food safety
How to Store and Reheat Pap and Slow-Cooked Meat Safely
Our plates are generous, so it's common to have some mogodu, oxtail or pap left over, especially after sharing a 3 mixed meat plate. Slow-cooked dishes in gravy reheat very well, and plenty of people swear a stew tastes even better the next day. The key is storing and reheating them safely. This guide covers how long leftovers keep, how to store them, why the gravy sets like jelly in the fridge, and the best way to reheat pap and each of our dishes.
The two-hour rule
Bacteria multiply fastest between about 4 °C and 60 °C, which is why cooked food shouldn't sit at room temperature for long. The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service advises getting leftovers into the fridge within two hours, or within one hour when the air is hotter than about 32 °C. On a hot Gauteng summer afternoon, the one-hour limit is the one to follow.
If your delivery arrives and you won't be eating it straight away, put it in the fridge instead of leaving it in the bag on the counter. You don't need to wait for it to cool down first: splitting it into smaller, shallow containers helps it cool quickly in the fridge.
How long leftovers keep
| Where | How long |
|---|---|
| Room temperature | No more than 2 hours (1 hour on very hot days) |
| Fridge (4 °C or colder) | 3 to 4 days |
| Freezer | Best eaten within 3 to 4 months; frozen food stays safe for longer but dries out and loses flavour over time |
Storing your leftovers
- Use clean containers with lids. Covering food keeps it moist and stops it picking up other smells in the fridge.
- Keep pap and meat apart if you can. Pap left sitting in gravy turns soft and soggy; stored separately, both reheat better.
- Take the meat off the bone for big, bony cuts like nama tlhogo and eisbein. It takes up less space and reheats more evenly.
- Write the date on the lid so you know when the three to four days are up.
Why oxtail and tlhakhwana gravy turns to jelly
Open a container of leftover oxtail, tlhakhwana or marapo the next day and the gravy may have set into a wobbly jelly, sometimes with a layer of fat on top. That's a good sign, not a problem. Hours of slow cooking turn the collagen in bones, skin and tendons into gelatine, and gelatine sets when it's cold. As soon as you heat it, it melts back into a rich, glossy gravy, and the fat melts back in too. Our guides to oxtail and tlhakhwana explain more about how that gravy is made.
How to reheat pap so it stays soft
Pap firms up as it cools because the maize starch sets. The trick is to add a little moisture back and heat it gently.
- Microwave: break the pap into pieces in a bowl, sprinkle over a tablespoon or two of water, cover, and heat in short bursts of about a minute, stirring and pressing it smooth in between, until it's steaming hot all the way through.
- Stove: put the pap in a pot with a splash of water, cover with a lid and warm it over low heat, stirring and mashing until it's soft and hot.
- Fried pap: firm leftover pap can also be cut into slices and fried in a little oil until golden on both sides. It's delicious with leftover gravy.
Reheating each dish
Whatever you're reheating, the goal is the same: heat it until it's steaming hot all the way through. If you have a food thermometer, the USDA's target is 74 °C in the centre, and gravies, soups and sauces should be brought to a rolling boil.
| Dish | Best way to reheat |
|---|---|
| Mala mogodu | In a pot with a splash of water. Bring the gravy to a full boil, then simmer for a few minutes until the tripe is hot right through. |
| Oxtail and marapo | In a covered pot over medium heat. Let the set gravy melt, stir, then bring it to the boil. Marapo's marrow softens again as it heats. |
| Tlhakhwana | In a covered pot until the gravy bubbles, stirring gently so the soft skin doesn't fall apart. |
| Beestong | Slices in their gravy, covered, over gentle heat until the gravy boils. Keeping the lid on stops the slices drying out. |
| Hardbody chicken | In its broth in a pot, brought to the boil and simmered until the chicken is steaming hot. |
| Eisbein | Off the bone, covered, in the microwave or oven with a spoonful of water so it stays moist. |
| Nama tlhogo | Off the bone with a little water or gravy, covered, until steaming. Grilled skin softens in the fridge; a few minutes in a hot pan brings back some crispness. |
A few more tips
- Reheat only what you'll eat. Each round of heating dries meat out a little, so take out a portion rather than reheating the whole container again and again.
- Frozen leftovers can be thawed overnight in the fridge, or reheated straight from frozen in a covered pot or the microwave; it just takes longer.
- Don't reheat in a slow cooker. It warms food too slowly and can leave it at an unsafe temperature for too long.
- When in doubt, throw it out. Food that has been left out too long or kept for more than four days can make you ill even if it looks and smells fine.
Order fresh, delivered hot
Of course, nothing beats mogodu or oxtail straight from the pot. Our kitchen at 6233 Block S, Mabopane is open Monday to Sunday from 08:30 to 19:00, and our own delivery service, Spaceman Deliveries, brings orders to Mabopane for R40 and Soshanguve for R50. See how it works on our delivery page, or browse the full menu.
The food-safety guidance in this article is based on the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service's advice on leftovers and food safety.