Last night, Jen and I had a shop-bought chicken and mushroom pie for dinner. There's still some left, which I was planning on having for lunch today.

It says on the packaging "Do not heat more than once". Why? If I reheat the pie, will I inadvertently open the Gates of Hell and summon fire and brimstone upon me?

Is it just that it'll get a bit dry? I can live with that.

Was the pie hot when you got it?

No. It came from the fridge. We heated it last night. It's cooled down now.

It says on the packaging "Do not heat more than once". Why?

Usually this stuff is to do with limits on the amount of time your pie is willing to spend at temperatures conducive to bacteria growth (i.e. above room temperature but below boiling point).

If you're hungry, just eat the pie. If the worst comes to the worst you'll just get food poisoning, so either way you won't be hungry any more.

Peter

Greetings!

If it is in that special microwave packaging, the kind that is used to get really hot and brown the crust of the pie, then that is what they are referring to.

They don't want people to save that stuff and reuse it - I think it is only good for a limited number of uses.

amount of time your pie is willing to spend at temperatures conducive to bacteria growth

Yeah, but that'd be during the cooling-down stage, no?

There's nothing on the pie about having to eat it all in one sitting either -- it doesn't say "unsafe to eat once it's cooled down".

Bah. I'm hungry. Wish me luck

If I reheat the pie, will I inadvertently open the Gates of Hell and summon fire and brimstone upon me?

Though shall not reheat thy pie or thou will bring down the fury of hell upon thyself. Thou must eat thy pie cold and find salvation therein.

1st Hesitations 2:14

Thou must eat thy pie cold and find salvation therein.

Frankly, I was hoping for chicken and mushroom. Salvation's not very filling.

It's a great thirst quencher though...

John 4:13-14

"Reheating food

Not all harmful bacteria are killed by cooking. After cooking, these remaining bacteria can grow rapidly both when the food is cooling and when it is being re-heated. Further, the food may be re-contaminated after cooking. Therefore, food should reach at least 74º C (165º F) when you re-heat it. Again, make sure this temperature is reached by using a meat thermometer.

Do not reheat your leftovers more than once!"

Its because as soon as food cools, food poisoning-causing bacteria - such as salmonella - begin to breed. These bacterium produce toxins - the ones that make you very ill. When you reheat food, you kill the bacteria, but not the toxins. Even at greater than 80 degrees celcius, the toxins will be present.

This is worth posting again

This is worth posting again

When I saw the subject line of this thread, that was the first thing I thought of.

"Wanker."

OK. So why is there nothing on the pie about not eating it once it's cooled down the first time?

Anyway, I ate the pie, and I'm not dead yet.

Sounds like the slow temperature changing accelerates bacteria growth? So I guess it just exacerbates the problem. We'll see, though -- you're officially our canary in the mine on the food reheating topic. Be sure to notify us when the violent diarrhea begins

ms

I'm not dead

//me hears a chime and a voice yelling "bring out your dead!"

Yes you are!

Anyway, I ate the pie, and I'm not dead yet.

Before you do, let us know whether you reheated it or ate it cold so we know which to try next time.

Alright, now we know what we're up against. Every
passenger on this flight who had pie for dinner will
become violently ill in the next half hour ( Roger
notices he had pie and begins to come down with the
symptoms as they are described )

Just how serious is it Doctor?

Extremely serious. It starts with a slight fever and
dryness of the throat. When the virus penetrates the
red blood cells, the victim becomes dizzy begins to
experience an itchy rash, then the poison goes to work
on the central nervous system, severe muscle spasms
followed by the inevitable grueling. At this point,
the entire digestive system collapses accompanied by
uncontrollable flatulence ( Roger begins to fart )
Until finally, the poor bastard is reduced to a
quivering wasted piece of jelly.

It'll be just as toxic if you reheat it or not. My guess is that they expect it to be eaten hot.

And don't call me Shirley.

Oh, that's too perfect!

Could roger be becoming familiar with the concept of Japanese flag ?

Actually, a bunch of bacteria and especially mould reacts to "heat stress" by releasing toxins. If you allow them to multiply by the first cooldown (or meltup in case of frozen stuff), they then produce much more toxins on the second heatup/freeze. Thus the common warning against a second heatup or freeze.

Hmm haven't seen any more posts from him lately

it would take a Scot to remind me of the concept of the japanese flag

Hmm haven't seen any more posts from him lately

I'm still here -- the pie didn't get me, and the Gates of Hell didn't open. I was up in Cambridge, visiting the guys.

no japanese flag then