Heating frozen meals question.

[Dave7]

If I have eg an Aldi frozen curry I can micro it from frozen.
If I have frozen my own eg curry I have to completely defrost before I micro it.
Why the difference ?
I have googled it but not seen a proper answer.
Not a problem, I just want to understand it.

 

[Dadam]

Why do you feel you have to?
I just zap my frozen batch cooked chillies or curries straight from the freezer and have been doing so for decades. Still here.

 

[Spiderweb]

I’ve never defrosted anything that I’ve frozen myself, always cook from frozen.

 

[Alex321]

I rarely defrost anything we have frozen at home after cooking. The only times I do is when I'm taking it to the office for lunch, when it will have defrosted by the time I'm ready to eat it.

Anythging we have frozen that is oing to be eaten at home, it is just take out of the freezer and bung straight in the microwave.

 

[Dave7]

Why do you feel you have to?
I just zap my frozen batch cooked chillies or curries straight from the freezer and have been doing so for decades. Still here.

Really ?......just what I was told and have read.
So, you are saying you can make a curry, freeze it in portions then microwave it from frozen ?

 

[Dadam]

Really ?......just what I was told and have read.
So, you are saying you can make a curry, freeze it in portions then microwave it from frozen ?

Yes. I really don't see the logic of having to fully defrost first. If it's the concern of how long it's at a temperature where bacteria can multiply, then just microwaving it from frozen means it goes from frozen to very hot in a few minutes rather than hours.

It's a bit more energy efficient to defrost in the fridge overnight as it helps keep the fridge cool without using as much power and will then use less to heat up in the microwave, but I can't be bothered with that for a single meal.

If it's a single portion (I do large portions because I'm not a sparrow!) I'll initially give it about 3 minutes at full power (1000w). At this point it will be very hot at the edges but still frozen or cold in the middle. I take it out, stir it round a bit and give it another 2 and stir and test it, make sure it's piping hot throughout. If it's not quite there I might give it another min at medium.

 

[presta]

If I have eg an Aldi frozen curry I can micro it from frozen.
If I have frozen my own eg curry I have to completely defrost before I micro it.

How would you define the difference?

So, you are saying you can make a curry, freeze it in portions then microwave it from frozen ?

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.

 

[ColinJ]

Why do you feel you have to?
I just zap my frozen batch cooked chillies or curries straight from the freezer and have been doing so for decades. Still here.

D'oh!

It sounds completely stupid but that never occurred to me.

I have been leaving the frozen containers in warm water for a couple of hours then using a saucepan on a gas ring.

 

[presta]

leaving the frozen containers in warm water for a couple of hours

I think it's thawing stuff in the warm that's the food poisoning risk, better to either do it quickly in the microwave, or slowly in the fridge overnight. That said, I do wonder why keeping food warm for hours in your stomach isn't a food poisoning risk.

 

[MontyVeda]

Of the two cottage pies from Aldi... one has cooking instructions from chilled or frozen on the back, the other claims that if frozen, it must be fully defrosted before cooking... which is clearly nonsense. I just cook 'em from frozen and guess the timing.

For my own frozen meals (chilli, casserole, etc.) I tend to use the defrost setting on my microwave which is 15-20 mins, but only microwaves for around 10-20 seconds every minute. This gives me better results than full power for say five minutes.

 

[BrumJim]

I think it's thawing stuff in the warm that's the food poisoning risk, better to either do it quickly in the microwave, or slowly in the fridge overnight. That said, I do wonder why keeping food warm for hours in your stomach isn't a food poisoning risk.

Stomach acid?

 

[BrumJim]

I'm not convinced that the microwave does anything different for defrosting as opposed to heating, other than doing it more slowly. It isn't a lower power option, it just turns on and off, with a longer off period for lower levels.

As noted above, the biggest problem is that microwaves aren't that good at defrosting, so there is a risk that in your lovely hot curry (temperature, hopefully spicy too) there is a cold or frozen chunk. Currys, soups, etc can be stirred to ensure a more even heating. More unstirable items such as pies are more of a problem.

 

[Spiderweb]

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

 

[MontyVeda]

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

 

[Alex321]

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

I've used the defrost occasionally to defrost a raw joint before putting it in the oven. Oh, and a quick minute on defrost to soften a hard block of butter from the fridge.

I've never used it for anything else