Sister claimed she’d get food poisoning from my chilli

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My sister and her DH dropped round for a quick lunch this afternoon. We’d arranged it in advance but I forgot to get the food out the freezer first thing this morning as have been very busy.

At 12pm I took a portion of batch-cooked veggie chilli out the freezer. Sister arrived at 2pm when it was still defrosting in an open Tupperware tub (lid off) on the kitchen counter. At 2.30pm I tipped it (semi-frozen) into a pan and added some boiling water, heated it up on the hob for half an hour and served it with rice.

While it was cooking she was complaining that reheating straight from frozen is a bad idea, we’d all get food poisoning etc. I’ve reheated from frozen/semi-frozen many a time (including meat dishes, not just veggie) and was a bit miffed that she was slagging off my cooking in front of my DH and hers tbh.

AIBU to think she was being completely over the top and that reheating straight from frozen is not a big deal/health hazard?

It's no big deal if it's cooked through. She sounds a bit precious.

She was being OTT (and I say that as someone who is generally very OTT!)

I don't think that food poisoning affects individual people... If you all ate the food then its unlikely to have "poisoned" the minority surely?
It may have aggrevated a delicate stomach perhaps?

I do it all the time, I'm forever forgetting to take stuff out to defrost, not been poisoned yet.

Pfffft. It'd be fine. Particularly with veggie food.
I'd have left it in the fridge and lid on tbh,especially meat, but I'd still eat that.

Is she saying it’s actually made her ill? Why didn’t you microwave it? Highly unlikely she’s got food poisoning, especially as it was veggie.

She's an idiot who has no idea about how bacteria actually work then.

You're safer heating directly from frozen (it's just an arse unless it's oven/microwave) than leaving something out to defrost - that's warming slowly so is an ideal breeding ground for nasties and their poisonous pooing. So always defrost in the fridge or cook from frozen.

Of course I usually just leave stuff out on the drainer to defrost for six hours. Not killed anyone yet!

'Delicate' my arse.
Who gets food poisoning from vegetable curry, really

With something that you can stir and make sure it's evenly and thoroughly heated, it's fine.

Sounds like she's taken the 'defrost first' advice to heart, without thinking about why people might say that.

I'm veggie when I make chilli I make extra to freeze I always heat it by putting the frozen stuff in the pan with some water out of the kettle and warming it through. She's being precious

YANBU to cook it the way you did.

YABU to serve 'lunch' at 3pm (or later it sounds!)

The main reasons we don't reheat things from frozen is:
a - it can hard to get the middle hot for long enough without burning the outside
b - the texture gets messed up and things go mushy

What you did sounds FINE, as long as it was heated thoroughly.

The only time she would be right about it being dangerous is cooking something like a whole chicken that is still frozen because the inside warms up slowly and doesn't get cooked the whole way through. Something that is in small bits like a soup with lumps or mince that can be cooked thoroughly all the way through is fine.

@SpoonBlender sounds like a very sensible person

Sounds very precious, as long as the food reaches a certain temp it's absolutely fine. Tell her to bring a packed lunch next time.

We ate it about six hours ago and I’m feeling fine. I’ve not heard from my sister either, so I’m sure she’s not been struck down with food poisoning.

I didn’t microwave it as I don’t actually own a microwave, and I put it out on the counter with the lid off to try and defrost it quicker (in the fridge it would take an age). Perhaps next time I should cook it straight from frozen though? I didn’t actually realise that was the best option...

Was the rice previously frozen or freshly cooked?

Hi Moose, the rice was freshly cooked and the chilli was frozen.

It's fine. Obviously. She's either only partially informed (eg if it had been raw meat) or a drama llama.

Yeah she was being massively OTT.

She's being ott about the cooking from frozen but I'd not want to eat something that had been sat uncovered on the side for that long

did she get food poisoning or just suggest that it might give her food poisoning.
If it was the latter, id just say "well eat it or dont eat it, but ive cooked it thouroughly"

I do that with mince we've never had food poisoning

Absolutely not a problem at all, assuming that you served it piping hot?

She's being silly.

Of course it was absolutely fine. Your sister was being ridiculous.