Heating up frozen purees - confused

[Kyliebump]

I've just started DS on 'solids' and have made up some ice cube trays of pureed food. Some of theses are just fruit/veg, but I've also frozen some puree mixed with baby rice. Anyway, what I'm confused about is thawing them out. I thought that I could just defrost them and then heat them to lukewarm and feed to DS, but the books say to defrost, heat to boiling and then let cool down - is this really necessary?

[Tinker]

Erm, I'm not sure but I know I didn't do that. I can see that it would be a precautionary measure if there was any bacteria present prior to the food being frozen but seems a bit of a palaver realy. However, I know rice can be iffy after a few days so it might be an idea just to make the baby rice up as you go along.

[charliesmummy]

Kyliebump - all the food that I made with any meat in it - chicken casserole etc, I defrosted overnight in the fridge - so planning!, and then heated to boiling about 20 mins before needed and put it in the fridge for a bit. I know it sounds like a real faf, but, I too was worried about bacteria etc it did cause a few screams because ds could smell it cooking and then of course wanted it immediately! But as far as pureed carrots, sweet potato and apples etc I did just warm it, but added the baby rice as required.

[SofiaAmes]

Kyliebump, it's a question of how you defrost. If you defrost in a microwave (i always did) and serve immediately (or within an hour), then you don't need to heat to boiling. Just make sure to stir really well as you can get super hot spots in microwaved food (hence why they tell you not to). If you let it defrost overnight in either the fridge or on a counter, there may be enough time (a few hours for example) for bacteria to grow when the food gets above a certain temperature. (they don't grow while the food is frozen) that is why you need to heat to boiling to kill those bacteria. Hope that makes sense.
I found that generally I would just make up a few days worth of rice, keep it in the fridge and then puree it with different vegetables for each meal. I used a mouli and often just cooked the vegetables in the microwave as it could be done with one hand. I always kept a few meals in the freezer for those days that I didn't have time/energy to do one on the spot. And then I would just microwave it just before eating. After a few months of introducing foods (lots of food allergies in our family), I just pureed our meal from that night or leftovers from the previous night for ds and now he eats everything.

[ellasmum]

Oh God... I am clearly doing something wrong and am now in panic, I just defrost the right amount of fruit/veg puree on the counter and then heat it in microwave for about 30 seconds. Is this really dangerous bacteriawise???

[Ems]

All food, not just babies, needs to reach boiling point after it has been frozen and then let it cool down to required temperature.

[Kyliebump]

EMS - this is why I'm confused, as things like bread, fruit etc don't get cooked to boiling after they've been frozen, they just get defrosted and eaten. I can understand the need to heat meat (and probably baby rice) thoroughly, but really don't understand the need to boil and then cool pureed apple!

Had a total disaster at lunch time as I had thawed some potato and carrot in the fridge (don't have a microwave), then boiled it up, and then had to cool it down. DS was screaming by that point, so lunchtime was not a fun time for us today!!

Am feeling a pull towards the baby food jars in the supermarket!!

Thanks for your messages

[SoupDragon]

I've never done it and I don't remember eading it either actually.

[LIZS]

I used to defrost (usually but not always in microwave) and then only heat to boiling any meat/fish products, otherwise I left it at room temperature. I never heated jar foods as I found it more convenient to use it at room temperature when out and about. As a consequence it took ds a while to get used to freshly hot food!

LizS

[Eulalia]

I never boiled anything that was frozen and ds was always OK. I don't see how bacteria could form from a frozen state. The problem as I see it would be if the food was left defrosted for a long time perhaps at room temperature. If it was defrosted in the fridge overnight it could be heated up to feeding temperature straight away.

[SofiaAmes]

I just spoke with my mother who is a scientist and works with bacteria all the time. She said, DON'T WORRY. If you are not living in a 3rd world country (where there are lots of dangerous bacteria's about), you don't have to worry about reheating things to boiling unless they've been sitting around for days. And even then, the stuff that grows is generally not bad for you, it just tastes yucky. She seemed to think it was quite funny that we were all even worrying about it....

[Eulalia]

Thanks SofiaAmes. I always eat things past their sell by date and I am never ill.

I think we forget we used to live without fridges.

[ellasmum]

Phew... Thanks SofiaAmes

[Kyliebump]

Thanks so much SophiaAmes!!!