Do you ever reheat food?
@craigy123456789 (1759)
March 17, 2011 9:15am CST
Hi, well, when i was living with my mum she always cooked for me. I would always be told what time my meal would be ready but often i was late in. Later she said that as she was doing the cooking and also wanted to eat at a reasonable time, then if i did not turn up on time for my meal then she would just plate it up anyway. Well, i never thought she would do this but she did, my meal that was a hot one was now cold, i put it in the microwave to heat up, needless to say it did not taste that good at all. This made me realise that i should turn up on time for my meals and from then on i did. I felt that the taste was a huge difference when heated up in the microwave, it lacked that proper taste of home cooked food. Later in life though when i got my own home there were many times when i would bring food home from a night out on the town, sometimes i could not eat it all and so i warmed it up again the day after in the microwave, again never tasted too good, but food is food. Now the only thing i use my microwave for is to defrost anything. I try not to use it to reheat food anymore, it just lacks taste. What do you guys think? Have you ever done this? Would you ever do this?
9 people like this
36 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
17 Mar 11
Hello craig and good morning. Oh yes we often have some left overs. We do heat them up but not in the microwave. I hate the taste of food reheated in the microwave. I reheat them on the top of the stove in a skillet for my lunch. I some times add some extra seasoning at that time. Some foods are better as left overs as they absorb the seasoning such as chili or stew.
2 people like this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
Deebomb,
I am so glad that i am not on my own when it comes to not liking food that is reheated in the microwave. I have done mine in the oven of my cooker (stove as you call it), it does taste better in there, there must just be something with the microwave, the taste does seem to be a huge difference to what it should taste like. i do have stews/casserroles 2 days in a row, i agree that the seasoning does taste so good when settled, i cook my stew in the oven (cooker, stove), but the netxt day i would reheat the rest in a pan on the hob, this tastes fine. Thankyou so much for your response to this topic.
Iriene88,
The meat is so tasty and the stew has had a nice time to settle with all the seasoning in it. I do like to just put the rest of my stew in a pan to heat up, it does taste great from of the hob, but never again will i use a microwave to reheat the food. However, if i did make a soup then i guess this may taste ok when reheated in a microwave, maybe it is not worth trying just incase i don't enjoy it. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
2 people like this
@Ceandra (68)
• Singapore
18 Mar 11
Of course I do, I prefer warm food as compared to cold ones. I always use microwave to reheat food, my mum prefers the stove though. I think she had a nasty experience with a microwave before.
I dip the iced food in water to defrost it. Never ever use a microwave for it.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi Ceandra,
I think that we all would prefer to have warm food rather than cold, especially if it is supposed to be a hot meal, however pasta can be eaten cold. I guess that a microwave is a quick way to getting things heated up, but i am with your mum on this one, she may have had a bad experience with a microwave but i do feel that we would get a far better taste of food from reheating it on the cooker (stove) rather than to reheat it up in a miicrowave. I try not to use the microwave to defrost things, only when i am in a rush, i would rather food just defrost naturally rather than to force it. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@sudiptacallingu (10879)
• India
18 Mar 11
I reheat food regularly though I have to admit that it doesn’t taste the same as freshly cooked food. Actually time is at such a premium that I cant really cook all the food everyday…so what I do is cook one or two dishes in large quantities so that some of it can be kept in the fridge and reheated the next day.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi sudiptacallingu,
I guess that when we have freshly cooked food we do seem to get the full taste of it, when reheated it may take the taste away as it has already been cooked once before. I do overcook meals sometimes, or if i know i will be busy that week then i will cook extra so tht i can either put some in the fridge or even some in the freezer for a later date but when it does come to reheating the food i would rather use the cooker (stove) rather than the microwave as i would want better results in taste. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@noorhizat (209)
• Malaysia
18 Mar 11
I do reheat my food. Mostly leftovers, But I normally do it on the stove. There is something to leftovers that make them more tasty, I don't know maybe it is in the kind of food that we eat here.
Using the microwave does not make it the same as reheating it on the stove. I don't know why but yes like you i found out that it does not taste the same. Maybe it's the way it is heating or god knows mysteries of the universe.
Like you I now use my microwave to defrost things. Still use it to reheat some times if I am to lazy to clean up latter. :)
So I figure microwave are for lazy people, do you agree.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi noorhizat,
I guess there are many of us that reheat our leftovers as we don't want to eat it cold. But instead of using the microwave i now try to use my cooker for as much as i can as i gert better results from that in taste than i do from the microwave. I like you use the cooker (stove) instead of the microwave, it does taste far better. I have no idea what the difference is, we certainly can tell a difference between food reheated from the microwave compared to food reheated from the stove, and the stove wins everytime. It may have something to do with the food we reheat in the microwave, or the temperature, or the length of time we leave it in there, or something completely different. I will agree that defrosting should be the only thing we use the microwave for, i sort of agree that microwaves are for lazy people who don't want to cook and prepare a meal each day, but on the other hand some people work hard in their job or studies etc and so don't always have the time to cook, so they aren't being lazy just finding the right balance in life really. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@Iriene88 (5343)
• Malaysia
17 Mar 11
I used to bring the overnight leftover food to my office for lunch.
The reason is my office is quite secluded and away from town. I and
my colleagues will reheat the food in the microwave and we will
have lunch at the pantry. It saves time and money. Yes, the food
do not taste that good. However, I avoid reheat food in the microwave
nowadays as I read it is not good for health.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I can fully understand why you do this. If you are so away from town then you won't have the time to go out and get something, it will save you a lot of time and money, and atleast you know what is in the food as you have prepared it yourself. I never knew that reheating food in the microwave is not good for your health, i agree that it doesn't taste anywhere near as good as it does when first cooked. If it isn't god to reheat food in the microwave then i guess this is a good reason to not do it. Sometimes though we are forced to, like you are with your working situation. Thankyou so very much for your resonse to this topic.
1 person likes this
@Eugene126 (124)
• United States
18 Mar 11
Hello Craigy, Yes I do reheat food alot and for me the taste doesn't change at all. Maybe it has something to do with the food you're reheating that's why it doesn't taste that good the second time around. But still food is food. We can't afford to waste it.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi Eugene126,
I guess it may have something to do with the food i reheat, or the temperature, or the amount of time i leave it on to heat up, or even something else. I also think that as i am always used to eating a meal straightaway after cooking it i am so used to that taste and so may notice a difference more when heated up in the microwave as it is rare that i do this. I agree fully with you that food is food, better to eat than to waste it regardless of a difference in taste, i will not waste food. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I agree that i wouyld be wasting food if i just threw it away. This is why i have to reheat it as i don't want to waste food nor do i want to waste money which is what i also would be doing. It may not taste the same reheated but atleast it is not in the bin where it would have been a complete waste. I guess i will just have to focus more on making sure that i eat what i plate up. Now i am not late for meals as i make the meals n my house. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
17 Mar 11
Hi. craigy123456789. Yes, I have reheated a lot of my foods. It does taste good to me. Even when I reheat it the very next day. I don't know why your food does not taste good when it is reheated, because mines always does. If my meal is cooked the same day, reheating it on the stove or in the microwave is not a problem for me.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
•
17 Mar 11
Hi cream97,
I just do not like the taste of it, i guess it is just so different to how it would be if i ate it after cooking it the first time. Maybe it could have something to do with the food i may reheat? I guess all foods will taste alittle bit different when reheated? Something i will do is if i put too many vegetables on then i will store the rest in the freezer, then when adding to another meal i won't warm the vegetables up in the microwave, instead i will boil some water in a pan and put them on the hob to heat that way. Thankyou so much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@megamatt (14292)
• United States
17 Mar 11
Pretty much every time that there is leftovers to do, it does need to be reheated. So I do it fairly often. It might not taste as good as the first time around, but I don't like having good food go to waste. Therefore, just reheating things on those slow nights, where I need a quick meal. Anything to survive in the end and while its not the best, at least it does save money. And that's the nature of the game.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
•
17 Mar 11
I ahree with you in the fact that we should never waste food by just throwing it away. We are throwing away good food and money also. It certainly doesn't taste as good, but it is as you say a quick way to have a meal. The nature of te game is to save money, i would put up with reheating food now i think if i put too much food on where i would need to freeze some of it. But i would try not to do too much. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@sonaimajumdar (950)
• India
17 Mar 11
i dont think you are right.Because many time i also reheat the food in oven before consuming but i dont feel different taste. But yes,if you consume after 24 hours without refrigeration no matter if you are reheating,then you can experience a different taste.
But usually i consume fresh made foods,and that makes me fit and healthy. But yes, we should also not waste foods.Beause there are still millions of people in this world,who die due to hunger.Hope you understand what am trying to say !
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I guess that it may have something to do with the temerature i put the food on, or the food that i am reheating or even the length of time i have it on to reheat, i am not sure. It just does taste so different in a microwave. If i reheated it in the cooker oven it would taste better than the microwave. I do try to eat leftovers the day after as i like my food to be as fresh as possible. I will not waste food, i agree with you that there are millions of people around the world that suffer from hunger and do die, i therefore won't waste food and money, i am careful this way. I do sometiimes freeze left over vegatables, when i heated this up in a microwave it tasted awful, so i decided to reheat it in a pan with boiling water on the hob and it does taste much better. Thankyou so very much or your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@dreamsharmin (2281)
• China
17 Mar 11
I am a student and everyday it's really not possible to cook everyday. As it takes long time to cook. So i do cook food for 2 days so after eat the food i do preserve it and reheat it again.
So very often i do reheat my food and i don;t like cold food.
Have a good day!
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
Cooking can take a long time, especially if you are cooking from scratch, rather than just using things that are already pre prepared. I guess for many people, like students, people who work, people who have children to look after, we are all busy and sometimes we do have so little time to cook as other things need doing also. I guess that if you are happy to reheat food then that is great. To be able to have a meal on the day and then to know that tomorrow you have more time to yourself to do other ythings as you have leftovers from the previous night can be a good thing. I would not heat a hot meal that had gone cold, it would need to be reheated, that would just taste awful if we ate it cold. I guess the main time when we may cook too much would be at christmas, then is a good time to freeze leftovers as we are so busy at that time of year. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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19 Mar 11
Hi raj7shot,
I just seem to think that we do lose quite a lot of taste from the food when we reheat it in the microwave. I really just don't like the taste of the food. It could however depend on what type of food is being reheated, some may be ok whereas others may not. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@kwylima (451)
• United States
17 Mar 11
I do. However I have food that is from the day before..so I like to fresh food. I cook for me and my babies everyday and I love to eat what I just cooked. If I dont have time enough to cook then I eat the food from the day before.
I dont think that it is bad at all. Just be careful...i dont think is good to eat food from many days before and if you can eat fresh food is much better.
be healthy!
1 person likes this
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I do prefer to have my food freshly made, especially when i have a 3 year old son with me, i want to make sure that he eats good quality well cooked food. I do not have too much spare time to cook but i still have to do it, i have frozen leftovers before but i just feel that the microwave does not bring good resulkts whe reheating in their. I agree with you in the fact that fresh food is better, i would not want to eat something that has been around for a few days. I do want to make sure that me and my son stay healthy. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@edenosabel (69)
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17 Mar 11
i dont actually notice the difference of freshly cooked food from a reheated food. it's a waste if we throw food away, so i always will consider reheating. if it lacks taste, then i will try to spice it up a bit, or maybe add salt or a little pepper. it depends. but for me, i wouldnt want to throw food away, i feel guilty for those not able to eat even for a day.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
hi edenosabel
i am sure that your taste buds are fine. It does seem that this topic is balanced as some people seem to like there food reheated in a microwave, some seem to prefer it that way and others seem to notice a little difference in taste whereas others notice a big enough difference but luckily will still eat the food and not waste it by throwing it away. I guess if we really do need something to eat then this is a quick way to get it and we won't focus that much on the taste as we just need to get the food into us. Hope your stomach is full now.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I agree that it is a waste if we throw the food away, that would have fed us, could have fed others and would be a complete waste of money. I do however notice a difference between freshly cooked food that you eat once cooked, compared to cooking a frshly cooked meal, putting it out, it going very cold, then reheating it up again, there is a difference in taste, it tastes nowhere near as good as it would if it had been eaten when first cooked. Maybe adding something like pepper or salt, or even gravy depending on what the meal is may make that bit of a difference. i too feel guilty for thos that rarely get the chance to eat and so i would not throw it away, just wouldn't enjoy it as much if i had to reheat the food. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@edenosabel (69)
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18 Mar 11
i feel weird. do i have a deteriorating taste bud here? hahaha. i just love eating and anything edible is satisfying to me! i can easily appreciate food.. as long as its gonna fill my stomach. :)
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
18 Mar 11
I never did taste a difference. I used to use my microwave to cook everything when I had an electric stove to save on my electric bill. A microwave does not take as much electricity to run as a stove does. Now a have a gas range, which it's own whole story there. Lol I don't own a microwave now, and I really miss it.
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
18 Mar 11
I didn't get rid of it, I lost my home... and now I'm starting over. : )
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi dismalgrin,
I rarely use my microwave anymore, i don't know how you can't taste the difference, unless you are so often use to having food heated up in the microwave, or you may just have different types of food that go well in a microwave where i may have reheated the wrong type of food, who knows? I don't think i would ever use my microwave again for reheating food, i would much prefer to use my electric cooker (stove), far better results than using the microwave. Why did you get rid of your microwave if you used it so often? Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@ap0calyptic (921)
• Slovenia
18 Mar 11
I do have my mom sometimes reheat lunch since I sometimes decide to eat it later. However it depends about what food you're talking...for instance soetimes when mom brings home mcdonals goods I sometimes can't eat it all and just decide to eat it later, but after I did that a few times with my cheeseburger, not only it becomes crusty, but also it looses the taste and juicyness it had before. Sou unless is a food like rice, potato or something like that it's ok for me to reheat it and it doesn't lose taste, but things like hamburgers and some similar foods do lose their taste, so it's better to eat them while they're still warm. I don't order anymore more than I can eat if its about cheeseburgers or warm sanswiches since they're really not good anymore reheated.
@ap0calyptic (921)
• Slovenia
20 Mar 11
that's good you did that as fresh food just tastes the best. :]
I agree about potato and fries, though mshed potato can be reheated it's a bit different still after it's been on heat twice and a lil bit dryer too, but still good enough to eat.
you're right about the burger though even so the bread is still a bit crusty, so it still wouldn't be near as good taste as before, so it's better to eat it while still warm. :]
no need to thank, I liked the discussion, so I replied. keep it up and have a great weekend. :]
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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19 Mar 11
Hi ap0calyptic,
I sometimes ate later from my mum but when this happened i just made sure that i made my own meal. I agree that things liuke burgers will loose that taste, also if you are to warm the bun up then this will start to get hard really and will taste awful, they aren't really the best things to reheat. I think things like fries are good enough to reheat, they are so thin and they don't take too long to warm up, if we had a plate with potato though i feel this could get way too dry and lose some of the taste. There are obviously many foods that won't taste anywhere near as good when reheated, always best to eat when freshly cooked. I guess though that we could add some sauce or pickle to a burger to just give it that bit more of a different taste as it won't be good on it's own after being reheated. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@titchy1231 (732)
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17 Mar 11
well i do still use the microwave to reheat food but only occassionally if i have made too much and having it the following day. i agree that it doesnt taste as good so i always eat when cooked. i do use it for defrosting and also for cooking some things like bacon.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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17 Mar 11
I guess sometimes we can accidentally make too much food, but also some of us do make more food so we can freeze it or use it a day later which does save us more time cooking. It never will taste as good, i guess that some foods will taste better than others when reheated, it is just that a microwave does not really do a good job, i mean i could certainly taste a big difference between heated up food in the microwave and the food that is cooked fresh and put out to eat straight away. I too use my microwave for defrosting, but that is only if i am running late as i do prefer things to just defrost naturally rather than forceing it. Do you mean that you cook bacon from raw in the microwave? I have never tried that, surely it can't be cooked properly that way? How does it taste? Thankyou so very much for your response to my topic.
1 person likes this
@titchy1231 (732)
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19 Mar 11
sometimes i make a meal that will do for 2 days, like a casserole or corned beef hash, otherwise i would freeze it if there was too much
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi Jlyn10,
I have never heard that by using a microwave too much could give you cancer. There was someone on here that stated that using the microwave is not healthy. I can sort of believe that really. By using a cooker (stove), it may be the old fashioned way but this is also the way i now prefer to have my food reheated as i did not like the taste of it reheated in the microwave and i certainly won't waste food. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@nodz2000 (34)
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18 Mar 11
Personnely, i have no experience on this subject, but as i have read, there are some steps for you to take and see,whether they work.
1.Use an air tight container when you store them in the fridge.
2.Do not use the maximum power of your microwave oven,use about 60% - 70%.
3.In my personnel opinion,the best thing for reheating,would be the normal electric oven.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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18 Mar 11
Hi nodz2000,
I think you could really count yourself lucky that you have not experienced this, there does seem to be a big difference really in the fact of the taste of foos compared to it being freshly cooked then eaten, then the other which is freshly cooked, gone cold, then reheated in a microwave. not good really. I have a fan assisted electric oven and so i do tend to use that instead of the microwave. Thanks for the pointers that you have made, maybe people who do use a microwave may consider reducing the temperature, it may make a difference, i agree that we should always keep our food in a fully secure container when storeing it in the fridge, thanks for this information. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
@macayadann (1235)
• Philippines
19 Mar 11
re-heating food is truly bad in the sense that just like what you said the taste changes. the temperature usually destroys some of the vitamins and other additives in the food. You see,chemical reactions might take place as the temperature rises, and the bad thing, there , the growth of microorganism is aggravated by the heat,for there are that grows in higher temperature.
@craigy123456789 (1759)
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19 Mar 11
Hi macayadann,
I think that both the temperature and the length of time we leave it in the microwave for does make a big difference to the taste, also many foods aren't meant to be reheated, especially in a microwave. I do find though that when heating soup up in a microwave this does taste fine, but anything else just seems to lose so much taste and it isn't that good at all. Thankyou so very much for your response to this topic.
1 person likes this
@macayadann (1235)
• Philippines
20 Mar 11
just be careful in your eating so as to watch your health that you will not get sick. Just for now avoid doing it, why don't you just try healthy drinks like milk to lower down your hunger pangs then eat heavy as you reach your home from work.
