re-heating chicken - advice neede

[katierocket]

sorry to sound like a total dimbo but what are the rules about re-heating chicken? I've made my DS a chicken pie thing using cooked chicken from supermarket. Surprise, surprise he has rejected it as is the norm with anything new. I want to try again later - is it OK to warm up in the microwave - obviously I had already cooked in the oven with the other ingredients IFYKWIM

Personally I wouldn't reheat again as it would be the third time the chicken had been heated - once by the supermarket, then by you making the pie and a third time if you reheat it.

Just my opinion - not necessarily what you should do !! HTH

I too reackon yous shouldn't reheat it again - never a good idea to mess around with chicken too much.

hmmm, that's what I thought. thanks.
another meal in the bin....ho hum.

I always learned "if in doubt - throw it out". I wouldn't risk it, DD constantly does that and I think what a waste of money, but then again I look at nappies etc. and think the same thing.

It would be OK to eat it cold though - if you haven't binned it already - it's just the 3rd reheating that's dodgy. (I mean you could eat it, not sure about your DS if he didn't like it the first time when it was warm!)

Can I jump in with another chicken question? Does anyone know about defrosting chicken breasts? I have an on-going argument with DH about this. He always defrosts them in the microwave but I think that is potentially dangerous as the microwave kind of half cooks the edges and you can never be sure that the middle is completely defrosted. He hasn't given us food poisioning (yet) but I'd be curious to know what others do.

Meid, I think if the chicken is being cooked thoroughly straight after being defrosted, that should be ok. Personally I've never got the hang of microwave defrosting - it always starts cooking as you describe - so I tend to do it in the fridge or on my fan oven defrost setting, if I am cooking immediately after that. The main thing is not to have it hanging around at warmish temperatures for any length of time - it should either be properly hot or properly cold.

Meid, my microwave has 3 automatic settings for defrosting, one of them is "chops" but things like chops - and chicken breasts - still come out with the edges a bit cooked...I don't think it's harmful, just that when you go on to cook them properly the edges will be overcooked. (The best thing is to be super-organised and take them out of the freezer well ahead of time but I never do!)

I think it's Ok to defrost chicken breasts in the microwave - well, I always do anyway. Mine has a setting for defrost meat and although if you do it for too long the edges cook, I always do it for a little bit less so they don't. As long as you cook it properly I can't see what damage would be done. So I reckon your dh is right meid!

Thank you! Now I've got to think of a way to tell DH that is right, without letting it go to his head!

Ladies, ladies.....there is nothing intrinsically wrong with heating chicken up for a third or 5th or tenth time. What is important is how hot you get it and what you do with it between heatings. Bacteria will grow on things that are room temperature. So if you heat something up and then leave it out for a while, bacteria could grow on it. However if you heat it up really hot (same concept as boiling water), then it kills the bacteria and you can safely eat it (ok to let it cool to eating temperature). You can keep reheating it to a very hot temperature and eat it safely afterwards. You are really just limited by how good it's actually going to taste after it's been "cooked" 10 times.
Not cooking things enough to begin with is a whole other thing. Then you are risking getting ill from a few different nasties. My dh has pointed out to me that if you use the "defrost" setting on the microwave it actually seems to defrost things pretty evenly all the way through.

Slightly frosted chicken is easier to cook into pieces though.

Pork question anyone? Often when I eat pork I get a 'funny tummy' - think you know what I might be suggesting here! Why and what are the bugs I could get from pork? Doesn't put me off it but my granny was always 'a bit funny' about pork. Can you be sensitive to pork?

Hi, Tinker! I seem to remember my aged rellies being "a bit funny" about pork too, probably because they didn't have fridges in the Dark Ages when I were a lass.

Pork and chicken are both potentially dodgy and should always be thoroughly and completely cooked - unlike beef and lamb. I'm not sure which organism/s they may have in them, I think salmonella is one but not the only one, it's possibly down to what pigs and chickens eat (cows and sheep only eat grass, not worms and scraps.) (Have I put you right off now?! )

janh, beef and lamb are not immune from food poisoning bugs! In particular beef can be a source of e coli 0157 - but any raw meat can potentially be contaminated. Official food safety advice will suggest that all meat should be cooked through (i.e. until it is not pink) - its just that beef and lamb are so much nicer pink or red, so the advice tends to be ignored.

Hi, elliott! I just meant that pork has to be completely cooked, and the other 2 can be eaten rare (not that you'd want to eat rare pork anyway, even slightly undercooked it's disgusting) but of course you take your chances with almost anything these days (poisonous spiders in your grapes, anyone?)