Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?
--
Graeme

On 03/11/15 17:54, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

If it's not been allowed to sit around too long at room temperature, was
cooked thoroughly in the first place, kept cool and reheated thoroughly
the second time, I see no problem at all.

cf: the mega turkeys people (including my family) had at Xmas in the
70s. Cooked, cooled, stored for week, eventually being reheated in the
form of curries and rissottos.

Now ice cream is something that should not be refrozen...

In message , Tim Watts
writes
On 03/11/15 17:54, News wrote:

I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

If it's not been allowed to sit around too long at room temperature,
was cooked thoroughly in the first place, kept cool and reheated
thoroughly the second time, I see no problem at all.

Probably initially in the slow cooker for 10+ hours then, when reheated,
30 minutes in a dish, in the oven at 200. I do take the point about
reheating, but the contents of a pie put in a hot oven at room
temperature usually boils within 10 minutes or so, and would therefore
be bubbling for a good 15 minutes by the time the pastry is cooked.

cf: the mega turkeys people (including my family) had at Xmas in the
70s. Cooked, cooled, stored for week, eventually being reheated in the
form of curries and rissottos.

We must be the same age :-)

Even today, turkey can last until New Year, and be eaten cold. I just
love cold turkey - more so than hot. Having said that, we strip the
meat off the bone a day or two after Christmas, then keep covered in the
fridge, and only remove from the fridge enough for one meal, so nothing
chilled is allowed to come up to room temperature then put back in the
fridge.

--
Graeme

"News" wrote in message
...
In message , Tim Watts
writes
On 03/11/15 17:54, News wrote:

I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

If it's not been allowed to sit around too long at room temperature, was
cooked thoroughly in the first place, kept cool and reheated thoroughly
the second time, I see no problem at all.

Probably initially in the slow cooker for 10+ hours then, when reheated,
30 minutes in a dish, in the oven at 200. I do take the point about
reheating, but the contents of a pie put in a hot oven at room temperature
usually boils within 10 minutes or so, and would therefore be bubbling for
a good 15 minutes by the time the pastry is cooked.

I always do currys that way, make a lot initially, freeze all but the one
meal that I eat just after it was made in individual meal sized containers
that go in the freezer straight after they have been put in there. Those
are zapped in the microwave before eating. Never had any food poisoning.

cf: the mega turkeys people (including my family) had at Xmas in the 70s.
Cooked, cooled, stored for week, eventually being reheated in the form of
curries and rissottos.

We must be the same age :-)

Even today, turkey can last until New Year, and be eaten cold. I just
love cold turkey - more so than hot.

I do it that way with roast lamb, eat the first meal hot
and the later ones cold sliced roast lamb with hot
potato and other veg. I prefer the first hot one tho.

Having said that, we strip the meat off the bone a day or two after
Christmas, then keep covered in the fridge, and only remove from the
fridge enough for one meal, so nothing chilled is allowed to come up to
room temperature then put back in the fridge.

I don't strip the roast lamb from the bone, just cut off what
I need for each later meal. Sometimes it doesn't get eaten
fast enough and gets a bit moldy/slimy in the fridge and
it is chucked out when that happens, but I've never got
any food poisoning.

I also get some smoked chooks and eat that cold with
salad and that usually lasts for 3 or so meals. Never had
any food poisoning at all, ever.

On 03/11/2015 18:37, News wrote:
In message , Tim Watts
writes
On 03/11/15 17:54, News wrote:

I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

If it's not been allowed to sit around too long at room temperature,
was cooked thoroughly in the first place, kept cool and reheated
thoroughly the second time, I see no problem at all.

Probably initially in the slow cooker for 10+ hours then, when reheated,
30 minutes in a dish, in the oven at 200. I do take the point about
reheating, but the contents of a pie put in a hot oven at room
temperature usually boils within 10 minutes or so, and would therefore
be bubbling for a good 15 minutes by the time the pastry is cooked.

cf: the mega turkeys people (including my family) had at Xmas in the
70s. Cooked, cooled, stored for week, eventually being reheated in the
form of curries and rissottos.

We must be the same age :-)

Even today, turkey can last until New Year, and be eaten cold. I just
love cold turkey - more so than hot. Having said that, we strip the
meat off the bone a day or two after Christmas, then keep covered in the
fridge, and only remove from the fridge enough for one meal, so nothing
chilled is allowed to come up to room temperature then put back in the
fridge.

In Thailand they do say that a dog is not just for Christmas, with a bit
of luck it will do new yeat as well

Malcolm

On Tuesday, 3 November 2015 17:54:18 UTC, News wrote:
Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken through the temperature danger zone for bacterial growth. The final stage of cooking in a pie might not get the centre of the pie to hot enough for long enough to see off the bacteria.

Owain

In message ,
writes
On Tuesday, 3 November 2015 17:54:18 UTC, News wrote:
I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Yes, agreed.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken through the
temperature danger zone for bacterial growth. The final stage of
cooking in a pie might not get the centre of the pie to hot enough for
long enough to see off the bacteria.

Point taken. I just wonder whether we are allowing just a little
paranoia to creep in. Perhaps not. I do take the point about fully
reheating in the centre of the pie, though.
--
Graeme

"News" wrote in message
...
In message ,
writes
On Tuesday, 3 November 2015 17:54:18 UTC, News wrote:
I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Yes, agreed.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken through the
temperature danger zone for bacterial growth. The final stage of cooking
in a pie might not get the centre of the pie to hot enough for long enough
to see off the bacteria.

Point taken. I just wonder whether we are allowing just a little paranoia
to creep in.

Yes we are, most obviously with the christmas
leftovers as someone pointed out.

We don't in fact see an epidemic of food poisoning just
after Xmas.

Perhaps not. I do take the point about fully reheating in the centre of
the pie, though.

wrote
News wrote

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying
chicken should not be reheated twice. I know there
are all sorts of chicken scare stories, but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Nope, not when the last use cooks it thoroughly.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken
through the temperature danger zone for bacterial growth.

Yes, but the final cook kills that.

The final stage of cooking in a pie might not get the centre of
the pie to hot enough for long enough to see off the bacteria.

It does actually.

On 03/11/15 20:09, Rod Speed wrote:
wrote
News wrote

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying
chicken should not be reheated twice. I know there
are all sorts of chicken scare stories, but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Nope, not when the last use cooks it thoroughly.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken
through the temperature danger zone for bacterial growth.

Yes, but the final cook kills that.

The final stage of cooking in a pie might not get the centre of
the pie to hot enough for long enough to see off the bacteria.

It does actually.

With most cases of food poisoning what you have said is mainly correct.
But everyone here just talks about killing the bacteria. That's a good
start if you do it early enough to prevent growth, but the usual problem
with food poisoning isn't the bacteria, but the toxins they produce.
Most toxins are sensitive to heat, and are destroyed in the heating
process. There are several, however, which are heat stable and can make
you very ill, no matter how long they are heated.

I have no problem with reheated chicken if it cooled quickly after it's
first cooking and refrigerated as soon as possible, and only kept for a
day or so in the fridge before freezing or being cooked again. And when
it is reheated it is quickly raised to at least 70 deg C, and held at
that temperature until served.

--

Jeff

"Jeff Layman" wrote in message
...
On 03/11/15 20:09, Rod Speed wrote:
wrote
News wrote

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying
chicken should not be reheated twice. I know there
are all sorts of chicken scare stories, but is Wifey correct?

She's sensible.

Nope, not when the last use cooks it thoroughly.

Every cook - freeze - cook - chill stage takes the chicken
through the temperature danger zone for bacterial growth.

Yes, but the final cook kills that.

The final stage of cooking in a pie might not get the centre of
the pie to hot enough for long enough to see off the bacteria.

It does actually.

With most cases of food poisoning what you have said is mainly correct.
But everyone here just talks about killing the bacteria. That's a good
start if you do it early enough to prevent growth, but the usual problem
with food poisoning isn't the bacteria, but the toxins they produce. Most
toxins are sensitive to heat, and are destroyed in the heating process.
There are several, however, which are heat stable and can make you very
ill, no matter how long they are heated.

But you have to have done really stupid stuff with the meat to
have that level of toxins in it. He didnt do anything like that.

I have no problem with reheated chicken if it cooled quickly after it's
first cooking and refrigerated as soon as possible, and only kept for a
day or so in the fridge before freezing or being cooked again.

I've kept it for a lot longer than that and haven't cooked
it and its been fine, most obviously with the smoked
chooks I eat occasionally in the summer with a salad.

And when it is reheated it is quickly raised to at least 70 deg C, and
held at that temperature until served.

I haven't always done that with the frozen currys zapped
in the microwave. Occasionally they do have cold patches
when there is more meat than usual and I have never
had any food poisoning, because I freeze the excess
after eating the first meal after making the curry.
Never ever had any food poisoning.

On 03/11/15 17:54, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct?

Its a widely held myth.

I can see no reason not to.

I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?


--
the biggest threat to humanity comes from socialism, which has utterly
diverted our attention away from what really matters to our existential
survival, to indulging in navel gazing and faux moral investigations
into what the world ought to be, whilst we fail utterly to deal with
what it actually is.

On 11/3/2015 12:54 PM, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

I often do that, with no ill effects.

On 03/11/2015 19:21, S Viemeister wrote:
On 11/3/2015 12:54 PM, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

I often do that, with no ill effects.

I often reheat, but then I probably do a slight overcook 2nd time around
just to be sure. I take the view that if cooked long enough and at high
enough temp anything should be killed off.

"ss" wrote in message
...
On 03/11/2015 19:21, S Viemeister wrote:
On 11/3/2015 12:54 PM, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

I often do that, with no ill effects.

I often reheat, but then I probably do a slight overcook 2nd time around
just to be sure.

I don’t, essentially because the reheated curry
isn't quite as good as the original, so the last
thing I want to do is make it even worse again.

Just made think that maybe what I should be doing
is deliberately undercooking it before freezing so the
reheated curry ends up as good as the one just cooked.

I take the view that if cooked long enough and at high enough temp
anything should be killed off.

Since I freeze it straight out of the frypan, straight
after eating the first meal, there should be anything
that needs killing off.

On 03/11/15 19:30, ss wrote:

I often reheat, but then I probably do a slight overcook 2nd time around
just to be sure. I take the view that if cooked long enough and at high
enough temp anything should be killed off.

Yes.

There is one other factor - if bugs have been allowed to fester prior to
that, you may get a build up of toxins which are not removed by cooking.
But I think you have to be fairly sloppy to manage that.

On 03/11/2015 17:54, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

Commercial kitchen reheating guidelines are that you should use a probe
thermometer to measure the temperature at the centre and ensure that it
reaches 70C for red meat or 80C for white meat and stays at that
temperature for at least two minutes.

--
Colin Bignell

"News" wrote in message
...

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I stripped
the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to cool then
put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories, but
is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a pie
dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes
at 200. Safe or suicidal?

Safe with stuff you cook like that.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 5:54:18 PM UTC, News wrote:
Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?
--
Graeme

I chopped up frozen chicken breasts and slung them in a curry the other day and am still alive....

On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:54:11 +0000, News wrote:
[...]

I wouldn't take chances with chicken. Anyone remember 'chicken-in-a-
basket'? It was big in pubs back in the late 70s. I always thought it was
a STUPID idea, but my missus at the time (like most wimmin) love all that
nonsense, so we had to have it when visiting a country pub down south one
lunchtime. It would typically be served in a wicker basket with a
serviette (red usually for some reason) placed under it. About an hour
later, I sensed something wasn't right. Strange gurgling noises from my
stomach and then.... after a terrific dash to the lavs, I deposited the
entire contents of my colon into the first receptacle I could find (a
urinal, as all the stalls were engaged (I wonder why?)). Not in the
normal fashion, either. This was ***EXPLOSIVE*** dioarrhea - a fulminant
evacuation - and I'm not proud of the mess I left behind over the floor,
walls and ceiling, but to be honest, serving dodgy grub like that, they
deserved the consequences I reckon. I had to use my underpants to wipe my
arse, too. The missus, though, had no such problem for some reason.
Wimmin!

In article ,
Julian Barnes wrote:
On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:54:11 +0000, News wrote:
[...]

I wouldn't take chances with chicken. Anyone remember 'chicken-in-a-
basket'? It was big in pubs back in the late 70s. I always thought it was
a STUPID idea, but my missus at the time (like most wimmin) love all that
nonsense, so we had to have it when visiting a country pub down south one
lunchtime. It would typically be served in a wicker basket with a
serviette (red usually for some reason) placed under it. About an hour
later, I sensed something wasn't right. Strange gurgling noises from my
stomach and then.... after a terrific dash to the lavs, I deposited the
entire contents of my colon into the first receptacle I could find (a
urinal, as all the stalls were engaged (I wonder why?)). Not in the
normal fashion, either. This was ***EXPLOSIVE*** dioarrhea - a fulminant
evacuation - and I'm not proud of the mess I left behind over the floor,
walls and ceiling, but to be honest, serving dodgy grub like that, they
deserved the consequences I reckon. I had to use my underpants to wipe my
arse, too. The missus, though, had no such problem for some reason.
Wimmin!

Food posioning typically takes 4-6 hours to show, and can take days in
some instances, so it's often the meal before the one you've just had
that caused it - or days before. It's often hard to pin-point it.

The chicken inna basket thing ought to be very safe - they're cooked
from frozen. The issues might be the cleanliness of the basket and the
paper liners they're using... (that's assuming the "chicken" bits were
properly cooked and frozen beforehand) I think these days they use plastic
"baskets" for those types of meals too.

Gordon

In article ,
News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

You would very probably have been fine.

The danger periods are when it's at room temperature.

You're essentially re-heating cook-chill food. (And after the initial
cook stage it should be chilled and into the fridge inside 2 hours -
not unreasonable for leftovers)

The Safer Food, Better Business guide (which I use in my commercial
kitchen) doesn't actually specify a temperature, as its designed
to be an easy to use guide - it just says

Check that reheated food is steaming hot all the way through.

If you want to use a probe, make sure it gets to 82°C for at least
30 seconds, or 70°C for 2 minutes.

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

The half hour at 200°C to cook the pastry crust would normally be more
than long enough, but kitchen probe thermometers are cheap enough - I'd
not be without mine (although I have a posh/expensive Thermapen one)
I often cook some of the veg. pastys I make directly from frozen an I
know that they get to about 90C after 30 minutes, so I imagine a pie
made with room temperature pastry and chilled meat should not be an issue.

The big scare some 2 years ago now when a pub xmas meal killed one person
and left ~50 ill happened because the pre-cooked meat was left out on
the counter for most of the day before being put into the chiller then
not properly re-heated when served. (It was used as an example on my
last food hygiene course)

Gordon
(with a local-authority inspected kitchen and holder of Level 2 food
hygiene certificates)

In article ,
Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

You would very probably have been fine.

The danger periods are when it's at room temperature.

You're essentially re-heating cook-chill food. (And after the initial
cook stage it should be chilled and into the fridge inside 2 hours -
not unreasonable for leftovers)

The Safer Food, Better Business guide (which I use in my commercial
kitchen) doesn't actually specify a temperature, as its designed
to be an easy to use guide - it just says

Check that reheated food is steaming hot all the way through.

If you want to use a probe, make sure it gets to 82°C for at least
30 seconds, or 70°C for 2 minutes.

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

The half hour at 200°C to cook the pastry crust would normally be more
than long enough, but kitchen probe thermometers are cheap enough - I'd
not be without mine (although I have a posh/expensive Thermapen one)
I often cook some of the veg. pastys I make directly from frozen an I
know that they get to about 90C after 30 minutes, so I imagine a pie
made with room temperature pastry and chilled meat should not be an issue.

The big scare some 2 years ago now when a pub xmas meal killed one person
and left ~50 ill happened because the pre-cooked meat was left out on
the counter for most of the day before being put into the chiller then
not properly re-heated when served. (It was used as an example on my
last food hygiene course)

Gordon
(with a local-authority inspected kitchen and holder of Level 2 food
hygiene certificates)

I got one of those Level 2 thingies last year. Goes well with my Personal
Alcohol Licence.

--
Please note new email address:

In message , Gordon Henderson
writes

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

Gordon, thanks for your advice, all noted.

The point of the post was that the chicken meal would indeed have been
reheated twice. Normally, as advised elsewhere, we divide and freeze
after initial cooking, ensuring each portion is therefore reheated once
only, whatever the meat.
--
Graeme

In article ,
News wrote:
In message , Gordon Henderson
writes

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

Gordon, thanks for your advice, all noted.

The point of the post was that the chicken meal would indeed have been
reheated twice. Normally, as advised elsewhere, we divide and freeze
after initial cooking, ensuring each portion is therefore reheated once
only, whatever the meat.

Cooked once and reheated once. This is fine. (unless I missed something in the
original post?)

Dividing and freezing is the best way too - as trying to freeze a huge
amount of food takes much more time, leaving the middle to slowly cool
down and stay in the danger-zone for much longer.

The safer food/better business thing is well worth a read, even if not running
anything remotely commercial - it's all online, free, paid for by ... us!

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-ind...b/sfbbcaterers

Gordon

On Wednesday, 4 November 2015 08:39:47 UTC, Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
In message , Gordon Henderson
writes

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

Gordon, thanks for your advice, all noted.

The point of the post was that the chicken meal would indeed have been
reheated twice. Normally, as advised elsewhere, we divide and freeze
after initial cooking, ensuring each portion is therefore reheated once
only, whatever the meat.

Cooked once and reheated once. This is fine. (unless I missed something in the
original post?)

Dividing and freezing is the best way too - as trying to freeze a huge
amount of food takes much more time, leaving the middle to slowly cool
down and stay in the danger-zone for much longer.

The safer food/better business thing is well worth a read, even if not running
anything remotely commercial - it's all online, free, paid for by ... us!

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-ind...b/sfbbcaterers

Gordon

I wonder how the halal chicken that's in kebab shops work, that's left warm for ours.

In article ,
whisky-dave wrote:
On Wednesday, 4 November 2015 08:39:47 UTC, Gordon Henderson wrote:

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-ind...b/sfbbcaterers

I wonder how the halal chicken that's in kebab shops work, that's left warm for ours.

Should be left hot, where hot is = 63°C. The SFBB guide doesn't say for how long
though, but realistically after a couple of hours it's going to be very dry...

Gordon

On 04/11/15 11:33, whisky-dave wrote:

I wonder how the halal chicken that's in kebab shops work, that's left warm for ours.


I really wonder how the elephants leg works at all (in any meat type).

You've got chopped up, or worse, minced meat, standing around all day
(literally), with the surface being cooked, the middle warm...

They are supposed to put it in the bain-maries for a certain time
afterwards, but sometimes it comes straight off the leg.

Yes I do eat them, from trusted shops with a hygiene rating =4 - but in
a foreign place I'll stick with a lamb kofte and watch them cook it.

"whisky-dave" wrote in message
...
On Wednesday, 4 November 2015 08:39:47 UTC, Gordon Henderson wrote:
In article ,
News wrote:
In message , Gordon Henderson
writes

And you're only supposed to re-heat once.

Gordon, thanks for your advice, all noted.

The point of the post was that the chicken meal would indeed have been
reheated twice. Normally, as advised elsewhere, we divide and freeze
after initial cooking, ensuring each portion is therefore reheated once
only, whatever the meat.

Cooked once and reheated once. This is fine. (unless I missed something
in the
original post?)

Dividing and freezing is the best way too - as trying to freeze a huge
amount of food takes much more time, leaving the middle to slowly cool
down and stay in the danger-zone for much longer.

The safer food/better business thing is well worth a read, even if not
running
anything remotely commercial - it's all online, free, paid for by ... us!

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-ind...b/sfbbcaterers

I wonder how the halal chicken that's in kebab shops work, that's left
warm for ours.

We have the same thing in supermarkets, machines that have hot chickens in
them.

Never had a problem with food poisoning after eating one.

In message , Gordon Henderson
writes

The safer food/better business thing is well worth a read, even if not running
anything remotely commercial - it's all online, free, paid for by ... us!

https://www.food.gov.uk/business-ind...b/sfbbcaterers

That really is interesting, thanks. I'm working my way through!
--
Graeme

On Tue, 03 Nov 2015 17:54:11 +0000, News wrote:

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

I'd eat it happily.

"News" wrote in message
...

Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I stripped
the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to cool then
put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories, but
is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a pie
dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes
at 200. Safe or suicidal?

Safe.

I once ate a chicken that was three years out of date.

We used to buy two fresh chickens for a fiver, eat one and freeze the other,
one got 'lost' at the bottom of a large chest freezer and the use by date
(from fresh) was three years past.
I thought I'd cook it and give it to the dog, but when it was cooked, it
looked like any other cooked chicken, so I ate it.

You can take frozen chicken, defrost it, cook it and freeze it again.
You can then defrost it, put it into a curry or casserole and heat it
thoroughly and if there's too much, freeze the rest.
The chicken in this will then have been frozen three times, so long as it's
properly cooked when it comes out, no problems.
I wouldn't try four times though.

On Tuesday, 3 November 2015 17:54:18 UTC, News wrote:
Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,

...

I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

There are two entirely different matters to consider.

1a) Is the result bacteriologically safe? The final cooking should destroy any that arrived during any previous warm period, if it is thorough throughout.
1b) Is the result chemically safe? Multiple hot periods and freeze-thaw cycles might possibly cause the production of harmful substances by chemical degradation.

2*) Is the result actually nice to eat? Flavour degradation might cause the meal to be dumped on its final cook's head.

--
(c) Dr. S. Lartius, UK. Gmail: dr.s.lartius@

wrote in message
...
On Tuesday, 3 November 2015 17:54:18 UTC, News wrote:
Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,

...

I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

There are two entirely different matters to consider.

Not really.

1a) Is the result bacteriologically safe? The final
cooking should destroy any that arrived during any
previous warm period, if it is thorough throughout.

As it would be with a pie.

1b) Is the result chemically safe? Multiple hot periods and
freeze-thaw cycles might possibly cause the production
of harmful substances by chemical degradation.

Not with that sort of food.

2*) Is the result actually nice to eat?

No reason why it shouldn't be if the pie is done properly.

Flavour degradation might cause the meal
to be dumped on its final cook's head.

Very unlikely with a pie.

Chris Hogg wrote:
On Tue, 3 Nov 2015 17:54:11 +0000,
wrote:


Well, we're doing the cooking ourselves ...

Wifey made coq au vin in the slow cooker, using chicken legs and thighs,
then cooled it, and froze. Subsequently defrosted and thoroughly
reheated. It was wonderful, but we only managed about half, so I
stripped the meat off the remaining bones, dumped the bones, allowed to
cool then put in the fridge with a view to reusing in pie form, with a
pastry crust.

Wifey was not keen, and has now dumped it, saying chicken should not be
reheated twice. I know there are all sorts of chicken scare stories,
but is Wifey correct? I would have put the remaining coq au vin in a
pie dish, covered with raw pastry then popped in the oven for 25 - 30
minutes at 200. Safe or suicidal?

Sounds perfectly OK to me. Perhaps finish it in a microwave. Just make
sure the juice/gravy is bubbling nicely.

Does she throw stuff out the moment it exceeds its sell-by date?


Our daughter in law reckons it's not past it unless the green
stuff growing on it is more than 10mm, even then she'll sample it to be
sure!

In message , Chris Hogg
writes

Does she throw stuff out the moment it exceeds its sell-by date?

She is famous for never, ever throwing out anything :-) It falls to me
to have occasional fridge raids, usually finding half a tin of beans
carefully transferred to a ramakin, covered in cling film, pushed to the
back of the fridge and forgotten until hairy.

We are fairly liberal with sell/use by dates, trusting common sense
whereas our indoctrinated schoolboy son is paranoid.
--
Graeme