Reheating food containing meat

[Quimble]

I'm just about to start including meat in my son's food as he is coming up to 6 months (all the recipes in annabel karmel before that were meat free, although he has had jars with meat) and I am worried about defrosting and warming pre-cooked food which contains meat. Do I have to defrost and then re-heat to a very high temperature in the microwave and then allow to cool, or can I just defrost in microwave and then heat to lukewarm like I do with all the vegetables. I'm nervous about bacteria etc. particularly salmonella in chicken. Are the bacteria killed off the first time you cook it (at v. high temperature) and therefore it is OK just to make it lukewarm after that? I've sort of put off using meat because of this but I think by now my baby needs the protein.

Quimble, I can't answer your questions from a scientific viewpoint but with any meat stuff I am reheating for my son, whether from frozen, or refrigerated leftovers, I give a good blast on the microwave so it is piping hot all the way through, and then leave to cool. I do the same with anything that was frozen with rice in it, by the way, because there is a small risk of food poisoning from inadequately reheated rice. Don't let it put you off giving your baby meat, our two year old is a regular carnivore and we've never had any problems. And I am a real worrier about food hygiene, without actually being a terribly finicky housekeeper...

I agree with Marina - if I am reheating any food from frozen it goes in the microwave on high for about 3 mins or so, then left to cool right down. I give it a stir halfway through and make sure there are no frozen pieces left. If anything has been in the fridge I would do the same and always throw out anything uneaten within 48 hours.

If you reheat any food you must make sure that it's piping hot throughout - when recooking meat this is crucial but you should even do it with vegetables too.
If you do food in the micro you need to check it's burning hot and then leave it to cool. If you're doing it in a saucepan of boiling water it must boil for ten minutes and again let it cool.
Harmful bacteria doesn't just live in meat - once you start cooking/freezing and reheating vegetables bacteria develops in them too so you must make sure you cook them thoroughly if they're pre-cooked.
Hope that helps - don't I sound bossy!
Rach