How long is it safe to keep leftovers?
Leftovers can be one of life’s great pleasures. Not only do they mean you can have a night off cooking, many foods like stews and curries taste way better the next day.
Like any food, care needs to be taken with leftovers to ensure they are safe to eat.
How long is it safe to keep leftovers?
The most important thing to remember is the 2-2-2 rule.
Here’s what else you need to know about leftovers:
Keep them cold
- Cool your leftovers before you put them in the fridge, otherwise they will raise the temperature of the fridge. But make sure they go in the fridge within two hours of cooking. If you are cooling a large amount of food, like a big pot of food, split it between shallow containers so it cools quicker. This also makes it easier to store in the fridge.
- If cooked food has been at room temperature for longer than four hours, you are safer not to eat it – although chocolate and wine should still be fine!
- Make sure the temperature of your fridge is below 5⁰c.
- If you’re taking leftovers to work or school, make sure they are kept cold. If there isn’t a fridge you can store them in, use a chiller bag or frozen drink to keep them cool.
- When you freeze leftovers they will last for at least two months. Label the container so you don’t end up with a freezer full of UFOs (unidentified frozen objects).
- If you have defrosted raw meat and then cooked it, you can refreeze it.
Then make sure they’re hot, hot, hot!
- You need to make sure your leftovers are piping hot when you eat them (or eat them cold, straight from the fridge).
- When reheating food, especially using the microwave, you need to make sure to stir the food frequently, so it heats evenly.
- Don’t reheat your leftovers more than once. Heat leftovers in smaller portions, rather than heating the whole dish at once.
