Top 5 Surprising Foods You Should NEVER Reheat

Have you ever reheated pastrami before putting it in a sandwich, or thrown pepperoni slices in the microwave for a crispy midnight snack? Don’t worry, you’re not going to drop dead, but it’s best to avoid this moving forward. Processed meats often have preservatives added to keep them fresher longer. Unfortunately, microwaving these chemicals can allow COPs, or cholesterol oxidation products, to form - and COPs have been associated with coronary heart disease. The quick heating process that a microwave offers significantly contributes to the oxidization of cholesterol. So, for the sake of your heart, leave the microwave out of it.

Unfortunately, this comforting starchy side dish is home to extremely resilient bacteria known as “Bacillus cereus”. While that might sound like a character from Harry Potter, there’s nothing fun about it. The initial cooking process kills the bacteria, but once the rice reaches room temperature it becomes a breeding ground for the spores that bacillus cereus left behind which produce toxins that can result in food poisoning. If cooked rice is properly stored within an hour, kept for ideally just one day, and then reheated to at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit the whole way through, it’s mostly considered to be safe. But at that point, why not save yourself the hassle and just make it fresh?

Certain oils—such as corn and sunflower—should never be reheated, nor should food that was fried in them. The reason for this is that when these oils are reheated, a toxin called HNE forms. This toxin has been linked to a number of nasty diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. Now, consider that all three of these aforementioned oils are standard at restaurants where they’re heated over and over again, and you’ve got a recipe for real disaster. Oils are more temperamental than most people realize and some shouldn’t be used for cooking at all, such as hemp and flaxseed, as even one extreme heating can produce dangerous carcinogens.

Potatoes might be easy to cook, but handling them after that can be tricky. When they are left to cool down at room temperature they are at high risk for developing bacteria. The culprit most often associated with potatoes, and which we’re most concerned about here, is botulinum: a bacteria that has a nasty habit of showing up wherever baked potatoes are improperly handled. It’s so strong that even a good nuking in your microwave won’t necessarily kill it. If you do want to save some of your baked potatoes to be reheated later, put them in the fridge immediately after cooking. If you forget and leave them out, don’t risk botulism… chuck ‘em instead.

Eggs, regardless of whether they’re scrambled, fried, hard-boiled or cooked in some way we’ve never heard of, shouldn’t be reheated. Eggs come with the same warning as a few of our aforementioned foods: when cooked and left out, they’re particularly prone to spoilage. But hard-boiled eggs come with an additional caveat: microwaves will cause them to build up steam at an alarming rate. The steam will then remain trapped inside the egg until it is removed from the microwave, whereupon it will explode on your plate, or possibly even in your hand or mouth. So when it comes to eggs, it’s best to be a chicken and play it safe. Do you agree with our list? Do you know any foods that should never be reheated? For more entertaining Top 10s and awesome Top 5’s, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.