Most foods are best served right from the refrigerator or oven, but some are more enjoyable at room temperature. Unfortunately, your Subway sandwich isn’t one of them.
If it’s one of those days that you don’t have the zeal to finish your Subway sandwich, you might be wondering if it can sit out as you engage in your three-hour drive.
How healthy will it be when you’re hungry for a bite? How long can you leave your Subway sandwich to sit out at room temperature?
You can leave your Subway sandwich unrefrigerated for a maximum of 2 hours at room temperature. According to the USDA and FDA, discard all perishables left at room temperature for longer than 2 hours. Bacteria multiply faster at room temperature and produce heat-resistant toxins.
These toxins have a high tolerance to heat and can remain active at temperatures as high as 212 degrees Fahrenheit. As a result, no amount of reheating kills the toxins, and you might end up burning your food before destroying them.
Therefore, always consume your Subway sandwich within two hours after purchase if you don’t prefer having it refrigerated.
What Happens With Food at Room Temperature?
According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), leaving food unrefrigerated and at room temperature is dangerous.
Bacteria doubles in number every 20 minutes when you leave your food in a room with an ambient temperature between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit. And normal room temperature is 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
Therefore follow the food safety guidance tips that include keeping your food either hot or cold and no in-betweens.
How Can You Tell If a Subway Sandwich Has Gone Bad?
Subway sandwiches lose their taste, texture, and smell if left out for more than 2 hours. The bread will also get soggy and unpleasant to eat. Afterward, the deli meat starts feeling slimy and developing an odd smell.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell that your Subway sandwich is bad because it can harbor bacteria even when it seems fresh. Therefore, keeping track of your food consumption habits and dates will help immensely.
As a rule of thumb, consume all of your Subway sandwiches before the two-hour grace period elapses. However, does it mean that you shouldn’t consume your Subway sandwich once the clock hits a minute past the two-hours grace period?
No. The two-hour grace period is an estimate, and your sandwich will get bad more quickly if you’re in hotter environments. In such high-temperature zones, you might have to eat your sandwich within an hour or so.
How to Store Subway Leftovers
The best way to store your Subway sandwich leftovers is to keep them in a fridge.
However, storing leftover sub sandwiches is challenging since they have a minimal shelf life and will lose their flavor if you keep them refrigerated for longer than 6 hours.
In essence, we should eat Subway sandwiches immediately after buying or making since they’ll start losing their flavor as time goes by.
How Long Can a Subway Sandwich Be Kept In the Fridge?
Refrigerated Subway sandwiches have two to four days before they go bad.
I wouldn’t recommend keeping your Subway sandwich in the refrigerator for four days. The ingredients will remain fresh and safe to eat, but the bread will be soggy and terrible. Furthermore, every ingredient used to make the sandwich has a different shelf life.
Some will go bad faster than others, so you should use an airtight container to store your sandwich and hopefully find it still palatable.
The bread can’t withstand refrigeration, and the crust on the outside of the Subway roll will soften while the softer parts of the bread harden.
Furthermore, tomato and lettuce don’t hold up well under refrigeration. And as much as they’ll be in good condition during refrigeration, they’ll develop a weird taste that’s slightly off from what you’re used to tasting.
Additionally, the state of the ingredients at the time of buying will determine your Subway sandwich’s shelf life.
For example, Deli meat has a 7-day shelf life. If Subway uses a slice of deli meat that has been refrigerated for four days, you will have just three days maximum before your sandwich goes bad.
Therefore, as it’s challenging knowing the exact time it can go bad, eat your sandwich within two hours after purchase.
Can You Reheat Subway Leftovers?
Yes. It’s safe to reheat your subway leftovers if you refrigerate them well. And by well, I mean refrigerating them within two hours after purchase. Otherwise, leaving your sandwich unrefrigerated for longer than two hours encourages bacterial growth.
It will be regrettable if you end up consuming a bacteria-infested sandwich.
And, there isn’t a one-fit-for-all when reheating leftover sandwiches. Unlike other cooked foods, the state of your Subway sandwich after refrigeration varies a lot.
Some factors such as its refrigeration time, the form it’s in, and the ingredients used in making it vary a lot.
As we’ve seen, keeping your sandwich in a fridge leaves it soggy, and the bread will be rubbery and mushy after reheating. Hence, your best alternative is to buy one that you can consume within two hours. Beyond that grace period, consider your Subway sandwich as toxic waste.
Here’s how you can reheat your Subway sandwich
The state of your sandwich, especially the bread, determines the reheating method that you can use.
The Bread is Soggy
If your sandwich is soggy, I’d recommend putting it in a sandwich press to crisp up the bread. Alternatively, you can put it in an oven while it’s uncovered.
You can employ the two methods below if you suspect that your bread might get burned before it warms uniformly.
The Bread is Hard and Dry
Method 1
- If the bread is dry, you can opt to take the sandwich apart and scrape off any loose condiments from the bread.
- Turn up the heat on your toaster oven to close to 250 degrees Fahrenheit and place your bread when it heats up.
- Find a separate plate and heat your Sub’s guts, such as cheesesteak, for close to 2 minutes.
- Check your bread and remove it once it has the proper temperature or texture.
- You can then reassemble your sandwich and enjoy your meal.
Method 2
Employ this method if you don’t prefer taking your sandwich apart before reheating.
- Place your sandwich in a brown paper bag and seal it while ensuring to leave some space for a little bit of air to get in.
- Sprinkle some water on the outer surface of the bag and place it in a low oven. The sprinkled water aids in steaming the sandwich to allow for uniform heating or prevent the bread from burning before it warms up uniformly.
Can You Eat a Subway Sandwich That’s Been Left Out Overnight?
No. Like many other types of sandwiches, you shouldn’t eat a Subway sandwich that has been left out overnight and at room temperature.
The shelf life of an unrefrigerated sandwich is 1-2 hours at room temperature and strictly a maximum of one hour if the ambient temperature is more than 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Discard any sandwich that you’ve left overnight to avoid a risk of stomach upsets or even food poisoning.
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, bacteria grow exponentially when sandwiches are kept in environments with ambient temperatures ranging from 40 – 140 degrees Fahrenheit.
Therefore if you’re uncertain whether you’ll consume the sandwich within two hours after purchasing, it’s much safer to have an ice or frozen gel pack.
Bacteria don’t multiply in cold environments; hence you’ll have a higher chance that your Subway sandwich will be non-toxic when you finally decide to eat it.
Additionally, Subway sandwiches made with ingredients such as jam, jelly, peanut butter, and hard cheeses have a slightly higher shelf life.
They don’t contain highly perishable ingredients and can be left out much longer than sandwiches made with highly perishable materials.