Microwave heating question - a bit daft really...

[Hels67]

Hi there,
DD aged 8 months has had most of her food at room temperature (even milk), except for meals with chicken in.

Now I think it might be time for her to get used to eating food a little warmer. So far I haven't used the microwave for heating her food, as I rarely use it myself for my food and am uncertain how long to put the food in for and on what setting etc - the microwave has an E rating (850w), so about how long should her food take to heat up?

(Told you it was a daft question )

[totaleclipse]

with meat, it is best to heat until piping hot, and then let cool, anything else just heat for 10 seconds at a time, I used to transfer to another bowl once it had heated as the bowl became hotter than the food, so carried on heating the food, remember to stir very well to rid of hotspots.

[callmeovercautious]

They should not eat hot food at all yet. Room temp is fine for quite a while yet. Zapp it until really hot then leave it to cool back down and then give it to her.

[Hels67]

That sounds quite straightforward - basically all I need to do is heat the food in the microwave 10 seconds at a time, until the food is hot and steaming, transfer to another bowl and then leave to cool.
Thanks - I'll give it a try

[Jojay]

CMOC - Why shouldn't they eat hot food? Obviously not so hot it risks burning them, but my 9 mth old DS has most of his food and milk at a fairly warm / hot temp.

Just curious..........???

[callmeovercautious]

Think it depends on your definition of hot - was just being - as my name suggests! - a bit on the cautious sid

DD is a year and eats fairly warm things but I would consider it too cold if I was eating it iyswim.

I think that they can learn to eat things hot a lot later than 8m and they won't be damaged for life, once they learn the difference between hot and cold for example.

Just my opinion but then DD is BF so I never heated milk and later food above body temp as that was her preferance.

[Leln]

sorry to put a spanner in the works, but if you are considering microwaving food for your little one, you might want to read this:
www.mercola.com/2003/nov/5/microwave_food.htm

Take it with a pinch of salt or take it seriously, but at least you've got the info!

[Jojay]

Interesting CMOC - my ds was breast fed too for the first 4 months, and would never take milk at room temp - only warmer. I must have a high body temp or something!!!!

[Hels67]

It is interesting that even small babies have a preference for food/milk at a certain temperature.
Is it only in this country where it is usual to serve food at such high temperatures that the food is steaming and you need gloves to hold the plate? In some other countries in Europe even "hot" meals seem no warmer than a touch over lukewarm iyswim. I'm not saying that this is a bad thing - just a matter of preference.

[Jojay]

Maybe it's a climate thing? Having piping hot food in the Med would seem less important somehow, whereas here we need it to warm us up!!

[thehairybabysmum]

Just to say that you should be heating all food for your dd to piping hot then letting it cool to desired temp for her to eat, this is regardless of how you heat it and whether or not it has chicken in and is to kill germs.

Unless you use just opened jar food as this has been sterilised anyway.

[Hels67]

I'm a bit worried now, thbm, as I've never heated ANY of DD's food, apart from the chicken/meat things (don't use jars)- is this correct that EVERYTHING has to be heated and then cooled ??

[thehairybabysmum]

Its best to as you kill any bacteria that maybe present. I guess what i mean is that you could give food straight from the fridge (cold sausages or suchlike), as you would eat yourself. But you shouldnt jsut heat food to lukewarm then give. Any bugs in the food will not be killed doing it this way, in fact the warnth will just make them multiply.

Your dd has obviously been fine so far so i wouldnt worry but maybe change how you do it in future...this is applicable to adults as well not just baby food...just basic food safety.

Mind you it can be frustrating waiting for food to cool down when they're obviously hungry!

[thehairybabysmum]

www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/publication/preventingfoodpoisoning0807.pdf

[Hels67]

Thanks for the link, thbm - very useful information indeed. To be honest, what I've done so far is defrost any frozen food in the fridge overnight and then take it out about 10 minutes before the meal so that it isn't really cold and DD will eat the food like that. With Chicken etc I've put it into a saucepan and heated it until it is steaming and bubbling and then cooled it (an additional problem is that I can't check the temperature of it cos I'm a vegetarian, so put a small amount on my inner wrist, like you do with warmed milk).
This reference to "piping hot" is what gets me - what exactly does that mean? Is it boiling or so hot that steam comes from the food or what??
I'm now not certain about the microwave as I don't use it myself either, so I'm going to dig out the bottle heater that we bought in the early days when DD was just born and never used, and give that a go !

[thehairybabysmum]

sounds like what you've been doing is actually fine...i was worried you were semi heating the food. Your description of how you cook in the sauepan sounds like piping hot to me so i would carry on with that or m/wave. Personally i wouldnt bother with bottle warmer, that wont get stuff as hot, as quickly as the saucepan.

[Hels67]

Apparently "piping hot" means very hot (!) or hot enough to hiss, sizzle or bubble www.word-detective.com/122002.html

I think I'll stick to putting DD's food in a saucepan, then I can see for myself that it's bubbling, steaming hot!