How Fragile *is* Cake These Days?
Decorating By indydebi Updated 29 Nov 2009 , 10:05pm by cindycraig
okay guys... i do have a few thoughts on this...
One reason I think people are more germ-phob is that they are so far removed from where their food comes from! I am more cautious when cooking store bought meat than when i'm cooking something we raised, or purchased to slaughter...
the other thing is the media... They tell you to be scared of EVERYTHING...
That said... when is the last time you've heard of a case of tricinosis (sorry about the spelling)? Not in my 27 years! But yet, cook that pork all the way through!
The only thing I'm careful with is chicken... after that if it looks done, it probably is, and I like my steak RARE.... Even with that, I don't put on gloves to handle the meat, I just do whatever, and then make sure I wash up... what is the big deal?
people are so funny though...it is like the cider industry.. some guy hauled apples in a cow trailer and the cider was linked to e coli and now all cider has to be pastureized... might as well drink apple juice... and the kicker is, lots of cow farmers get hit in the face with a poopy cow tail and they never get e coli... but then their momas werent busy making sure that they werent exposed to it so they didn't have immunity!
I work in a barn 12-14 hrs a day... I'm sure i inhale more horse poop than any person should, and I'm almost never sick, ever! I think it is because my mom let me lick that spoon, didn't care if I ate off the floor, and let me play in the mud, and then didnt freak if I pet my pony then took a bite of an apple before washing my hands, then procceeded to share said apple with pony... I'm young and this is my outlook....
Just want to add my two cents. I do a lot of the things mentioned here, eat cookie dough, stuff my turkey, leave my cake out...with cream cheese frosting, etc,etc. No one in my household has ever gotten sick from our kitchen.
I have had food poisoning twice, though, and it is not fun. But both times it was from restaurant food. I don't even want to know......that's probably another thread anyways.
That said, what doesn't kill me can only make me stronger 
Oh my DH and the sell by dates...I have to scratch them off the milk so he doesn't see them. He won't drink it if it is past the date.
I cook my turkey with the dressing in side it...I cut mold off the cheese, I don't do the flu shots ( and I am an RN) I don't chlorox everything either. Our society has gotten us to the point of 'super bugs" because people run to the doctor at the first sign of a cold and want antibiotics for it...We do a vaccine for every damn thing on this earth instead of trying to build up our immune system. I don't refigerate my cakes but I will freeze them if there is a several day lapse before I need them. I keep my butter out (although my kitchen and house in general are so cold that my butter is still hard). We stress to much over the littlest things and that does our bodies NO GOOD! lighten up people...God did not put refrigerators in the Garden of Eden...and they all survived..
You'd all better stop the "I never get sick" talk, that's the fastest way to curse yourself with one whopping case of food poisoning this Thanksgiving!
It is actually a perfectly acceptable practice, food safety wise, to cut the mold off cheese--it doesn't permeate the inside of the cheese. If you just throw it out, you're throwing out perfectly good cheese, on the inside.
lol...it does make you wonder how we survived before refrigeration and all the nasty cleaners.....I really don't think they were always sick back then.....
This week by the dr, my 2yo son was eating a licorice. He waved it a little close to the garbage (not in it and it didn't touch), and some lady was looking at me funny for not taking it away. Then again, she would have not liked it too much if I took it away, he would have howled! Of course, once he dropped it on the floor, I threw it out, but only cause it was a doctor's office and there were so many sick kids there. usually, he eats off the floor.
lol...it does make you wonder how we survived before refrigeration and all the nasty cleaners.....I really don't think they were always sick back then.....
One thing about that though is that life expectancy has increased a lot. In 1900 a man's life expectancy was 47 years compared to 75 years in 2000. And a woman's was 49 in 1900 compared to 80 now.
I hate peanut butter in the fridge...it's a pisser offer.
I do not throw milk away on the exact expiration date.
I love a rare steak.
I brine & store my turkey in ice water, in a cooler, in the cold back luandry room.
What I do, do is make sure that I & my family follow proper handwashing procedures (used to work in hospital)...without using anti-bacterial hand soap. Regular 'ol soap is much better for you. 
lol.. we thaw our turkey in the garage on the chest freezer... (in the package of course) funny thing is, we have a big hair (omg) dog that lives in the garage! ha ha...
i'm amazed that I made it through childhood... my mother is less of a clean freak than I am...lol and I'm NOT too much of a "lets bleach everything" kind of girl.... I like clean, but it doesn't have to be steamed, lol...
but, I'm an odd bird. lived on a farm my whole life, probably ate more pooy than anyone should (and I really hate to even think of it)... I take care of 25+ horses every day, and yes, we have to pick up their poop! No, I'm not sick... at least not in the area of digestion... maybe I need a head doctor, lol...
heck, my mom will leave the milk, mayo, butter, whatever, out for HOURS... but then it is funny to me when she's shocked the milk is bad BEFORE the sell by date...no, leaving milk out doesn't make it bad right away, just makes it go bad faster.
Debi, we grew up exactly the same way you did. If we had a cake, it sat out on the counter until it was gone. Maybe it was a few hours (if we had guests) or maybe it was a week. I'm still here and I had my fair share of week-old cake growing up! I still leave cakes out on the counter under cover if I make one just for us. I don't refrigerate pies, either, unless they're cream pies. Most things (other than meals) taste better at room temperature anyway - cheese, caramel apples, cake, pie, fudge - you get the gist.
My grandmother left her butter out on the counter all the time so it would be spreadable for toast, crackers, etc. I do that to this day. It's in a butter dish and it's always nice and soft for an English muffin in the morning or, as my dad likes to do, put a little bit on a piece of un-iced cake. Still here!
My grandmother left her butter out on the counter all the time so it would be spreadable for toast, crackers, etc. I do that to this day. It's in a butter dish and it's always nice and soft for an English muffin in the morning or, as my dad likes to do, put a little bit on a piece of un-iced cake. Still here!
Yep, mine did, too.
My MIL thinks Cool Whip is SUPPOSE to go in the freezer right up to the second that it's served. When we were first married, and I yelled at hubby for being a dumbass and putting the Cool WHip in the freezer when I needed to use it that night, he said, "But mom ALWAYS kept it in the freezer!" When I "patiently" 
explained that was wrong, he started laughing and said, "I always WONDERED why our desserts never looked as pretty as the ones in the commercials!"
.....my fave snack in the world is raw hamburger meat doused in salt. How's that for food safety???
That's not unusual around here. Add some melted butter and onions, and you have a version of Lebanese kibbe.
Theresa
Oh goodness - now ladies, that's where I draw the line. I guess the fact that I'm not that fond of meat to begin with should be stipulated, but I grew up with a friend who ate raw hamburger and I couldn't understand how she did it.
The one and only time I got food poisoning was from eating organic romaine lettuce. It...was...HORRIBLE! Hubby and I both were up all night sick as ever. Give me chemically treated lettuce any day if getting that sick is the alternative.
The one and only time I got food poisoning was from eating organic romaine lettuce. It...was...HORRIBLE! Hubby and I both were up all night sick as ever. Give me chemically treated lettuce any day if getting that sick is the alternative.
to quote Larry the Cable Guy: Now that's funny right thar!!
My 17 yr old can't microwave popcorn unless she knows EXACTLY how many minutes/second to set the microwave on!
Talking about "the kids today"... my niece - whose family has grown popcorn for YEARS - is a teacher at an elementary school. She took an ear of popcorn to the kids last year so they could see an actual ear of popcorn. To her amazement, none - NONE - of the kids even knew that popcorn grew on a cob like regular corn. All they knew was microwave popcorn! As children, surely we're not surprised that they don't think about things like where their food comes from, but she said she was shocked at the number of adult teachers who had no idea where popcorn came from. And she teaches in Texas - one of the largest agricultural states in the country!
[quote="Texas_Rose
My sister is not careful like we are, and at least once a week she calls me to tell me that she just spent the last four hours on the toilet ... she'll describe the things she ate and it's no wonder.[/quote]
ROTFLMAO - I'm totally in stitches and SO glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read this. Just one of those things that hit me as being incredibly funny! Does she ever think about changing her diet???
re: leaving cake out and it getting stale -- well DUH -- of course! how else am I going to be able to toss it in a bowl and pour on cream or better yet a couple of big scoops of ice cream that then melts into the stale cake for a fine dessert?
re: cookie dough -- DOH! --- the risk is worth the reward -- grew up always having to make double batches to account for the "quality control" during mixing.
re: licking beaters and bowl -- always have, always will -- death to you if you come near when I do. MINE -- ALL MINE! (well ok, you can lick the vanilla/yellow/white batter -- but that chocolate is MINE!)
re: germ hysteria --- a good mantra: --- clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be home. sad how newest research shows we're actually making ourselves sicker by trying to be so clean and healthy--immune system never "learns" properly.
re: food poisoning -- been there, done that too many times to count and in every case -- thank you some stupid employee at a restaurant.
re: pot luck and food cooked by others -- well, now just how else am I supposed to find new foods I like and recipes to get?
re: steak tartare -- had that -- ho hum. way tooooooo salty.
re: any and all of the above --- LOOK -- I AM going to die-- an inescapable fact! -- excuse me if I plan to die HAPPY eating anything and everything I want.
One thing about that though is that life expectancy has increased a lot. In 1900 a man's life expectancy was 47 years compared to 75 years in 2000. And a woman's was 49 in 1900 compared to 80 now.[/quote]
Yeah, but it was also common practice to attach leaches to sick people to make them "better" back then. I think there are a lot of reasons life expectancy has increased over the years. Better sanitation practices play a part certainly, but I think there is a point it goes overboard and we are actually hurting ourselves.
Leeches are still used in medicine now, not as frequently as before, but they are still used.
OMG Jamie... I eat raw burger too. I always taste my raw meatloaf/meatball mix to make sure there's enough salt and herbs in it and it has raw burger, pork, and veal AND raw eggs. Sushi is my favorite meal... I have left milk out for hours and popped it back in the fridge (for the family.. we have a separate fridge for the biz)... I leave my butter in the cabinet (how else are you supposed to use it??? It's rock hard if you don't)... I am a very clean person but not a bleach-a-holic... my kids eat things off the floor/ground/tray at the mall (OMG right??)... raw cookie dough is a MUST... eating cake batter is just natural... it's also these small chance exposures that get our bodies used to dealing with germs. Your immune system... use it or lose it.
re: licking beaters and bowl -- always have, always will -- death to you if you come near when I do. MINE -- ALL MINE! (well ok, you can lick the vanilla/yellow/white batter -- but that chocolate is MINE!)
Just make sure you pull the plug on that mixer before you start licking those beaters, Doug! LOL!
Theresa
my best friend is a total germophobe, and her kid has more allergies and constantly seems to be sick. My 2 year old is always dumping his cereal on the floor (dry) and eating it, among other things, and he's rarely sick... only had a little cold or a few ear infections.
Another thing... condiments like ketchup, mustard, steak sauce, soy sauce... they are all left out in restaurants, and yet my stupid fridge door is full of all of those things.
My grandma used to put the peanut butter and pancake syrup in the fridge and it infuriated me! Nothing like trying to make a pj&j sandwich with pb that is rock solid. 
I leave my cakes out, covered by a cake dome or plastic to keep dust off of them and to keep my dogs from attacking the cake, hasn't killed me yet.
Sorry if this has been mentioned earlier in this discussion, but part of the reason for the extra caution in food handling is to protect people who have compromised immunity. When you are serving to a group of people, you may have some with any number of common conditions which make them more vulnerable to illness. When people say they have never gotten sick from some unsafe food handling practice, I think it is often because they have a strong immunity system.
I only frige my cakes to have that invisible cohesiveness that chilled cake has for delivery purposes and for holding it in the space time continuum of perfect freshness.
But for home/family cakes I'd just as easily stick them in in the microwave for protection as put them in the frige. The microwave can be a great 'bread box'.
I don't think the average layer cake needs to be friged.
I do it for protection.
It started with this hyperactive child I delivered many years ago....I was testing this 'out of sight out of mind' theory--and it worked--I never had to kill him for getting into one of my cakes.
Sorry if this has been mentioned earlier in this discussion, but part of the reason for the extra caution in food handling is to protect people who have compromised immunity. When you are serving to a group of people, you may have some with any number of common conditions which make them more vulnerable to illness. When people say they have never gotten sick from some unsafe food handling practice, I think it is often because they have a strong immunity system.
True, but you NEED to get sick to build up an immune system, so those of us who have strong immune systems and can handle "unsafe food handling" can do so because we have built up some immunity to it. Yes, there are people that no matter what will have a weak immune system because of an underlying condition, but all these kids with allergies and "weak immune systems" are likely a product of the times. Trust me, I would rather my child eat raw meat than douse their hands with purel, stick them in their mouth and develop alcohol poisoning.
Sugar is actually a great preservative. Unless the icing or filling contains milk or some other "perishable" ingredient, then it's just fine to leave ia cake out of the fridge, although refrigerator may give the cake a longer shelf life. I prefer fresh cake. By the third day I'm ready to dump whatever is left over.
There is an element of society that has become germophobic. I think we worry too much. I'm sure our pioneer ancestors didn't get in a snit and declare the wedding ruined and the cake inedible if some unruly child poked a finger in a wedding cake.
I appreciate your comments. I'm the same way you are...I don't care if it sits out for a few days. I guess I'm more cautious with things that I "supposed" to be cautious with (dairy-based icings), but I still don't worry much. Growing up my mom used our microwave as a cake holder. It's basically a giant tupperware, right?
'K wait--the frige actually pulls moisture out of cake. The freezer does not as much. And mine are only feeling the cold--they are not open to the drying elements of the average frige.
The voices in my head tell me that holding my protected cake* in the frige suspends it's freshness. I'm not saying it's gospel--I'm saying this is how I do it. Iced frozen, then decorated and finished defrosting in the frige and coming to room temperature at delivery time in a perfect world.
It would make me nervous to not keep my cake chilled--I feel that (like in a taxi) the meter is running when the cake becomes room temp--I think the frige suspends it's little cake life--what is that cryogenics or something Lunacy maybe?
*(either protected by icing or a plastic wrap or being in a box wrapped in plastic)
I just found this thread and LOVE IT!!! My family always believed getting dirty, eating dirt, etc. made us healthier. So we let out kids do it. 5 second rule with food, no problem. It is still good, eat it. A little dirt won't hurt you. Now my house isn't a pigsty but it isn't 100% germ free on a daily basis either with a dh and four kids under the age of 10. Now when I bake and decorate cakes for others, I do sterilize my counters and kitchen first just to be safe. 
As far as food, we too agree if it smells good and tastes good, it is good! I freeze milk all the time (having a larger family and all). To thaw, it sits on the counter for 1/2 a day or more. When it is 75% thawed, I shake it to break up the remaining ice crystals and pop it in the fridge. If I let it thaw in the fridge it would take days. I thaw frozen meat in a sink filled with water too.
We have our own chickens and our fresh eggs are brought in each night, washed, and left on the counter to dry then I pop them in the fridge in the mornings when they are completely dry. My MIL WILL NOT eat our eggs. Unless they are in a cake . They are farm fresh brown eggs. She only eats and cooks with white eggs from the store. We have gone round and round on the which are the safest and freshest!
And on the turkey thing. My mom was one who threw her bird in the oven at 250 degrees before she went to bed and when we got up in the morning, the bird was done and the oven was free for other baking. Everytime I tell this story, I get shocked looks with reprimands of the dangers of baking a turkey at that low of a temp. It was stuffed. We all lived.
my mom has cooked her turkey this way for almost 50 year. Best turkey ever. No one ever got sick, Ever . .we just got fat haha!
In britain we use the smell/sight test. IF they cheese or bread is mouldy, but smells ok . . just chop of the mould nom nom mould is good for you (As my dad likes to say lol )
if its past its use by date, but still smells good . then eat it, no biggie. The only thing we do throw away is milk/yogurt/creamy types of food, although we had major issues with our milkman a few month ago when our milk was going sour after 2 or so days, and all of, including my 3 year old son at some point consumed sour milk and nohing happened to us at all
its this germphobic life we live in, my little man plays in the dirt, comes in with worms in his pockets and bugs in his hair! god knows what he shoved in his mouth, he rarely ever gets sick and personally i believe its because hes been exposed to the REAL elements in life and not 'protected' by dettol or the likes
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