Is it OK ot eat pizza that has been left out overnight?

[lordsmurf]

No.

[Heywould3]

ummm.. isnt cheese made from leaving milk out to culture? i mean some chese is left on the shelf for months.. if your lucky enough to get real motz on your pizza then its goat milk.. and that stuff can live for ever lol.. it jsut gets oily.. the only germs youll have to worry about on left out pizza is air born and.. um.. well unless its next to the bathroom i woulndt worry.. i eat day old food be it pizza chineese or what ever youy might get from takeout.. (not fast food)

[BJ_M]

Mozzarella was first made in Italy near Naples from the rich milk of water buffalos.

Almost all Mozzarella today is made from cows milk - though some is a mixture of goats and cows milk ...

it only takes 8 hours from raw milk to finished cheese for Mozzarella.

[Heywould3]

i know that some/most cheese is rapidly cultured.. BUT real cheese isnt.. and if i remember correctly even REAL goat cheese/moz takes more than 8 hours.. this (americanised) cheese isnt real. stuff from France or itialy etc if its REAL takes longer and taste better.. hell the ultra pasturised SP stuff lasts on the shelf for months after cutting into.. even the ultra pasturised milk last for eons longer than our american crap.

not that im a fan of pasturising.. but it will make stuff last long... and yes i know pasturising isnt the same as culturing

[BJ_M]

in Italy it takes 8 hours also -- that is where i got the info, for the highest quality Mozzarella..

yes - other cheeses can take longer (many months even) , curd cheese (sometimes known as farmers cheese) here takes like 1 hour to make and it is not refrigerated , as refrigeration ruins the taste (which i cant stand anyway)

[BJ_M]

Mozzarella is made in water - btw

[redwudz]

I just fire up the propane torch and singe the surface bacteria to death. Good every time.

[yoda313]

Hello,

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560939/Cheese.html

There's some info on cheese for you.

Cheese is good.

Kevin

[BJ_M]

Legend has it that mozzarella was first made when cheese curds accidently fell into a pail of hot water in a cheese factory near Naples...and soon thereafter the first pizza was made! Actually, new cheeses are often formulated when mistakes happen, so there well may be truth in the tale!

Mozzarella was first made in Italy near Naples from the rich milk of water buffalos. Because it was not made from pasteurized milk and because there was little or no refrigeration the cheese had a very short shelf-life and seldom left the southern region of Italy near Naples where it was made. As cheese technology, refrigeration and transportation systems developed the cheese spread to other regions of Italy. However, to this day it is widely known that the best and most highly prized artiginally produced buffalo mozzarella is still found south of Naples near Battipaglia and Caserta where small factories continue centuries-old traditions making buffalo mozzarella fresh daily for their local customers who line up at the factories to buy the freshly made delicacy.


Today two types of mozzarella are produced in the USA. Low moisture mozzarella that has a moisture content of less than 50% and high moisture mozzarella that contains more than 52% moisture. The former was developed in the USA to fit our transportion and distribution sytems, and it has been available in grocery stores for years. This is the cheese that the huge factories produce for the pizza industry. Fresh mozzarella is different. It is soft and moist and more perishable.

Thanks to the craze for Italian food, high-moisture mozzarella is more readily available in the USA than ever. There are three types: industrially produced fresh mozzarella that is available in many specialty stores, mozzarella curds that are available for delis to mix with hot water to form soft mozzarella in their stores, and some handmade fresh mozzarella that is available from company's such as ours. Fresh mozzarella can be packaged dry in vacuum-sealed plastic packages or in a governing liquid sometimes called "latte". It is available salted and unsalted. It is most often made from cow's milk; however it can be made from a combination of other milks such as cow's milk and goat's milk mixed. A small amount of buffalo-milk mozzarella is produced in the USA although very litte water buffalo milk is commercially available. Most buffalo milk mozzarella sold here is imported from Italy and South America.



There are two basic ways to make mozzarella: direct acidification of the milk to form the curds or the culture/rennet method. In both methods, raw milk is pasteurized and then coagulated to form curds. Once the curds reach a pH of 5.2 they are cut into small pieces and then mixed with hot water and "strung" or "spun" until long ropes of cheese form. This "stringing of the curd" is unique to cheeses in the "pasta filata" family, such as mozzarella, scamorza and provolone. When the proper smooth, elastic consistency is reached, the curds are formed by machine or hand into balls which are then tossed into cold water so that they maintain their shapes while they cool. They are then salted and packaged. It is a short making process, usually less than 8 hours from raw milk to finished cheese. The critical moment is determining exactly when the cheese is mature and ready to be strung...waiting too long can result in a mushy cheese, while stringly too early can result in a tough dry cheese.

Once strung the curds can be formed into balls of varying sizes or into rolls or loaves filled with sun-dried tomatoes, basil pesto, and other delicacies. Mozzarella can be smoked, either in a smoking chamber with intense smoke or by "painting" with a liquid smoke. The curds can be mixed with fresh herbs or chili peppers before forming to flavor the mozzarella. The possibilities and variations are endless.

What distinguishes a superior fresh mozzarella from the rest of the pack? Taste above all. The cheese should taste fresh and reminiscent of milk. It should be mild and delicate. Some say it is bland, yet there is flavor. There should be a hint of sourness. If it tastes too tart or sour the cheese is past its prime. The color should be white; however, seasonally the cheese can be more yellow due to the cows' diet of grasses. The fresher the cheese, the more elastic and springy the curd. As the cheese ages it becomes more and more soft. The perishability of fresh mozzarella varyies according to packaging. Vacuum sealing extends the shelf life dramatically.

[zzyzzx]

I just ate a piece and it looked and tasted OK. Will report back later. If you don't hear from me tommorrow, assume sickness or food poisioning.

[tekkieman]

...a whole lot of stuff!

Cheese-head! :P

[zzyzzx]

So far no ill side effects except for almost constant farting.

[BJ_M]

maybe you are lactose intolerant

[hech54]

Sure....why not.
I just about 5 minutes ago had last nights pizza and hasn

[Craig Tucker]

Hello,

Or just scrape the cheese off. No problem with bread left out.

Kevin

Just scrape the cheese off, that sounds nasty

[Capmaster]

Hello,

Or just scrape the cheese off. No problem with bread left out.

Kevin

Just scrape the cheese off, that sounds nasty

Then you probably don't want to see what aged prime rib looks like before it's prepared for sale

[Roundabout]

So far no ill side effects except for almost constant farting.

Probably not a good idea to go out tonight

[Capmaster]

So far no ill side effects except for almost constant farting.

Probably not a good idea to go out tonight

You could always go out into the back yard with a lighter and ......

[BJ_M]

someone should report that last post

[pacmania_2001]

So far no ill side effects except for almost constant farting.

Probably not a good idea to go out tonight

You could always go out into the back yard with a lighter and ......

The Dance of the Flaming Idiot.

[glockjs]

as long as it's not little caesers your cool

[sacajaweeda]

Little Sleazers

[Craig Tucker]

Hello,

Or just scrape the cheese off. No problem with bread left out.

Kevin

Just scrape the cheese off, that sounds nasty

Then you probably don't want to see what aged prime rib looks like before it's prepared for sale

I was thinking of scraping the cheese off something else

[northcat_8]

If over night pizza was not safe, I would have been dead years ago.

And every university in the USA would have an extremely high death rate

[Capmaster]

Hello,

Or just scrape the cheese off. No problem with bread left out.

Kevin

Just scrape the cheese off, that sounds nasty

Then you probably don't want to see what aged prime rib looks like before it's prepared for sale

I was thinking of scraping the cheese off something else

Ohh ...

[zzyzzx]

Other than the farting, no ill effects. Let's just say that my co-workers should be glad I have my own office. Is there some reason why you never seem to put your leftover pizza away? At home I usually buy them 2 at a time and freeze most and maybe put 2 slices in the refrigerator, all of them in plastic bags.

[pacmania_2001]

I normally just put any left overs in the fridge and then when I want to eat them just give them a zap in the microwave.

Usually keeps a pizza good and edible for 3 or so days.

[zzyzzx]

I'm still waiting to hear from Dr Gee as to why a single slice of pizza produced so much gas. I swear it was as if I could replace the Middle East here for a while.

[Guest]

Soory,cant help you there.

[Capmaster]

I'm still waiting to hear from Dr Gee as to why a single slice of pizza produced so much gas. I swear it was as if I could replace the Middle East here for a while.

You make it sould like it's an entirely bad thing.

Think of the entertainment possibilities: If you have a dog, invite it to sit on the couch next to you. Then try to make it perk up its ears and tip its head to the side

Farting in the bathtub always cheers me up. Instead of a bunch of little bubbles, try for one massive one. Not easy to do

If there are little kids around, stand there talking to them, then unleash a good one at the same time you quickly look over your left shoulder. See how many little kids you can actually get to go wander off in search of the source of the sound. On second thought ...a grown man standing in the street, farting for a bunch of little kids, is more likely than not going to get you arrested

Record the farts in .WAV files and use the best one as a Windows sound

Set up little paper cutout figures on a table and see at how many paces you can knock them over.

Go to a two-story office building and wait until you're the only one riding up on the elevator ....you may have to repeat if it's really busy. Cut a long, vengeful one, and then quickly run down the stairs and watch the faces of the people getting on at the first floor. Save the special moment with a digicam if you have one