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6 Foods You Shouldn’t Reheat in the Microwave

Reheat yesterday’s food in the microwave? This is a good idea to avoid wasting food, but reheating some foods is not recommended.

Leftover food often tastes just as good the second day. However, you should be careful with some foods: reheating them risks an upset stomach or worse – especially if you’re just reheating them in the microwave. With proper storage, however, the risk can be reduced. You should be particularly careful with these foods:

Spinach

Spinach should not be reheated a second time – that’s an old kitchen rule, which is still partially valid today. The problem with spinach: the plant naturally contains a lot of nitrate. At room temperature, the nitrate can turn into toxic nitrite.

In conjunction with certain protein breakdown products, nitrite can form carcinogenic nitrosamines. High nitrite levels can also lead to nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. You should therefore no longer eat stale spinach or spinach that has been stored (cooked) for a long time.

You should only heat up spinach a second time if you have previously cooled the leftovers as quickly as possible – the cold curbs the formation of nitrites.
Even if you refrigerate the food, you should not wait longer than a maximum of two days. Because nitrite is also formed in the refrigerator, albeit more slowly.
Heat the spinach in the pot to over 70 degrees Celsius for at least two minutes. In the microwave, food often does not heat up evenly.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are similar to spinach: If you store cooked mushrooms at room temperature for a long time, reheating can become critical. With their high water and protein content, mushrooms are the ideal breeding ground for microorganisms – dangerous toxins can form during storage, which can lead to nausea and vomiting diarrhea.

However, if you follow a few rules, you can still reheat mushrooms:

Cool mushroom dishes quickly after preparation.
Store the mushrooms in the fridge for no more than a day.
When warming up, you should heat the mushroom dish well to at least 70 degrees.
Never reheat mushroom dishes afterwards!

Chicken

If you heat cold chicken a second time, the protein structures in the meat change. As a result, the stomach can no longer split the proteins properly – this can lead to digestive problems, nausea and diarrhea.

Another risk is salmonella. The bacteria can still be present even after preparation. If the cooked chicken is stored, the salmonella will multiply. If you only reheat the poultry in the microwave, the salmonella can remain on the meat – and in the worst case you risk salmonella poisoning.

As a rule, it is better not to reheat the chicken, but to eat it immediately after cooking. If something is left over, you don’t have to throw it away. There are just a few precautions you should take when warming up:

Do not reheat in the microwave
Heat the poultry completely and evenly for several minutes. The meat should also be hot in the middle, not just lukewarm.
When it comes to poultry, make sure you only buy organic meat. And when it comes to meat consumption, less is definitely more!

Egg

Whether scrambled, fried or boiled eggs – warming up is risky. Similar to chicken, protein structures can change, which can cause stomach upset. If the egg was stored at room temperature, salmonella can also multiply here. You should therefore always eat eggs freshly prepared. All dishes that contain egg should be heated to at least 70 degrees when reheated.

Potatoes and rice

There is also a certain risk with rice and potatoes: If you put boiled potatoes or rice in the fridge a few hours after preparation, spores or bacteria can form. Above all, if the food is only heated for a short time or at too low a temperature, the bacteria are not killed – in the worst case the result is food poisoning. That’s why:

Cool boiled potatoes and rice immediately after preparation and place in the refrigerator.
To be on the safe side, warm it up in a saucepan rather than in the microwave.
Heat the food completely and evenly for several minutes (at least 70 degrees).

Conclusion: The saucepan is safer than the microwave

All of the foods mentioned carry some risk when reheated. If spinach, mushrooms, etc. have been stored unrefrigerated for several hours, you should not reheat them at all.

To be on the safe side, you should not heat up the six foods in the microwave, even if they are sufficiently cooled, but in a saucepan. Because even in the refrigerator, bacteria can multiply or form nitrates. Thorough boiling or heating can kill bacteria. However, this is not the case with heating in the microwave, because the food is not heated sufficiently or for a sufficiently long time.

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Lifestyle

These Materials and Foods Should Never Be Placed in a Microwave Oven

If something needs to be heated up, the microwave often comes in handy. But not all materials and foods are suitable for this.

These materials are not suitable for the microwave

A microwave can be found in most households. Food can be heated easily, quickly and conveniently with this. But some materials and foods do not belong in the microwave.

The following must be observed with the material:
Make sure you only use microwaveable (plastic) dishes; otherwise the material may become deformed or plastic parts may end up in the food.
Paper or cardboard is also unsuitable due to the coating.
If you have a dish in a Styrofoam container, you should take it out of the packaging. Otherwise toxic substances can be passed on.
You should also not heat eggs in the microwave, as they can burst in it.
For soups, make sure they are covered to avoid splashing.
Aluminum foil can melt and should be removed first.
Fine china, for example with a gold or silver rim, should not be placed in the microwave.
Food that can burst is also a problem. Hot peppers and chili, in particular, can develop fumes that can spread outside the microwave.
You should also not put crockery made of metal or melamine resin or unglazed stoneware in the microwave.

Be careful with these foods

Furthermore, these foods are not microwaveable:
In the case of raw meat and raw fish, salmonella, for example, may survive. The following applies here: it is better to fry or grill thoroughly.
(Cooking) oil and (frying) fat harbors the risk of igniting. The fires cannot be extinguished with water.
Perishable foods such as egg dishes, potatoes and pasta should be fried in the pan if possible.
You can make pizza in the microwave, but it gets crispier in the oven.
Coffee can become bitter.
When water in tall, smooth vessels is removed from the microwave, it can form a bubble of water vapor that escapes explosively; the boiling liquid that can be carried away can lead to scalding.
High-proof alcohol can also ignite – or, in the case of vodka, for example, explode.
In general, the microwave is not suitable for even heating. Therefore, if in doubt, you should fry your food to avoid germs and health problems.

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Wash and Clean the Microwave

Lots of tips for cleaning the microwave and tricks for cleaning the microwave thoroughly. It is not always possible to immediately remove greasy splashes and dirt after heating food in the microwave. The very next day, these present themselves as sticky, stubborn monsters that require considerable effort to remove. But there are effective cleaning methods from grandma’s box of tricks that do not require chemicals, are easy to use, and are also available in every household.

Clean the microwave with steam

Grease and light soiling can be easily removed with steam. Simply place 1/2 cup of water in the microwave and heat on the highest setting for 3-4 minutes. The interior of the device is misted, the steam, which easily gets into all corners, loosens dirt and grease. Carefully remove the mug from the microwave. Finally, wipe well with a cloth.

Clean the microwave with citric acid

Here, 2-3 slices of lemon are added to a cup of water. Now heat the whole thing in the microwave for about 5 minutes at the highest level. Then wipe off with a sponge or cloth. This method works according to the same method as cleaning with steam, but cleaning with citric acid is a little more intensive – i.e. also suitable for heavier soiling – and also smells good. The same effect can also be achieved with vinegar. Here the lemon is replaced by vinegar.

Clean the microwave with washing-up liquid

Place a large bowl in the microwave with a squirt of dish soap and heat on high for about 1 minute. Then leave it on for a few minutes. The “soap vapor” softens the dirt and encrustations. Now just wipe with a damp cloth.

Clean the microwave oven housing

The microwave should not only be hygienically clean on the inside but also shine on the outside. But especially devices with stainless steel housing cause some housewives to despair because of the constant finger taps. If, on the other hand, you rub the stainless steel housing sparingly with baby oil and then polish it thoroughly with a soft kitchen towel, you do not only get a clean and shiny surface, but you also have peace of mind from annoying fingerprints for about 6 weeks.

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