.

no it should be fine. I leave cream cheese out all the time. It's baked and should be fine if you left out. Put it in the fridge

I actually have recipes that say leave in the oven overnight.

The unrefrigerated life of cream cheese is an accumulation of four hours. Then it starts to create bad bacteria.

Recipes that advise to leave it out that long are wrong.

Hey guess what? This is exactly why baking/caking/catering should be left to professionals.

Look at the cottage baking laws--nothing perishable. Fruit fillings and Cream Cheese top the list of hazardous foods.

There is no question that it is unsafe.

Thanks so much for the replies. I knew it, but I just needed the reinforcements of my cc experts!

What about those recipes that say to let a cheesecake cool or continue baking with the oven door open for a few hours? Unsafe?
Why would someone make a recipe like that if its unsafe? Pls educate me.. I don't make cheesecake often,but when i have i always let it cool on the counter..is that a mistake?

My recipe says to cool in the oven with the door open for a few hours, but I always refridgerate after that. Last night, I simply forgot to. I was way too tired.

How about those turnovers that they sell that have cream cheese filling???...those are not cold.. We have a pastry in Puerto Rico called quesitos and the filling is cream cheese inside. They are not served cold, actually they are never refrigerated...

Im always had this question too!
Edna

From what I wastaught, once you cook the cream cheese it changes its composition. The ingredients in it that cause the bacteria are cooked and therefor the "four hour" rule no longer applies. I'm not saying you can leave it out for days.

My Health Dept is a real stickler for making sure my cheesecake is kept below 42' - they've actually tested a piece in the fridge to make sure it complied. I bake, it sits on the counter to cool for 2hrs and then straight to the fridge and then to the freezer for storage.

As my husband would say..."It's better to toss it now than for you (and your Easter guests) to toss it later!"

Throw it away!

As my husband would say..."It's better to toss it now than for you (and your Easter guests) to toss it later!"

Throw it away!

it's my understanding from food safety classes that 4 hours is the critical point for ANY cooked food, as bacteria starts to grow and reproduce at a certain temp and as time goes on, RAPIDLY starts reproducing. It's a "snowball effect". To be safe, cover food left at room temp, fridge it at 2 hours.

totally throw that cheesecake out

Edna I think some of those cream cheese filled turnovers you buy at bakeries actually use a cream cheese flavored filling out of a sleeve, which is safe at room temp.

I know you can keep eggs and butter out overnight but I didn't think you could leave cream cheese out that long. I would think that the sugar in a cheesecake would preserve the cream cheese enough to keep it from being too harmful but.... I wouldn't risk it either. I don't leave cream cheese icing out at room temp very long either. I'm really picky when it comes to food that could spoil. Ugh. (One time I offended my stepmom because I have a habit, before giving it to my kids, of sniffing a gallon of milk if I'm not the one who bought it and checked the date! I didn't think about it but she was standing there watching me and was highly offended that I would think she had spoiled milk in her fridge! Oops!)

I'm known for my dislike of waste.

But I would dump it. I'm also known for being a stickler for safety.

Well probably you should throw it out. Once I did eat a piece of cheese cake that was left out overnight, and I was fine. I questioned it for awhile, but I REALLY wanted it. I think food safety has come to a whole new level. My mom says that when my grandma was young they used to leave (cooked) meat out for days!

What you do in your own home is your business, but you wouldn't risk selling a product that is temp critical. When in doubt....throw it out. My dad was the family cook and this was his motto that I have adopted.

I forgot to menton WHY I wanted that cheesecake so badly...(if there really needs to be a reason why a gal WANTS cheesecake! LOL). It was from the cheesecake factory! yum-o

Um, unless your kitchen temperature was at or under 40 degrees F, I wouldn't risk it

I woud not take a chance esp when you are serving it to someone else.....Thats just me.....