Sour cream left out overnight Reddit

I was just watching the first episode of Hoarders last night and the lady had sour cream that was 6 months expired or something like that.

"It's sour cream, how much more sour can it get?"

The professional organizer was puking and the psychologist was trying to explain how food spoils and it wasn't just getting into her head.

If I had sour cream that was out for 10 hours I'd probably use it so I didn't have to go to the store then buy more tomorrow.

If this was just dairy based, I would likely throw it out because it sat out at room temperature all day... but the first ingredient is "sour cream". Sour cream and yogurts are made by leaving them out at 90-110°F for 8-12 hours. Since this was a sealed commercially produced package, it made me think it might be salvageable.

After searching online, I've seen a lot of conflicting posts... many people obviously just saying "toss it" while others saying "sour cream is cultured and it should be fine".

I feel like there should be some actual information somewhere other than random opinions online (ironic I know).

This evening I found out that a newly purchased unopened squeeze pack of sour cream was left in the store bag overnight unrefrigerated. It looked and smelled fine so I decided it was fine to eat with my burrito. Now I'm reading all these scary things online saying it's not safe to eat after being left out for more than 2 hours. Am I really in for some food poisoning? Should I go to the hospital?

I'm in Spain and I haven't been able to find sour cream here so I decided to try making my own. I really want it to have that tangy taste, which I didn't get from mixing yogurt and cream to make a cultured sour cream.

So I decided to try this recipe for acidified sour cream : https://www.budgetbytes.com/how-to-make-sour-cream/

It tasted great at first, but had lost the sourness/tanginess when I tried it after 6 hours. So I left it out on the counter overnight (under the premise that it would ferment), and now it's just kind of gross. Has anyone had any success with this? I did use UHT cream (can't find anything else here), but there are really mixed reviews online if it works well or not. How can I make sour cream myself that has a delicious tangy flavour?

Update: Acidified sour cream is different from cultured sour cream, but it's still sour cream. I don't think acidified sour cream will ever ferment. Adding a bit of lemon juice/vinegar + salt to heavy cream (I used 35%, UHT) does make a decent substitute for sour cream when eaten cold (I haven't tried it for cooking).

No. Absolutely not. Chicken and dairy products at room temperature for 8 hours is instant food poisoning.

EDIT: It's a high risk, for the armchair nitpickers that can't handle exaggeration. Fucking christ. The USDA doesn't suggest food be left out for more than two hours at room temperature in the temperature zone of 40-140°F. Poultry and dairy, in combination, left out for eight hours is not wise to do on paper, despite the anecdotes from commenters that, "Oh I ate raw steak and eggs soaking in chicken brine that were left out for a week and I was fine!"

Joined Jun 30, 2004

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3,185 Posts

I just did the same thing with yogurt last night!

: I think I'm going to toss mine though. It's probably safest to toss it, but if it's going into a recipe where you'll cook it through well, maybe it's safe enough.

Joined Feb 23, 2003

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789 Posts

I would use it. I am incrediblly forgetful and leave stuff out all the time. I judge it on a case by case basis: how long was it out, does it smell, what is it, etc.

I've never had food posoining or gotten sick from eating something "bad". I have a gut of steel and sometimes I wonder if this is one of the reasons why!

Joined Mar 21, 2005

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10,858 Posts

Toss it! $1.50 is cheap compared to people getting sick.

Joined May 11, 2002

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1,170 Posts

I'd toss but I'm a total freak about dairy stuff like that. I drive my friends crazy with my "how long has this been out" or "what's the expiration date on that?"