Food safety Q: multiple reheating?

[jjdbike]

Made a rookie mistake that made me look inconsiderate to my wife. She wanted white bean chicken chili. I made it too spicy for her. I know I can’t in spice it. What I can and plan to do is dilute the spice with more volume of ingredients.
I’m planning on adding more grilled chicken, beans, Rotel, etc..
I believe to marry / blend the flavors it’s best to heat it up. Should I worry about reheating it? I’ll cool it down, portion it out and freeze it. My concern is, when served, it will have been heated three times.
Is that safe? Or, should I just add the chicken ingredients, stir, & freeze?
Thanks in advance!
JD

[Donw]

You shouldn’t have any problems as long as you reheat to safe temperature levels, throughly heat your new ingredients to the same safe levels, and then properly cool and freeze. You might see a slight reduction in quality because of the 2 reheats but it won’t be noticeable to most with your new additions.

[SheilaAnn]

👆🏼 this

and may I also add to be sure and cool down properly as well. Get out of that danger zone as quick as possible. Regarding quality, yeah, the beans will probably get mushy and the first round of chicken will break down more.

[jjdbike]

You shouldn’t have any problems as long as you reheat to safe temperature levels, throughly heat your new ingredients to the same safe levels, and then properly cool and freeze. You might see a slight reduction in quality because of the 2 reheats but it won’t be noticeable to most with your new additions.

Thanks Donw,

It’s currently in a cast iron Dutch oven. That takes a white to heat up and to cool down. That would allow more time in the danger zone. I’m going to transfer in a large aluminum stock pot. I also learned a trick from Alton brown. Place frozen water bottles in the pot to help cool it faster.
Thanks again!
JD

[SheilaAnn]

I keep sanitized water bottles in the freezer! And don’t forget an ice bath.

[Santamarina]

When I want to quickly cool down something like this I’ll spread it thin in a deep cookie sheet and toss in the freezer until it gets under 40°F, then transfer to my intended storage vessel

[jjdbike]

Thanks SheilaAnn
How does one sanitize a water bottle?

[SheilaAnn]

jjdbike if I’m at work, I use quaternary sanitizer because I have it. At home a spritz of Clorox and then I wrap in plastic wrap. Stick it in the freezer. Before using, I unwrap and give a little rinse with hot water again.

[Carolyn]

The clorox website has instructions on how to sanitize. It is not only saturation, but time.
The recipe is on their website for proper dilution.

https://www.clorox.com/products/clorox-disinfecting-bleach/

[bbqLuv]

Here is my -2 cents worth. there are some nasties that produce toxic byproduct, i.e. 'Poop", that is not killed by heat.

As a general rule of thumb, do not reheat more than once and don't keep leftovers more than a few days

[jjdbike]

I just washed them really well in hot soapy water.
JD

[acorgihouse]

Reheating once, in a reasonable period of time from first cook, should be fine. Reheating over and over (like me taking lunch to work, heating it, then not getting time to eat and put back in fridge for tomorrow) when it is in "danger zone" repeatedly, isn't great idea. Cooling/storing once, then one reheat, should not be an issue.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

Don't forget the roses...

[58limited]

I'd make a completely separate batch then blend them, that way you won't overcook the beans and chicken in the original batch. This is generally what I do when I make a mistake in a recipe, leaving out or reducing the seasoning I messed up (hot spice in your case).

[Oak Smoke]

Brilliant

[Jerod Broussard]

I’ll cool it down, portion it out and freeze it.

Portion it out first into smaller containers, then place those bad boys into the freezer (plenty air space) once they get down to about 135-F.

[Carolyn]

If it is too spicy, I wouldn't add more Rotel to the mix.

[J-Melt]

You have a total of 4 hours in the danger zone before it’s considered unsafe. Keep in mind how long any ingredients that need temperature control took to cook originally and was in the danger zone between each reheat and cooling.