Will this be dangerous??

[Chickenfries]

Please go easy on me- this might be a stupid question but I didn’t have a normal upbringing and now as an adult I’m trying to fill in all the gaps in my common sense knowledge!

im trying to make more dinners from scratch but it’s too much for one person. If I make a meal like a chicken curry, or chilli, or that sort of thing, is it ok to let the leftovers in the pot cool down and put into a container to freeze so I can reheat and eat it another time? Or is that dangerous and a way of getting food poisoning? If I did freeze and reheat it would I have to let it defrost first or could I just cook it from frozen?

thank you in advance!! I’m planning on making a butter chicken curry tonight but I know there will be too much but wasn’t sure if I could freeze and reheat or not!

@Chickenfries yes it is absolutely fine to freeze and then eat on another date. I would personally defrost before eating the food x

It's fine to freeze and reheat. I usually defrost in the microwave first or you can leave to defrost in the fridge.

Cooking from frozen should also be ok as long as it's heated all the way through, can be a bit awkward to do with those types of food as you're dealing with one solid frozen lump.

The only thing you shouldn't really do is defrosting at room temperature as it runs the risk of the food getting into the temperature range where bacteria grow.

Yes make a big batch of something, portion it out and freeze. Then take out the freezer and defrost 24hrs before and thoroughly reheat it again.

Btw - not a silly question. Enjoy your dinner 😊

Absolutely fine. We regularly make double the amount needed so we can freeze and have a quick meal another time.

If I remember I will take the frozen thing out either the night before or in the morning and leave in the fridge to defrost. If I haven’t decided what to eat then I will just take it out of the freezer and defrost in the microwave before heating on full power until piping hot. As long as food is cooled fully before freezing then heated to piping hot before reserving it will be fine.

www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/chilling

The most ‘dangerous’ time is while the food is cooling down as it can be sat out at room temp for a long time. The best thing to do is to portion it up into small containers (I use takeaway cartons) and then cool them as quickly as possible. Good hygiene course suggest putting them into a tray of iced water or something to help cool it down more quickly, then get into the freezer as soon as they’re cooled down. (Don’t be tempted to put them away still warm as you’ll just end up warming up everything else in the fridge/freezer!).

As long as it’s thoroughly reheated it should be fine anyway, so I would suggest defrosting first overnight on the fridge and then reheating in a pan rather than the microwave so that you can keep stirring it and make sure it’s bubbling hot all the way through (you may need to add a bit of extra water to loosen it up so it doesn’t catch and burn on the pan). Otherwise if heating in the microwave just do a minute at a time with a stir in between for 5-6 mins to make sure every bit gets hot.

Maybe invest in a food thermometer (probe type) and have a Google of food hygiene courses if you’re worried - you can do an online one for about £10 and it would put your mind at rest that you’re doing the right things re cooling and reheating food.

Yes absolutely fine!

Use containers that are properly clean (have been washed in hot soapy water, rinsed and dried, for example)

Cool your extra portions and divide into containers and freeze as soon as possible after cooling.

Freeze.

Things like chilli are ok to reheat from frozen, things that have bigger lumps, like chicken, are better defrosted slowly in the fridge or quickly in the microwave on defrost setting, if there is one.

Eat on the day of defrosting , heat to piping hot right through.

Don’t then re freeze or reheat.

Defrosting over night in the fridge is good. Freezer to fridge. The night before, say Saturday night, and heat it up to eat on Sunday evening. If it's not very defrosted then zap in the microwave and immediately pop into the oven.

It's a very good way to make more economical meals and also to make sure you always have a good supply of quick and tasty food for the days you can't be arsed to cook so yes you absolutely should do this.

Just make sure that you let it cool completely before putting the Tupperware lid on and sticking the food in the fridge/freezer otherwise it will warm up the fridge and you'll end up with loads of condensation inside the tub which will water down your food.

I like having a few pots of good meals in the freezer. Just take out and put in the fridge the night before you want to eat them so they're defrosted, then 2-3 minutes in the microwave. Or straight in to the microwave from the freezer using the defrost setting until it's no longer icy, then 2-3 minutes on full power till it's piping hot in the middle, stir it every minute to make sure the heat is well distributed.

The only thing I'm aware of that you shouldn't let cool down slowly is rice! It can produce a toxin if cooled too slowly which won't be destroyed when the rice is reheated, even if it's piping hot (so best to make fresh rice each time to be super safe). That said - we do make batches of rice / rice pudding for a couple of days but cool that quickly in ice water.

I was about to point out that you should cook rice fresh each time, but you can freeze the rest of the meal.

But remember: You can’t freeze food which has previously been frozen.

When I make a curry (usually chicken) I don't even bother with freezing, as long as I eat it up by the next day. Just leave it in the pot and heat it up the next day for lunch.

Well I assume with most things you wouldn’t freeze if you were going to eat it the next day. You would only freeze if it is going to be several days/weeks before you will use it.

You can freeze and reheat rice too.

The advice is to cool it quickly. So I'd remove the portions from the cooking pot and put them into containers to chill. You should aim to have it refrigerated or in the freezer by 90 minutes.

Once cooled either refrigerate or freeze. Refrigerated food can safely be eaten up to five days later but must be reheated properly before consuming (no cold spots).

Frozen meals can be reheated straight from the freezer if reheated in an oven. Again check if it's heated all the way through. Usually a slightly lower heat for longer works and cover the top with foil to stop it drying out.

If it's a microwave reheat then you'd have to defrost it in the microwave first before reheating it.

Just to add to this, I would not recommend freezing a curry which has been made from previously cooked chicken/leftovers.

To give you confidence in what you're eating buy a food temperature probe (about £3)
Then

1. Take a portion of food out of the freezer in the morning.
2. Leave it in the fridge to defrost

3.heat it until the thickest/centre part is 70 degrees C before you eat it (stir it before you probe it to ensure there are no cold spots) Bacteria multiply at temperatures between 5 and 65 degrees c , anything above that kills them. If you have leftovers from reheated food, throw them out.