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I left some potatoes cut in half, oiled, cooked to a high temp and left in a toaster oven overnight. Is this safe to eat? If not, what is the mechanism by which the potatoes go bad? Can bacteria get into a sealed oven?

Note to the quick close voters: This is specifically about cooked food left in an oven, not the same as the linked question

hedgedandlevered
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    The linked Q/A is *the* generic post on food at room temperature. It does indeed apply to your case as well, the answer is a very straightforward „not safe“ (note that this need not mean „spoiled“ or „will make you sick“, as we can’t cover that sans explicit tests in a lab). And no, a regular toaster oven is not „sealed“. – Stephie Oct 13 '19 at 18:21
  • thanks The part in the answer you linked said that cooking kills "some bacteria". I can't imagine that's true for such high temperatures. I imagine the reason that its still unsafe is because bacteria can enter via the small amount of diffusion into the air. So, is the only way to achieve that level of safety to have a vacuum seal? Why wouldn't a simple rubber seal be enough? – hedgedandlevered Oct 13 '19 at 18:45
  • Keep in mind that outside of a pressure cooker, if your food has any water left in it after cooking, that means that the interior of the food has only reached a temperature of 100 C (212 F) or lower. That's not hot enough to kill all bacteria. – Tanner Swett Oct 13 '19 at 21:08
  • The seal on an oven is not air tight and the inside of the oven is not bacteria free to begin with, I doubt your question will be reopened because leaving it inside the oven is no better than leaving it cling filmed on the side (possibly worse) – Gamora Oct 14 '19 at 17:07
  • As noted in other comments, cooking doesn't necessarily kill all bacteria. Some bacteria form spores that can reactivate when the food cools. Other bacteria (such as botulism bacteria) can survive perfectly well even if the interior of your potatoes reached 100C/212F (likely the max interior temp in your situation). There have been well-known incidents where baked potatoes left in sealed containers after cooking have led to botulism poisoning. Not to say this is necessarily likely in your case, but possible. – Athanasius Oct 15 '19 at 02:46

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