Reheating question

[tomt818]

Hello there my first post.


I usually batch cook some form of curry (beef/chicken) and freeze portions for the next few days/rest of the week.


I've always just nuked the leftovers in the microwave straight from the freezer stiring half way through and never had a problem from it.

Today I was told I should defrost the curry in the fridge before reheating.



Now this may sound a stupid question, but what difference does it make defrosting first and then reheating?



If reheating from frozen is bad, why do supermarkets sell frozen ready meals which are instructed to cook from frozen?

 

[CharlieD]

I'd say try to do it both ways and se which one you like better. My wife for example, refuses to warm up anything in microwave. Always use the stove.

 

[tomt818]

Thankyou for your reply. I was always assuming it was from a food safety perspective as to taste but that could make sense

 

[GotGarlic]

Hi and welcome to Discuss Cooking [emoji2]

Manufacturers of commercial frozen foods have equipment and processes that are not available to home cooks. This usually means that the texture will be better using their directions. Home frozen foods generally heat more evenly when they're defrosted before reheating. But if you like what you're doing, it's fine. It's not a matter of food safety.

 

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum, Tomt!

As others have said, you'll have to experiment, and see if you like the way you are doing it. I freeze a lot of things, and something that I do to thaw them is to put the plastic container of a soup, curry, stew, and that type of thing, into the MW for 7 or 8 minutes on very low - 1 or 2. This just loosens the stuff from the container. Then I turn it into a ceramic or other non-plastic container, and start thawing it at a higher temp, but still not much higher - I'd rather do it slower, and longer, as super hot spots are less likely to develop. I'm never in that much of a hurry to eat (well, maybe not), and slower is better, for reheating. As for vegetables, some things you may find that you like or don't like, as far as flavor, texture, etc., when freezing leftovers. As much as I love Thai curries, I don't like them frozen (some flavors seem to change), though I always have frozen curry paste, which I thaw in the MW just enough to get some paste out, then re-freeze the jar. Indian curries freeze well, as a rule, but I always add cilantro to the bowls as I eat them, as the flavor is gone, after freezing. As for vegetables, some don't freeze real well, but you'll just have to find out what you do and don't like!

The food safety problem somebody may be worried about, as far as reheating plastic containers of food, is the plastic melting, and leaching chemicals, when the fat gets very hot , and you'll often see the plastic on the inside of the containers is no longer smooth. This can be especially dangerous with old plastic containers, but even with the newer ones, it's safer to get it out of the container it was frozen in, and completing the thawing and reheating in a non plastic container. Some plastics are labeled "Microwave Safe", but those are more for cooking in.