reheat chili con carne how many times?

[bippa]

I cooked chili con carne this afternoon, took it off the heat, let it cool, then heated it up 1 hour later to serve, so essentially this is a re-heat, Isuppose. The thing is, is it safe for me to refrigerate the rest to re-heat another time or not?
Thanks in advance

[O'Reilly]

I've done the same and also with curry. If I cook too much which I often do then I put what I don't need into a sandwich bag, let it cool and freeze it. I don't think your first original cook would have got stone cold so reheating it was fine. If you split the portions now and freeze them you should be ok ONLY to reheat and eat and not reheat and save any remainder. Might be better in future to cook and take it off the heat, split the portion that you won't need ready for freezing and heat up what you need for a meal. You'll get away with it but you want to dethaw chilli con carne and not (as per your bowels) chilli con carnage.

[bippa]

thanks o'reilly

[whiffey]

I always apply what is I hope commonsense to food. Let's say I buy an Indian takeaway. I assume it is free of bugs when it arrives, so without opening it, I let it cool down, then freeze it, in original containers. The next night I take it out and thaw it, but decide against eating it, so I re-freeze it. It sounds terrible, but why, how could covered food become infected with food poisoning bugs.

I think you could reheat a number of times provided it is covered and each time it is brought to piping heat. Having said that, if you have the slighteet worries, bin it.

[funnygirl]

Blimey Whiffey, you are taking a chance!
I would never do that. It does not matter if the food is uncovered or covered. It is whats inside. Have you ever been ill????
Anyway I like my food really hot. Lukewarm and cold does not do it for me.

[chinois]

Just to another level to the mix, the meat you get in an india takeaway has already been reheated before it gets to you. They precook their meat in the day time so that the dishes can be prepared easily. This is standard catering practice and happens with a lot of food including in the best restaurants.
I do the same whiffey and if it's never make me ill there's no point changing is there? Some people's immune systems are significantly weaker (vegetarians for example) so they'd have to do do things differently.

[canasta]

The only safe way on this subject is to cool cooked food such as chilli con carne or spag bolog QUICKLY, say put the covered pan in some cold water in the sink to cool taking care the water doesn't enter the pan. When cool divide into portions to freeze or reheat. Place in fridge until cold. Freeze quickly once cold. Don't keep in fridge longer than a couple of days.
When you want to use a portion it must only be reheated once, make sure that it reaches boiling point and maintain that temperature for about 3 minutes on a slow simmer until piping hot. Eat straight away or maintain simmer until ready to serve. To be safe throw away any remainders however tempting it may be to store and reheat. I make a lot of homemade dishes and have used this method for the past 40 years & never had any problems with this method.....School Domestic Science and I believe Basic Food Hygiene course advice.