Can you reheat spinach?
In the days when there were no refrigerators, it was dangerous to reheat spinach. Today you can always warm up spinach if the finished vegetables have been properly treated and cooled.
Spinach contains varying amounts of nitrate
Spinach contains nitrate, which is converted into nitrite by heat and bacteria. The amount of nitrate varies depending on whether it is outdoors or in a greenhouse. There are also differences between spring and autumn cultivation.
- If fresh spinach is cooked for ten minutes, no conversion of nitrate to nitrite can be detected. Will the finished vegetables then cooled and heated again after a day, this is safe for your health.
- Nitrate is converted when the spinach once cooked cools too slowly and then is not cooled sufficiently. Correct cooling is usually no longer a problem today.
- Nitrite converts the hemoglobin (oxygen carrier in the blood) to methemoglobin. This form of hemoglobin is then blocked from transporting oxygen.
- In adults, the blockage is not a problem because the body is equipped with an enzyme that repairs the hemoglobin.
- Infants lack this enzyme. After a spinach meal, cyanosis (blue discoloration of the skin and mucous membranes) can occur due to a dangerous lack of oxygen.
Surely you have already received the warning that spinach becomes poisonous if ...
Provided that it is properly cooled, spinach can be reheated
Not throwing away leftover food, but using it the next day, makes sense not only from a financial point of view. When storing, care should be taken to ensure cleanliness and a low cooling temperature. The cold vegetable compartment of the refrigerator is ideal.
- From a hygienic point of view, there are no concerns about storing leftovers in the saucepan and refrigerating them. It should be noted, however, that the pot only contains a leftover food in the refrigerator takes up unnecessary space.
- Plastic bowls with matching lids are better for storing food that you might want to reheat later. If the bowls are microwave-safe, leftovers no longer need to be transferred to reheat when using a microwave oven.
- Do not put cooked spinach in the fridge while it is hot, let it cool down a little. If the outside temperature is cooler than room temperature, speed up cooling by placing the sealed bowl on the balcony, patio or outside window sill.
- If possible, plan meals that you want to warm up for the next day. This is the highest probability that leftovers will actually be eaten.
Tests have shown that spinach - chilled as described above - can be safely consumed even after being warmed up for the second time. To what extent it makes sense to heat food twice, everyone has to decide for themselves.
