I purchased 2 pound of meat, and the same day cooked it into a stew. For dinner I had a small amount of it, and then put the pot into the refrigerator.
The next day for lunch I would like to reheat the entire pot of stew to boiling temperature, let it cool to eating temperature, eat some, and afterwards put the entire pot back into the refrigerator.
I would like to repeat this pattern for a few days. I am told there is a risk of bacterial contamination, and the proper way is to only reheat the small amount I want to eat each time, not the entire pot. But as long as I reheat to boiling temperature, is that really true?
Best Answer
There is some very useful information for you in this thread.
The direct answer is, every time you re-heat and cool the entire pot, you're passing through the "danger zone" (40-140 °F or 4-60 °C) where bacteria will continue growing. Even if you manage to kill all of them, this is a problem because:
So yes, there is a very real risk. To reduce this risk as much as possible, you'll want to follow the alternate method you describe of only re-heating the amount that you want to eat at any given time.
That's also desirable because:
Also, keeping your stew in the pot may be undesirable, especially if it has acidic ingredients like tomatoes, which can react with a metal pot (particularly aluminum) and give your stew a faintly metallic taste.
Do yourself a favor and don't try to to take this shortcut. It's a bad idea for a number of reasons. Pack the stew into individual servings instead and keep them refrigerated until you're ready to eat them.