Can you reheat chicken?

Reheating cooked chicken is safe provided it reaches 74 °C or 165 °F all the way through, which is the temperature at which salmonella and campylobacter are destroyed. The common failure is uneven heating in a microwave, which leaves cool pockets in the middle of a dense piece. Each additional cool-down and reheat gives bacteria another window to multiply, so reheat only the portion you intend to eat. Cooked chicken keeps three to four days refrigerated.

How to do it properly

1. Refrigerate within two hours of cooking, or one hour above 32 °C.
2. Reheat only the portion you are eating.
3. Cover, and stop halfway to stir or turn so it heats evenly.
4. Check with a thermometer that the thickest part reaches 74 °C (165 °F).

What goes wrong

• Microwaves heat unevenly, leaving cool centres in thick pieces.
• Repeated cooling and reheating multiplies the opportunities for bacterial growth.

Other "can you reheat" questions

• Can you reheat rice? It depends — Yes, once, if it was cooled fast and refrigerated within an hour. Otherwise throw it away.