Reheating food

There’s never any of my tuna/pasta dinner left!
But if there were, I’d have no problem keeping it to eat up next day, as long as it had gone in the fridge once cooled.

For lunch today I finished some leftover Thai green prawn curry and rice, which I made for dinner on Saturday, had put in the fridge and forgotten about till then. (Had guests and over-catered a bit, as usual)
I’m still alive and well!

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Ham etc, heated to warm and consumed immediately would not be a problem, it would be if it were kept warm for a period, giving time for bacteria to grow,

When we were touring Italy a few years ago, panini were the staple fast food item. Everywhere we went, they were on offer, from roadside cafés to filling stations. They were never heated to the point where the ham, prosciutto, pepperoni etc was actually hot. It was always just luke warm. But the Italians didn't seem to be dropping like flies. And neither did we

Anyone that has completed a food hygiene course will know that the problem with cooked ice is a toxin that builds up if it is cooled slowly. This may happen when restaurants/takeaways pre cook large quantities and do not cool it fast enough.
The quantities cooled at home are easily cooled quickly.
Toxins are different from bacteria.

What about rice cooked into dishes? I know the danger of contamination with fresh cooked rice on its own or with just a few extra ingredients stirred in as in rice salad, pilau rice etc , but does it apply to rice pudding, for example? I assume with dishes like that where the rice is bound in with milk and other ingredients the danger from contamination by fungus does not apply.

I am not sure about tuna though, although I have frozen a fresh cooked salmon pasta dish.

Yes, I would freeze and reheat pea and ham soup as long as it was boiled for a while not juste heated.
I don't think I have given anyone food poisoning and hope I never will, the only foodpoisoning has been from prawns in a restaurant (DH) and a mousse type pudding in an overseas hotel (me) when I was trying to avoid fresh fruit salad in case the fruit hadn't been washed.

I am a bit wary of rice - have cooled it very quickly with running cold water and frozen it within minutes and it has been fine, however I would never freeze and reheat it if it's been left to cool down slowly.
Excuse errors can't get back to correct!

Where did 'rope' come from ? Ignore!

I do eat food after sell by date, and use common sense. But having taught food hygiene once long ago I'm careful to avoid cross contamination, and never reheat rice - except in a ready meal with instructions which I follow to the letter!!! As for meat dishes I do reheat more than once though I've been told you shouldn't. As long as it is piping hot throughout bacteria should be killed. The danger is in food being kept 'warm'. Or not rope properly reheated. Botulism Bacteria in cooked rice can form Spores which are highly resistant and sometimes just 'hatch out' when rice is reheated, rather then being killed. As far as I can remember. It's a very long time ago that I taught it!

I'm a complete devil for this. Reheat chicken stews etc multiple times, keep rice long after you're meant to, eat food from packets saying this is way beyond sell-by state. Still here. But use eyes, smell, common sense,
If my son, who wouldn't eat anything if he saw it was one minute over date, knew what I'd served him in past, think shock would do him in.
Again, I do use common sense. Refrigerate leftovers. Freeze if there's too much to eat up. And if it's shell fish etc, treat with much caution.

Reading all these cautious tales about freezing, reheating, etc. I don't now how I've survived all these years!

In countries where rice is the main staple, they invented fried rice. They do it in a very hot wok or pan. Rice is reheatable if you know what you're doing. I've done it many a time without any problems.

I totally agree pollyperkins, the only food which should never be reheated is rice for the reasons you identify. School dinner providers used to have to be very careful with the cooling of large vats of cooked mince. There were occasions when it hadn't cooled through to the centre when a reheat process started. This difference in temperatures was a breeding ground for bacteria. There are now strict guidelines for reheating foods in any commercial organisation where thermometers should always be used. Normal domestic reheating shouldn't present the same problems. I continue to reheat food from the previous day, it will be cottage pie today.

According to a lot of the comments above....I should have been dead years ago! I reheat everything , including rice, tuna, meat etc., etc.,! Must have strong constitution but haven't upset anybody else's to my knowledge either!

Just to make things accurate, check out this link:

www.thehygienedoctor.co.uk/can-reheat-rice/

Rice is the only thing I dont reheat as you vould get botulism which is extremely poisonous

I think avoiding food related tummy upsets is a more to do with food handling and hygiene. When we cook at home, our hands are constantly being washed and dried through food preparation procedures. I certainly wash my hands after handling raw meat or vegetables that grow in the ground or are sticky/smelly when chopped, like garlic or onions. A previous discussion about kitchen cloths and towels showed most 'gn'ers are keen on hygiene. If I've cooked the food, covered and cooled it, I can't see how any bugs could colonise it even if I haven't refrigerated it (except mould spores which are in the air but they won't usually kill you). I happily eat it cold or reheated next day.

People who work in catering have to be taught and taught again about hygiene because a very few will cut corners so the majority must be vigilant. If you order something that should be hot and it arrives at the table only warm, I'd consider sending it back but I think we're safe enough in our own kitchens.

In the winter I often make a stew on Saturday. If the children don't come and finish it on Sunday, sometimes dh eats it till Wednesday!! I keep it in the fridge and microwave each portion to death before he eats it. I think that kills most things. I have never poisened anyone eating at my table.

I think when professionals are catering for large numbers in steamy kitchens with an army of people handling the food they have to conform to rigid hygeine rules. Apart from any other considerations, those enormous pans of food take longer to cool down that our little saucepans, and a lot of things hang around all evening while platefuls are served up one at a time.

Well thanks for all your responses, and thanks hildaj for your link. Seems I am too easily scared! Though I can blame it on having family members who've spent years in the food and catering industry, taken all the exams, got all the certificates, and put the fear of God into me . The daft thing is I'm far more relaxed about best before / use by dates, and rarely take any notice of them, using my common sense - and the sniff test .

I think I could well be changing my ways from now on.

Science is just common sense formalised. The word "science" came from the Latin word for knowledge: scientia. Knowledge is gained by experience and observing the results over time. After fifty years or so of cooking and reheating foods, we grans know quite a bit about the results of taking a bit of care (or nor bothering) about storage and reheating.

I think kitchens (and houses in general) are so much warmer than for instance in our childhood, so leaving the stockpot on the hob would have been fine if it remained cool enough, but with central heating I do think cooked food should go into the fridge once it has cooled down. Few of us have the luxury of a cool larder or pantry and I have been known to welcome really cold weather so that I can put soups or stews in the garage overnight.