Can you reheat cooked chicken? – The Sun | The Sun

CHICKEN is one of the most popular meat products in the world.

However, due to the dangers of bacteria that builds on them, many people may wonder if it is safe to reheat cooked chicken after first use.

Can you reheat cooked chicken?

In short, yes, you can, which is great news for those who hate waste.

When you're re-heating any type of poultry you need to be careful that you don't undercook it.

However, if you overcook it, the chicken could also dry out and become inedible.

There is a fine line but checking your food throughout the reheating process should make sure your leftovers are cooked to perfection.

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Also, you should be aware of how long it's been standing in the fridge for.. anything longer than three days and you should toss it out!

How many times can you reheat chicken?

Lydia Buchtmann from the Food Safety Information Council told SBS.com that you can actually re-heat chicken as much as you want.

The important thing is that it should be piping hot all the way through.

Chicken should reach at least 70 degrees celsius and the only accurate way to measure this is with a cooking thermometer.

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Get yourself one and you'll be golden!

How to reheat cooked chicken?

Depending on the tools available to you and how you cooked the chicken in the first place, you can reheat your meal a number of ways.

Oven

A crucial step to keeping your chicken delicious is to pre-heat your oven before cooking.

Blot the chicken you want to eat before adding some oil to crisp up the skin.

Food should be heated until it maintains the 70C or above temperature for two minutes.

Make sure it is piping hot all the way through before serving.

Microwave

Microwaves do not always heat food evenly throughout so this requires a bit more attention than the oven.

Take your food out halfway through cooking time and give it a stir to ensure your food is evenly heated.

Cook on full power for at least three minutes, and then let the dish sit for two minutes before serving.

The best way to make sure your food's ready to eat is through cutting up the chicken into smaller parts.

This ensures that the meat is properly heated all the way through and prevents the centre from being cold, which can happen if it's a big chunk of chicken.

Hob

Add oil or butter to the hot pan before adding the chicken, and then cover if you want to maintain moisture.

Heat for around five minutes, flipping halfway to ensure the meat is thoroughly heated through.

If the meat has been separated to smaller pieces, make sure they aren't overlapping or touching each other.

Also, adding a few drops of water or chicken stock can ensure that it doesn't dry out.

Can you reheat defrosted chicken?

If the chicken was raw when frozen, and you fully defrosted and cooked it you can freeze the leftovers after cooking.

For good food safety, do not thaw raw chicken, or any meat and then refreeze without cooking it.

Best case you only have to worry about the quality being affected or freezer burn but in the worst case there could be bacteria that will make you sick.

The Food Standards Agency says, "reheating means cooking again, not just warming up. Always reheat food until it is steaming hot all the way through (you should only do this once)."

You can safely store and reheat your leftovers, while avoiding food poisoning, just make sure everything is cooked before storing.

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