Potluck Help: Traveling with and Reheating Food?
I'm headed to an office potluck tomorrow, and I volunteered to bring turkey chili. The problem is, I actually have to travel 2.5 hours to get to the party (I work from home most days) and I'm not sure how to deal with keeping the food safe.
I thought I would just reheat the chili in my crockpot (which I have never used before) but the instructions say not to reheat food in it because it takes too long (is this true?).
So, would it be unsafe to heat the chili before leaving my house in the morning, and then wrap the pot in a bunch of towels to hold the heat in? The other option is to keep the chili cold for my drive, and then reheat it in small batches in our small office microwave. Either way, I would then keep it warm in the crockpot. Any suggestions?
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment.
Start Talking!
Need a question answered? Have advice to share? Start a Talk topic now!
Sign up to get your questions answered and share advice.
8 Comments:
I would not do it. It's poultry. Unless you can find a way to put it in a cooler which you can turn into a hot box I would not do it.
If I had to do it I would freeze the chili solid in small containers. Put them in a cooler and then microwave them when I got there. It is a lot of work. It is bound to be messy.
If you are driving 2.5 hours take something room temp and do not kill yourself trying to deliver hot food. Too much can go wrong.
JerzeeTomato at 11:33AM on 01/19/09
I would go with keeping it cold for the drive and then reheating at work, if that's truly a feasible option. Depending on how cold it is where you live, it might well suffice to put the chilled chili in the trunk. Otherwise, you could try freezing a portion of it overnight and using that like a giant ice cube in your container.
renzata at 12:01PM on 01/19/09
Put the chili in a microwave-safe container. Keep it cold (not frozen) in a cooler with ice for the drive. As long as there's a microwave on premises, you can heat the chili in the nuker, and transfer it to a crock pot for service and to be kept warm throughout the party.
Have fun! :D
therealchiffonade at 12:34PM on 01/19/09
Thanks for the great (and reasonable) advice everyone. I think I'll reheat in the microwave when I arrive to play it safe.
(Also, thanks to the SE folks who fixed my spelling error and reformatted my question before posting it. You people rock!)
mainegirl at 1:59PM on 01/19/09
did you know if you put a hot object in a cooler it will keep it hot?
i do catering and have kept many a meal hot in a regular cooler... they are insulated right? and if you put something hot in there -- it holds the heat.
i always warm mine up a bit before i put the hot food in - by placing a pot of boiling water in it (put a potholder under the pot so you don't melt the plastic) and leave it in there for awhile. you'll see that your food will stay pretty darn hot!
then if you have to put it into a crock pot, it will be easier to really get it cooking on full blast ....
check it out.
pooch at 9:23PM on 01/19/09
Yes, yes pooch and I would line the entire cooler with many towels and throw the crock pot liner (if it's oven safe) into a warm oven to make sure the dish itself is hot on all sides. The other thing to consider, although it is late to be asking--find out if anyone you know has a hotplate you can borrow. It's basically a single electric stove burner with a cord that you can plug into any outlet. My mom lent me hers and it was truly a godsend when we were remodeling our kitchen. And one more thing to consider is if anyone you know has an electric skillet. It might not heat the whole thing at once, but it would certainly be more efficient than microwaving small batches of chili.
dhorst at 9:49PM on 01/19/09
okay, another solution...do you have a converter for your car? One of those that will plug into your cigarette outlet for something to plug into? Then just plug your crock pot into that, and then put the whole thing into a box or something to prevent it from spilling. Microwaving in small batches just seems so inefficient.
emilywalker at 3:59PM on 01/20/09
yes, i have the coolers/heaters that plug into the cigarette lighter in the car, you have to preheat them before you move them out to the car...
@dh - how ya doin' -- hows the doggie? yes, putting towels in the cooler works very well. the more insulation the merrier. anyway, where there is a will -- there is a way...
pooch at 6:48PM on 01/20/09