Food safety.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 13:00:46 +0100, MEow <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that true?
Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

Microbes grow quickly in room temperature or hot afternoon temperature. There are many, many
recommendations about how long various foods are "safe" at room temperature. If you thaw meat and
then refreeze, you've used up some of its 'safe' time. Thawing and freezing also affects taste and
quality. Meats, fish, preparations with eggs and dairy (and meats) are some of the foods that should
be kept either hot or cold, but not in-between for long. A Google on "food safety" will give you
more information than you can digest.

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Say, what? You're making this up, right?

Frogleg said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Say, what? You're making this up, right?

It is obvious you've never tasted reheated spinach or you'd understand immediately. Bleah.

--Lia

While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking, Frogleg of EarthLink Inc.

-- url='http://www.earthlink.net/'http://www.EarthLink.net/url said:

Quoted message said:

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

Microbes grow quickly in room temperature or hot afternoon temperature. There are many, many
recommendations about how long various foods are "safe" at room temperature. If you thaw meat and
then refreeze, you've used up some of its 'safe' time.

Ah. *That* explains it. Thank you.

Quoted message said:

Thawing and freezing also affects taste and quality. Meats, fish, preparations with eggs and dairy
(and meats) are some of the foods that should be kept either hot or cold, but not in-between for
long. A Google on "food safety" will give you more information than you can digest.

Okay.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Say, what? You're making this up, right?

No. I've been told that it causes the spinach to produce some sort of toxin or something. I don't
recall the details, but I've always wondered about it. I'll take your reaction to mean that it's
just an old wive's tale, then.
--
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18 ICQ# 251532856 Unreferenced footnotes: nut.house.cxcgiOpen ↗
bin/nemwiki.pl?ISFN "There's nothin like swimmin with bow legged wimmin!" Dave W (a.a.)

"MEow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:

I've been wondering about different things I've been told about food safety, and figured that
someone in here is bound to know, and be able to give me a proper answer.

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

The problems with re-freezing is the breakdown of the cellular structure of the food. It also
degrades the flavor. There is the possibility if you thaw the food at room temperature, instead of
in the refrigerator, that bacteria may proliferate and that the bacteria will proliferate further
when the food is thawed again rendering the food unsafe to consume regardless of how thorough the
cooking process. Freezing will not kill the bacteria.

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

If it is cooked in stainless or glass and as long as the remainder is refrigerated COVERED in the
same vessel soon after serving it is it is usually quite good if re-heated within three days. If it
was cooked in aluminum or cast iron toss the remainder.

HTH Buddy

In article <s%qVb.119263$U%5.597506@attbi_s03>,

Julia Altshuler said:

Frogleg said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Say, what? You're making this up, right?

It is obvious you've never tasted reheated spinach or you'd understand immediately. Bleah.

--Lia

Hmmmmmm I use baby spinach in stir fry and it re-heats just fine when refrigerated, but I sure won't
freeze it.

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

Quoted message said:

,,<Cat's Haven Hobby Farm>,,<[email hidden]>,,<

cgi6.ebay.comeBayISAPI.dllOpen ↗

Julia Altshuler <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:s%qVb.119263$U%5.597506@attbi_s03:

Quoted message said:

Frogleg said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Say, what? You're making this up, right?

It is obvious you've never tasted reheated spinach or you'd understand immediately. Bleah.

--Lia

So that explains canned spinach.

--
Once during Prohibition I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water.
--------
FIELDS, W. C.

MEow said:

I've been wondering about different things I've been told about food safety, and figured that
someone in here is bound to know, and be able to give me a proper answer.

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

You don't want do refreeze it because of quality concerns. When you freeze something, all of the
moisture in it crystallizes. When it thaws, moisture in the air will condense on it and add new
moisture. If you then refreeze it, that additional moisture will seed even more crystals.

This is bad because crystals, by their shape, have sharp edges which will damage whatever is
surrounding them. In meats it will puncture the cell walls of the meat and make for a less-than-
fresh flavor that will just get worse with refreezing.

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

Never heard that one...

--
Darryl L. Pierce <[email hidden]> Visit the Infobahn Offramp - <http://mypage.org/mcpierce>
"What do you care what other people think, Mr. Feynman?"

While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking, Bud Holly of SBC

url='http://yahoo.sbc.com/'http://yahoo.sbc.com/url said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

If it is cooked in stainless or glass and as long as the remainder is refrigerated COVERED in the
same vessel soon after serving it is it is usually quite good if re-heated within three days. If it
was cooked in aluminum or cast iron toss the remainder.

Is that for taste-reasons, or for safety-reasons?
--
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18 ICQ# 251532856 Unreferenced footnotes: nut.house.cxcgiOpen ↗
bin/nemwiki.pl?ISFN "There is scarcely a business or industry left that could understand the concept
of shame even if they looked it up in a dictionary." Eric Walker (AUE)

MEow said:

I've been wondering about different things I've been told about food safety, and figured that
someone in here is bound to know, and be able to give me a proper answer.

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

As long as the packaging is good and the food remained cold (refrigerated), I've re-frozen meats
without any harm. Think of the case where you've thawed out some chicken or chops and then gotten a
call and wound up going out to dinner instead. Granted, if you've a mind you could just keep them in
the fridge to cook the next day. But what if you already had plans for the next day? Then, refreeze
the meat. The texture might suffer a bit, particularly if you're talking about fish.

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

Never heard that one before. What would be the logic behind the old wives tale, I wonder?

Jill

While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

Never heard that one before. What would be the logic behind the old wives tale, I wonder?

I don't know, but then I won't worry about that anymore. Thanks to all who have responded with
explanations.
--
Nikitta a.a. #1759 Apatriot(No, not apricot)#18 ICQ# 251532856 Unreferenced footnotes: nut.house.cxcgiOpen ↗
bin/nemwiki.pl?ISFN "The market isn't reality, it is a social construction." Dark Angel (a.a.)

"MEow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without
any noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old
wive's tale?

If it is cooked in stainless or glass and as long as the remainder is refrigerated COVERED in the
same vessel soon after serving it is it is usually quite good if re-heated within three days. If
it was cooked in aluminum or cast iron toss the remainder.

Is that for taste-reasons, or for safety-reasons?

Taste. The iron in the spinach starts to break down and although it is still safe to eat, it
tastes awful.

MEow said:

While frolicking around in rec.food.cooking said:

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Never heard that one before. What would be the logic behind the old wives tale, I wonder?

I don't know, but then I won't worry about that anymore. Thanks to all who have responded with
explanations.

I can tell you this, I'm a spinach fanatic. I can't imagine not being able to reheat a spinach-
feta quiche. In fact I often take leftover spinach (quiche or even just steamed) to work with me
for lunch.

Jill

Quoted message said:

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

I think that is more a quality issue, than safety one. The thawing changes the texture or substance
of the product and refreezing it won't yield the best results on subsequent thawing. Goomba

MEow said:

I've been wondering about different things I've been told about food safety, and figured that
someone in here is bound to know, and be able to give me a proper answer.

Quoted message said:

1) I've been told that once you've defrosted frozen food, you shouldn't re-freeze it. Is that
true? Why? Does it go for all kinds of food, or just some?

It's not about safety, it's about mouthfeel and flavor. Freezing and thawing almost all meats and
veggies will result in cell wall destruction. The protoplasm leaks out of the damaged ones.
Refreezing damages still more cells and reduces still more the juices and, therefore, flavors.
Texture is damaged because empty cells are tough and tasteless.

Quoted message said:

2) I've been told that you should never re-heat spinach, but I've done so a few times without any
noticeable harm being caused by it. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wive's
tale?

No good reason and not true.

Bob P