Hi folks, I'm hoping you will help me get out of the doghouse!

The wife and I made a batch of bolognaise last night for freezing and eating in a few days time. After she took it off the hob, my wife put it straight into a big freezer bag, tied it up and left it on the side. This was approximately 9pm.

She went to bed before me and gave me explicit instructions to put it in the freezer before I came up.

You've guessed it. I forgot. I have a memory like a sieve for this kind of stuff.

This morning at 6am she discovered my crime! She has now put it in the freezer. But the big question is will it be safe to eat without causing illness to those consuming it?

I tend to think it'll be alright but my wife is concerned that because it was warm inside a plastic bag and "sweating" all night, it will be riddled with bacteria and thus unsafe for consumption.

Could anyone with a knowledge of these matters settle the issue? If it's not safe to eat, I'm going to be making bolognaise again tonight!

I'd make her make it.
She sealed it up still warm and, it seems, it would still have been warm going into the freezer had you done what you were told.
I leave mine cool in the pan with the lid on for a few hours before freezing - not dissimilar.
I've never thought of it being "riddled with bacteria"

To answer the question though, I'd eat it

Indeed, this was my reasoning also.

We've done this before - put it still warm into the freezer - and have never had issues in the past.

The guidance seems to change on this sort of thing. They used to say never put warm stuff in fridge or freezer and to let it cool first. More recently, someone told me that's a load of rubbish and it's OK to do it.

The reason you don't put warm things into a freezer is that it will waste a lot of electricity in trying to get the temperature back down again.

It will be absolutely fine. I do it all the time.

However I do question your wife's train of thought on this issue.. I'd have thought putting a warm bag of bolognese in the freezer would be worse than what you did!

It'll be grand.

I question her train of thought all the time.

It never ends well for me when I do!!

Thanks for the help all.

I've done the same thing many times with no ill-effects. The strict rule is that food shouldn't sit around at room temperature for more than four hours. What happens is that bacteria in the food multiplies at room temperature, and past four hours you risk there being enough bacteria to make you ill. You'll be heating the sauce up though, so make sure it's really piping hot, and you'll probably live to see another day!

It's fine to put still-warm food into fridges or freezers, by the way. In fact, they say that it's best to do so, so the food is in the 'danger zone' temperature for as little time as possible. The only issue might be if you have a giant batch of really hot stew or something that will raise the temperature of the fridge enough to affect the other food in there. It probably was more of an issue when fridges and freezers weren't as good as they are now - even a cheap one these days isn't going to struggle with a bit of warm food.

It'll be fine (famous last words).

Just make sure it is reheated fully.

This is the bit that sets off alarm bells for me. If it was straight off the hob, it must have been hot?

The correct thing to do would be leave it completely cool (over night in this weather) and then spoon the thicker, colder sauce into suitable containers, before putting it in the freezer, taking care that it doesn't touch existing frozen items in case it partially thaws them and causes future food poisoning.

I don't freeze food, but it's a normal part of my week to cook huge pans of soup, sauces or whatever, serve one batch hot from the pan and then leave it to completely cool before putting it in the fridge. Then I scoop out however much is needed on subsequent days into a small pan to reheat. One of my big pans filled to the brim with soup usually feeds us for 4 days.

Either way, leaving a pan out over night and not putting it into the freezer until 6am is not a problem unless any flies got to it - and that includes laying eggs through the air holes in the lid! Just that delay before freezing shouldn't be any problem.

Not wanting to be rude, but, if anything, it's your wife who needs advice, not you!

And not that it's much to do with this, but I am reminded of an unfortunate case a few years ago when a woman bought a jar of sauce for her and her kids, and they all ended up with botulism. The press portrayed it as though the jar was contaminated, and the brand suffered as a result. But what later transpired was that it's actually quite normal (!!!) for jars of supermarket sauces to be contaminated by bugs that will be killed off safely when you cook it - properly.

This mother thought it adequate to just empty the jar into a pan, and without even adding any onions or meat, warmed it up for a couple of minutes until it was warm enough to serve to children. But this wasn't ling enough to kill the bugs - which is why the jar itself instructed the user to add the sauce to browned mince, bring back to the boil and then simmer for a further 15-20 minutes.

I would have let it cool down first too!
Hopefully you'll be back in a while when you've ate it!
If you disappear, we'll know why!!!!

Sorry, but a lot of this is just plain wrong. See my post above - it's not about flies getting into food, it's about the bacteria already in the food remaining at room temperature for more than a few hours and multiplying to dangerous levels. There is always bacteria in food, whether you cover it or not.

There is also no need at all to cool things completely before refrigerating or freezing - it's best not to, in fact. See number 5 at the link below.

Mrs Jboobs was quite correct!

http://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/basics/mistakes/

The food is dangerous brigade have a lot to answer for.

Made everyone scared of food. I've never had an egg that wasn't good for eating at least a week after its use by date.

No need to get your knickers in a twist, there's no 'food is dangerous' brigade here, if you're referring to me. I barely glance at sell-by-dates and have already said I've left stuff out on the counter countless times without ever making myself or anyone else ill. I'm simply presenting the facts, as there seems to be so much confusion on this thread.

Well food is dangerous if you cook it wrong or store it wrong.

Always amuses me how the silliest things cause arguments on the good old interweb!!!

Arguments?
This is the Food and Drink board.
We simply have emotional differences my dear!
Stop your mischief!

You are naughty, but I like you

Wouldn't call it silly myself.

Nor is it an argument!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJmg-879j5o

Whilst a lot of people go over the top and very often throw food away unnecessarily the idea that there is no problem with food and bugs is foolish. People should be aware of the risks of food poisoning and take sensible precautions, anyone with a compromised immune system or other health problems who ate raw eggs is an idiot - that's dumb for anyone to be honest unless you enjoy diarrhoea. (Yes I realise you weren't advocating eating raw eggs but that is an example of being aware of food poisoning).

Personally, I'd say the bolognese is safe to eat.

Lol, hilarious

Have we heard anything more from the op"....?