Reheating soup repeatedly over a week ?

Piliger

I frequent a local SPAR, where they have recently introduced a Soup Stall, where they have two soups in containers. You fill a paper cup for €2.

I was speaking to one of the staff in the shop this week and they told me that they get one delivery of soup each week, and they heat it up again and again each day for sale ...

Can this be a good thing ? I would have thought this would be a crazy thing that would be the perfect place to grow bugs ... ?

nicol

Doesn't sound like the smartest thing to do with food. I'm sure there are guidelines on this sort of thing but I know that if it was soup that I had made myself there is no way I would reheat it that number of times.

Greenmachine

Sound like a food diaster waiting to happen.

rubadub

If it dropped below a certain temp bugs will grow, I wouldn't go near it.

There are things called "perpetual stews", some allegedly going for 100years or more, but I presume they are never let cool.

The Hill Billy

Best thing would be to report themnto the Food Safety Authority & let them look into it.

I would have thought that it would have been uneconomical to be heating potentially a week's worth of soup each day. Doing it in batches would be easier & more cost effective, not to mention safer. But you never know.

Oink

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.fsai.ie/faqs/temperature_control.html#Reheating

Q. What is the correct temperature that food should be reheated to?
Food must only be reheated once following cooking or hot holding. The food should be reheated to piping hot, greater than or equal to 70°C at the core of the food.


Bolding mine

rubadub

The Hill Billy wrote: »

I would have thought that it would have been uneconomical to be heating potentially a week's worth of soup each day.

Its not that much, probably under a euro a day. I had an 8L urn that would have cost about 3 cent a day to keep fully hot. Most are 10-20 times less efficient.

If they turn it off it will cool down, when turned on again the heater has to kick in for a good while before it turns off again. So they are not saving much at all, certainly not worth the risk. Some people wrongly think its more efficient to leave "the immersion" on continuously because of this long heat up time.

If it is very efficient/well insulated it will hold temp for hours and not fall below danger levels.

Oink wrote: »

From the horse's mouth:

http://www.fsai.ie/faqs/temperature_control.html#Reheating

Q. What is the correct temperature that food should be reheated to?
Food must only be reheated once following cooking or hot holding. The food should be reheated to piping hot, greater than or equal to 70°C at the core of the food.


Bolding mine

The bit before is more imporant

Q. What temperature should I hot hold cooked food at?

Keep hot food above 63°C (for example in a bain marie). This is outside the danger zone (5°C - 63°C). Bacteria grow best in warm temperatures, approximately 25°C – 40°C. Lukewarm food is dangerous as it is a perfect environment for bacteria to thrive. If cooked food is not stored above 63°C, it should be used up within two hours of cooking. Ensure the first batch of cooked food being hot held is served first. Where possible do not mix batches. It is recommended that the first batch is used before adding a different batch.

Your quote about reheating only once is after "hot holding", if the soup urn temp falls below 63C then it has by definition not been "hot held", it is not totally clear but it might allow to be below 63C for 2 hours and reheated and be considered "hot held".

Piliger

I find it a bizarre practice. I wonder exactly what they are doing and if they actually realise what they are doing themselves. I don't actually think they may be reheating ALL of it seven times ... but maybe in a rolling way two or three times. I must have another conversation with the guy who works there.

leahyl

I'm confused though - I make soup nearly every Sunday for lunch for the week in work - should I not be reheating my portion each day? Or is just that you shouldn't reheat the whole lot of it at once?

rubadub

leahyl wrote: »

I'm confused though - I make soup nearly every Sunday for lunch for the week in work

If you cook stuff you want it to never be in the "danger zone" for any length of time.

the danger zone (5°C - 63°C)

This means if you are planning to keep it you should cool it ASAP. I make a batch of stew or soup like yourself. While still boiling I put it in jam/sauce jars and seal them. I then leave these out in the garden to cool down quickly, or in summer I have them in a basin of cold water (there is a risk of the glass cracking so be careful, I have dip them in a bit so there is less thermal shock/expansion/contraction. I shake my jars after a while so the warm stuff in the core of the jar touches the colder sides. I then pop them in the fridge when cool. Then I heat them up to boiling in work, or near boiling and let them cool down a bit.

Rice is a perfect environment for bacteria to breed, natural nasties are in the rice, its a good moisture level, nice & airy, and warm. Most people blame a dose of food poisioning on dodgy meat from takeaways, when its most likely rice. To cool rice quickly you can rinse it with cold water.

Piliger

leahyl wrote: »

I'm confused though - I make soup nearly every Sunday for lunch for the week in work - should I not be reheating my portion each day? Or is just that you shouldn't reheat the whole lot of it at once?

That's the point imho. NOT to to be reheating it ALL. You cool it all and then take portions to heat up.

Piliger

When I cook stew, I leave it to cool overnight on the cooker and when it's cold I portion it into containers. Our family have been doing this for 40yrs.

nicol

I sometimes do the same thing. Recently though I've been putting the saucepan in a sink of cold water to cool it down quickly. I have to replace the cold water a couple of times but it usually cools it down fairly quickly (~1-1.5 hours)

Piliger wrote: »

When I cook stew, I leave it to cool overnight on the cooker and when it's cold I portion it into containers. Our family have been doing this for 40yrs.

rubadub

Putting into the small containers right away will increase the surface area which is giving off heat, so easier to cool down.

Dizzyblonde

Since this thread has strayed far from its original topic and into the forbidden realm of food safety advice, I'm going to close it.