We’ve Done It Wrong Our Whole Life: 14 Mistakes When Reheating Food

The dish is not only deprived of vitamins, but can also cause poisoning – and all because of seemingly innocent blunders.

Rare housewives prepare a dish for one meal. If you are going to cook borscht, then for almost a week – why should you stand at the stove again? There is nothing wrong with cooking in reserve. However, it is necessary to reheat ready-made meals correctly. Otherwise, it can seriously harm. Here are the common mistakes we make when reheating food.

Chill the finished dish for a long time

After preparing the dish, cover it and leave to cool for a maximum of two hours. Then put the food in the refrigerator, otherwise bacteria will begin to multiply in it. Have a huge pot of soup or pilaf? You can divide the food into containers to cool the food faster.

We don’t heat up enough

Some people don’t like waiting for the heated food to cool down, so the dish is heated quite a bit. And this is a big mistake. Experts recommend warming food up to 73 ° C, at which bacteria have no chance. Ideally, use a cooking thermometer – insert it into the thickest part of the dish to see if it’s done.

The food should be scalding hot. Reheat food until steam comes out and serve reheated food immediately. And a dish forgotten for half an hour or an hour can be poisoned.

Warm up several times

Reheat leftover food once. If reheated, there is a higher risk of poisoning. In addition, the nutritional value of the dish decreases, and the taste is no longer very good. Therefore, try to reheat only the amount of food you can eat.

We heat all food in one way

Many, having a microwave at home, warm up everything in it. Yes, indeed, stews and other dishes with sauce in the microwave will heat up quickly and will not lose their taste. How to reheat food without a microwave? Heat liquid foods on the stove, and reheat crispy foods such as fried chicken or crusty potatoes in the oven. This way the dishes will retain their texture better than in the same microwave. The main thing is to preheat the oven to a temperature of about 170 ° C.

We put the dish in a cold oven

Preheat the oven completely before reheating. If you put food from the refrigerator into an oven at room temperature, the food will heat up slowly and bacteria will begin to multiply.

Defrost at room temperature

Leave the food from the freezer in the main compartment of the refrigerator overnight. Never thaw food at room temperature – bacteria begin to multiply when the temperature rises above 8 ° C. If time is short, use the microwave defrost function. Note that some foods, such as a whole turkey, can thaw in the refrigerator for up to four days.

Warming up large pieces

Cut food into small, even sized pieces to heat up faster and more evenly. Larger pieces will take longer to reach the optimum temperature.

Heat the meat with garnish together

Preheat foods of the same density in the microwave. Large cuts of meat take longer than small green vegetables. To prevent the greens from being overcooked and not losing their beneficial properties, warm up your lunch in stages: start with meat, and add vegetables after a while.

We lay out the dish unevenly

Before sending food to the microwave, place it evenly on a plate so that the thickness of the food is uniform across the entire surface. So the temperature of the finished meal will be uniform.

Warm up without water

To prevent the dish from drying out, add broth or just a little water. Or try the ice cube trick. Toss the dice into the rice before reheating it in the microwave. This is an easy way to keep the beans moist when you re-cook them.

We do not look at the recommendations of the manufacturers

On the packaging of some products, manufacturers write that it is impossible to reheat the dish. Do not neglect this recommendation.

We do not use film for warming up

In the microwave, the dish covered with cling film will be more juicy after heating. Just read the instructions of the film carefully, some wrapping materials may melt, ruining the entire dish. In addition, even the cling film should not come into contact with food.

We do not use foil for the oven

Never put foil-wrapped food in the microwave. But when used in the oven, it is very useful. Reheated food will remain just as juicy in foil. To prevent crunchiness from softening, do not cover the dish with foil too tightly so that the steam will escape outside and not settle on the surface of the dish.

We forget that you can cook something new from the leftovers

Boiled potatoes can be fried, and chicken can be risotto or curry. Yesterday’s rice will be delicious if fried with egg and vegetables. Well, add shrimp to the rice – and now an exquisite dinner is ready.

And now we will tell you in more detail how to reheat specific dishes.

Paste. Microwave the pasta and sauce. Spread the pasta evenly on a plate, cover with cling film, turn on the microwave at 50% power. Cook for 3-4 minutes depending on serving size. If there is a lot of sauce in the pasta, it is best to reheat it on the stove.

Pizza. How to reheat pizza so that it tastes as good as fresh? A dry frying pan, even better cast iron, is suitable for this. Just preheat the skillet and add the pizza to it. A hot skillet will heat the crust through and through, keeping it crispy. Heat until the tomato sauce is scalding hot and the cheese begins to melt.

Lasagna. It is best to preheat the food in the oven at 160 ° C, covered loosely with foil. Remove the foil completely shortly before cooking to create a crispy crust. A quicker way is to microwave the lasagne by covering the dish with cling film.

A fish. When reheated, the fish is easy to overcook. A thin piece of breaded fish will heat up well on a grill at 63 ° C. White fish are best warmed up in sauce on the stove to keep them juicy, or wrapped in foil and sent to the oven.

We’ve Done It Wrong Our Whole Life: 14 Mistakes When Reheating Food