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I put chicken breasts and a bunch of salsa into a slow cooker to be cooked while I slept. I forgot to turn it on. When I woke up I noticed and put it back in the fridge.

I plan to cook it tonight (and hopefully not forget to turn it on).

Is this a bad idea?

I will note that the salsa appeared to insulate the chicken because it was still cool to the touch (not COLD though) when I discovered it in the morning.

Total time out of fridge would be about 9 hours.

EDIT: This is not a duplicate of the suggested question because I had a thought that it might be ok due to the chicken being slightly insulated and still cool. I have realized it is still not safe from the answers.

James Wierzba
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Without knowing for sure that the temp didn't stray into the danger zone, I wouldn't eat it. Within 9 hours I think it is very likely that the chicken went from refrigerator temperature to danger temperature.

40 degrees F is the start of the danger zone. See:

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/danger-zone-40-f-140-f/ct_index

I doubt the human finger is calibrated finely enough to reliably measure this temp with high enough confidence to avoid the risk of food poisoninng.

Bill Sambrone
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