Is it safe to reheat stew, bolly sauce etc twice??

sudzs

Please shift this to a more appropriate place if necessary!

But just want to know if you think it is o.k (safe) to make a stew, reheat it that evening for dinner.. put the cooled leftovers in the fridge... reheat it for a second time the following evening and eat it again?

Apart from the boring diet aspect, is there any extra risk or E-coli or any other bug??? Considering of course you would simmer for atleast 10 minutes..

John

By reheating it twice do you mean:

1. cooking it, keeping it in the fridge overnight, reheating it?
2. cooking it, keeping it in the fridge overnight, reheating it, keeping it in the fridge overnight again, reheating it again?

Number 1 is fine but once food has been reheated once you shouldn't keep it any longer. If you want to make it last, after you cook it and refridgerate it, take out portions to reheat separate from the main supply of food. That way you'll get a couple of days out of your reheats without putting yourself at any risk.

A word of advice, when reheating make sure the food is piping hot all the way through. Also, let the food cool outside the fridge when you've cooked it before you put it in the fridge and always cover it with clingfilm or a tight fitting lid after it has cooled down.

sudzs

I mean cooking it (eg. boll sauce), say, in the day.. it cools... reheat it for dinner. Then after dinner cool it as quicky as possible, refridgerate it and reheat the folowing evening, simmering for about 7 - 10 mins... at least!

(I would of course portion it if I was gong to be making several meals of it...)

...but my main query is if it's o.k to reheat (as in it has already cooled down after initial cooking process that day) a stew or bol. sauce that evening and again the next evening, eg. in a lasagne (of course cooling it as quickly as possible and putting in fridge the evening of the day you cooked it IYKWIM!!! :rolleyes: )

John

You should only reheat food once, so if you cook it during the day and reheat it later that day you shouldn't reheat it again. Cook once and reheat once. Any more is asking for trouble to come shooting out of your stomach from both directions, even if you simmer for ten minutes.

Capt'n Midnight

Bacteria grow faster when it's warm. While the stew is "cooling" its actually bacteria heaven.

Botulism toxins need 10 minutes of hard boiling to be destroyed, so a reheat would have no effect. Optimal growth temperatures are 0-45C, again the word is optimal, not limits of survival. The spores will survive boiling for an hour. ( you'd need at least six hours of boiling at sea level) Or pressure cooker, So the organisms will grow again and could release more toxin while it's cooling down.

So even if you boil for 10 minutes each cycle of heat/reheat, bacteria in spores can still survive and multiply making it more risky each time.

eth0_

The safest thing to do is cook a big batch and then freeze portions in separate tupperware or other air-tight containers. Then you can bung it in the microwave whenever you want some.