Is Reheating Cooked Chicken Dangerous?

Author:
Dedicated Content Curator
Updated date:
Mar 10, 2020

My personal interests are varied and range from cooking to writing to photography.

Before you reheat that leftover chicken meat, make sure you know how to do it safely. You'll need to know when and how the chicken was originally prepared.

Follow these simple rules when reheating chicken meat to avoid making yourself or anyone else ill.

Rules for Reheating Chicken Safely

Never leave raw chicken out of the fridge, even to defrost.
After serving, cover cooked meat.
Refrigerate cooked chicken within an hour of serving.
Reheat thoroughly to at least 75°C/165°F.
Only reheat once!

Can You Mix Cooked and Uncooked Chicken?

Do not allow cooked chicken to become contaminated by raw meat. Cooked meats should always be stored separately from raw meats. If possible, keep raw meats on a lower shelf in the refrigerator than cooked meats and keep all meat tightly covered.

At What Temperature Is Chicken Safe to Eat?

Don't waste a bite of that delicious roasted chicken! Reheat cooked meat thoroughly. It should be piping hot throughout, meaning at least 75°C/165°F all the way through.

Wrap your leftover pieces of chicken meat in foil and reheat in oven or place on a plate to reheat in a microwave. Never use foil in a microwave! Reheat only once after the original preparation. Once you have re-heated it once, eat it straight away.

How Often Can You Reheat Chicken?

It doesn't matter how chicken meat is cooked the first time, it is only safe to reheat it once. Similarly, the chicken can be reheated in a microwave, a frying pan, in the oven, on the barbecue, or even in a slow cooker.

Remember: Reheated chicken meat must be consumed in one sitting!

Can I Add Cold Chicken to Recipes?

Yes you can. I do it all the time. I'll often buy a ready-cooked chicken breast, or a pack of ready-cooked chicken and add it to the top of a pizza, or use it in chicken curry.