Heating frozen meals question.

[Dave7]

How would you define the difference?


The microwave has a defrost setting on it, the food goes from frozen to thawed to cooked, what difference does it make if you pause in the middle?

If you're worried you could get one of these. I bought one recently just because it helps me avoid allowing food to boil, which completely kills the flavour of a curry.

A. I wouldn't "define a difference". It's just what I was told and for many years took as gospel.....hence my question.
B. Using the microwave defrost doesn't answer my question (which I think has now been answered).

 

[Dave7]

have you tried putting the microwave in the air fryer @Dave7 ??

Don't be silly, of course I have.
Bl**dy thing won't fit.

 

[presta]

Stomach acid?

Marshall & Warren won the Nobel prize for proving that stomach ulcers are caused by helicobacter pylori, prior to that they'd been incurable because the conventional wisdom had it that they can't be caused by bacteria, because bacteria were assumed to be unable to survive stomach acid. If stomach acid killed bacteria, why would there be any danger in eating contaminated food in the first place?

 

[GuyBoden]

Marshall & Warren won the Nobel prize for proving that stomach ulcers are caused by helicobacter pylori, prior to that they'd been incurable because the conventional wisdom had it that they can't be caused by bacteria, because bacteria were assumed to be unable to survive stomach acid. If stomach acid killed bacteria, why would there be any danger in eating contaminated food in the first place?

'H Pylori is a spiral shaped bacteria known as a spirochete. Its corkscrew shape means that it can burrow into the stomach lining, so it can be hard to detect and hard to treat.'

Nice.

 

[Alex321]

Marshall & Warren won the Nobel prize for proving that stomach ulcers are caused by helicobacter pylori, prior to that they'd been incurable because the conventional wisdom had it that they can't be caused by bacteria, because bacteria were assumed to be unable to survive stomach acid. If stomach acid killed bacteria, why would there be any danger in eating contaminated food in the first place?

Poisons created by the bacteria that turn the food "bad"?

 

[presta]

I don’t think I’ve ever used the defrost button on the microwave, I always nuke on full blast until piping hot.

As Brumjim says, that's fine with liquids you can stir, but with solids, and particularly large solids, the risk is that you end up with the outside hot and the inside still cold. The only cure for that is sufficient cooking time for the heat to penetrate to the middle of the food, and the colder it is to start with (eg: frozen), then then longer that will take. Additionally, the latent heat of fusion is huge, if you raise the temperature from -18 to +60, half of all the energy is used in melting the ice.

 

[presta]

Poisons created by the bacteria that turn the food "bad"?

Yes, I knew that's the case with stuff like botulism, but is it so for all bacteria?

 

[si_c]

The issue with frozen food in the microwave is that it might not properly reheat the center of the food if it's particularly thick and/or wide. With frozen microwave meals they account for this in the shape and design of the packaging.

If you ensure that the food is properly cooked before you eat it then you'll have no problems cooking home made food from frozen. Handy tips include stirring the food halfway through to ensure there is nothing in the middle that's still cold. If unsure then dump it into a saucepan and heat it on the hob, it'll take longer though.

 

[figbat]

Also, putting your item at the edge of the turntable rather than in the centre will help, which will require the occasional intervention to swap the meal around a bit.

 

[presta]

Also, putting your item at the edge of the turntable rather than in the centre will help, which will require the occasional intervention to swap the meal around a bit.

Even with a turntable and other movement, if the food is a solid that can't be stirred it takes time for the heat to get conducted into the centre because the microwave is only heating the outer layer.

 

[figbat]

Even with a turntable and other movement, if the food is a solid that can't be stirred it takes time for the heat to get conducted into the centre because the microwave is only heating the outer layer.

Yes. It’s why the defrost setting cycles power on and off, so it heats the outside then gives it a chance to conduct inwards before heating again. Otherwise it would boil the outside whilst the inside is still cold. It’s also why microwave heating instructions usually include the requirement to leave for a minute or two after heating and stir (if possible).

 

[gbb]

A standard supermarket frozen meal will just cook from frozen, I tend to pause half way, stir it and restart sos not to overcook one part, undercooked the other. They're not very big portions so it's not a problem IME.

Larger home made portions I will perhaps part defrost because the centre is always undercooked using normal methods. That or more regular stirring to mix up the areas being cooked more evenly.

 

[lazybloke]

Because it's so difficult to get something out to defrost in advance.

 

[Alex321]

Because it's so difficult to get something out to defrost in advance.

Well sometimes it is.

But why bother anyhow, when there is no significant benefit to doing so.

 

[lazybloke]

Well sometimes it is.

But why bother anyhow, when there is no significant benefit to doing so.

But there is a benefit to gentle defrosting at room temperature: your food will then spend far less time reheating in the microwave, so is less likely to suffer hotspots.
Those hot spots cause dryness and changes to flavour and texture.

Ie, the convenience of a microwave comes at the expense of lowering food quality.