Food safety question about reheating leftovers...

A

andreaindc

Well-known member
I have a vague rule in the back of my head that I haven't been able to verify about how many times leftovers can be reheated.

I made a ragu on Sunday for my parents to have while I was out. My mom reheated the whole batch but only used half. She stuck the rest in the fridge. To use it again would be the second reheat - in addition to the original cooking - for the ground beef. I have a sketchy recollection of a rule about not reheating this again. Should get rid of it rather than reheat?

Thanks.

Andrea

 
I think it's more a quality issue than a safety issue. As long as the stew was cooled down quickly

enough, (within four hours), it should be safe to reheat. It just may lose something in flavor.

 
And, everytime you re-heat to 165º, you restart the food safety clock; that is, you have . . .

another 4 hours to go in the "danger zone".

 
Thanks you guys! One more question...

I think I read somewhere that if you defrost meat in your refrigerator (not on the counter!) you can re-freeze it if you don't cook it. This is another thing I have always wondered about - is that really true?

 
If the meat doesn't completely thaw--has some ice crystals

within it--it is probably OK. And truth be told, I have done it a number of times.

 
Yes, that is my "rule" for myself too- if it has some ice crystals in it, refreeze it.

I just did this yesterday when I cut an almost-thawed turkey in half. I thawed one half and re-froze the other half. Have done it many times.

 
Cathy, when I buy a turkey breast on sale I often have them cut it in

half at the store while frozen. Be sure to have them re-package it cut sides down (so it doesn't re-freeze together). Then I can have the amount I need. Just an idea.

 
Moi aussi. And I'm still alive. I would certainly not do this with a meat that I would eat 'raw'

later though.

 
Meat cutters on this island will not cut raw turkeys in half. The Health Dept won't let them

myself. Believe me, if I could have it done I would. It is not fun to thaw then cut a turkey in half.

 
Probably wont do it due to the cross-contamination issues between poultry and other meats. . .

You might make a suggestion that they get a poultry-only dedicated band saw for cutting poultry. Or tell them you won't be purchasing birds from them due to the fact that won't/can't cut them in half.

Try calling the health department first to see if the poultry-only saw would satisfy the health department. Or buy fresh birds and have them cut in half by hand by the meat cutters in the store?

 
Great ideas, Mistral but on this tiny island it doesn't work that way

First, there are no fresh turkeys here. Period. Sometimes around Thanksgiving, one of the health food stores takes orders for fresh turkeys and they fly them in- at $6/lb. I can buy frozen turkeys on sale for $1.99/lb. around holiday time so I buy a few and they last until the next holiday season rolls around. Frozen turkeys are not available all year around as a rule.

If I tell these folks I won't buy from them or suggest they get a poultry saw I'm afraid it would cause a good round of laughter. There are no real butchers on this island- most of our meat comes in from Honolulu or from California- already cut. You never see split chickens or turkeys at all- never.

So- I cut my own. Not what I call "fun" but I know how to do it and once it is done I am happy. Life on an island!

 
I have found more and more butchers in grocery stores will not cut beef special either. example>>

I like to make fleisch rouladen(beef roll-ups) from thinly sliced rump roast, and I used to buy a nice big roast and have the butcher at the grocery store slice it, but they won't do that anymore, and my sister in Colorado said the same thing. I know the dish can be made from thinly sliced minute steaks, but I really like the roast. I haven't tried the local butcher, and I will next time I have a hankering for the dish, but the chain stores really don't want to do that anymore, at least that's what I have discovered.

 
well, you know that you could pick up a band-saw and do it yourself. . .

and then you wouldn't need to worry about cross-contamination unless someone else in your household wanted to cut meat. Or do you know someone who has a band saw that might be willing to split some for you? You could buy the blade for this.

I'm a thinking that a saws-all and a big-a$$ clamp could do the trick too. . .

smileys/wink.gif

A last suggestion: buy the whole turkey, thaw the whole turkey, cook the whole turkey and freeze the cooked meat, sliced and chopped anyway you wish. It looks like this might be the best way to go here.

 
I dressed an entire deer one time using a hack saw on on old ironing board.

I used the LLBean Game Cookbook as a guide.
I also get a whole country ham at holiday time. DH cut the hock off for me this year using an electric chain saw.

 
Oh, Jeeze! A chainsaw--the cut just wastes soooo much meat! . . .

the cut it makes is just toooo wide! May be you could try a good tree-bush pruning saw? I recommend a Corona pruning saw--razor sharp and cuts on both push and pull! smileys/wink.gif

And you would build good upper body strength too!

 
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