Cooking a frozen pot pie in a microwave
This is a ConAgra Banquet turkey pot pie Amy and I purchased the evening of Oct. 9, 2007 and kept in the freezer. It had the P-9 code on the side -- the ones implicated in the Salmonella outbreak -- and on sale, 2-for-$1.This is me in our kitchen on Monday Oct. 8, preparing Thanksgiving (Canadian) chicken for guests. Note the white microwave in the back left corner.
This is our GE Turntable microwave oven cooking the turkey pot pie at 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2007. I have no idea what the wattage is.
The front of the pot pie package includes statements such as:
Ready in 4 minutes; microwavable
And
KEEP FROZEN
COOK THOROUGHLY
The microwave cooking instructions on the back state:
For food safety and quality, follow these cooking directions:
Microwave Oven
(fine print: Ovens vary; cooking time may need to be adjusted.)
1. Place tray on microwave-safe plate; slit top crust.
I could not slit the top crust. It was frozen solid.
2. Microwave on High.
(Med. OR High Wattage Microwave 4 mins.
Low Wattage Microwave 6 mins).
This is the turkey pot pie after 4 minutes on high in the microwave. I was able to slit the crust. The temperature stabilized around 48 F. I must have a low wattage microwave.
The is the turkey pot pie after 6 minutes on high in the microwave. Near the surface, the temperature registers at 204 F (left). However, the temperature lowered as I moved the probe to the center. Temperature approximately 127 F (right).
The microwave cooking instructions also state:
3. Let Stand 3 minutes. Carefully remove as Product will be hot.
After 3 standing for 3 minutes the interior of the pot pie reaches 148 F. The recommended safe end-point temperature for poultry is 165 F.
This is the pot pie after 6 minutes in the microwave on high, standing for 3 minutes, followed by an additional 2 minutes in the microwave on high; 194 F.
I eat the pot pie.This is completely anecdotal and in no way representative. However, as my research colleague Randy Phebus just posted on barfblog.com:
"Why any food product containing raw ingredients of any kind (actually, in this case the chicken cubes were fully cooked, but the veggies and dough were not) would have microwaving as a primary preparation procedure, particularly when starting from a completely frozen state. Microwave heating of this type of product would no doubt be variable, and particularly when you look at all the different types of microwave ovens out there. Perhaps the message that we should be spreading is that microwaves should only be used to heat pre-cooked products. Then, we also need to address the almost universal ambiguity in prep instructions on food packages. What do consumers really understand, or better what do they not understand, about these written label instructions? One other important bit...are the label instructions always properly validated for their food safety effectiveness in the first place?"
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Marler Blog -
October 12, 2007 8:21 AM
ConAgra recalls all frozen pot pies All ConAgra's pot pies are made at the Marshall plant, which began producing microwavable frozen pot pies in 2005. "We're recalling all of them, all ever made at that plant," said Childs. From a...
BarfBlog -
October 12, 2007 9:17 AM
My wife Amy says she ate a lot of pot pies growing up in Montana and "they were always frozen in the middle." Kids come home from school, are told to fend for themselves, grab something from the freezer, pop...
BarfBlog -
October 12, 2007 6:51 PM
There are hundreds of frozen products available at retail containing potentially hazardous food; some are fully cooked; some aren't. This is one example. The Kroger Chicken Kiev label states it's "Microwavable," but also says, UNCOOKED; Keep ...
BarfBlog -
October 13, 2007 5:55 PM
N.Y. Times business columnist Andrew Martin writes in Sunday's paper (Oct. 14/07) that he's gotten used to the idea that hamburgers can make you sick. But frozen dinners? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says at least 165...
Food Poison Blog -
October 18, 2007 2:21 PM
This week's food safety infosheet from the International Food Safety Network focuses on proper cooking temperatures for food. We've learned more about proper cooking temperatures in recent weeks since ConAgra recalled chicken and turkey pot pies for Sa...
BarfBlog -
October 20, 2007 9:38 AM
ConAgra isn't the only firm having frozen thingy problems. The U.K.'s Food Standards Agency is warning consumers that all batches of 'Aunt Bessie's eight beef meatballs in a rich onion gravy' sold exclusively in Iceland stores have incomplete cooking i...
BarfBlog -
November 14, 2007 7:39 PM
Much rejoicing for Eric Cartmen this evening. ConAgra pot pies are coming back. The company says environmental tests of its Marshall, Missouri, plant have not shown any trace of salmonella since the Oct. 11 recall, and that lab tests showed...
BarfBlog -
January 2, 2008 2:25 PM
ConAgra announced Nov. 14, 2007, that it was starting to manufacture Banquet pot pies again, and by early December they were available for purchase. On Oct. 11, 2007, ConAgra announced it was recalling all of its frozen pot pies to...
BarfBlog -
August 6, 2008 3:10 PM
The UK Food Standards Agency continues to set new lows for communicating about food safety issues with the public that pays them to communicate with them. And the Brits seem to have this obsession with how food safety is simple....
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From my experience eating these as a kid (like Amy) when I prepared them for myself I'd never put the product in for the full amount of time, and usually I'd be so hungry by the time it came out of the microwave, rather than letting the pie sit for the recommended amount of time (which evidentially helps to increase the internal temperature) I'd smash the pie with my fork allowing the heat to escape quickly. It's interesting to see Doug's cooking process detailed here - even when he's following the instructions (which I bet rarely happen) the product isn't considered safe for consumption.
You should have included pictures of yourself washing the thermometer between each temperature reading.
Unlike Brae and Amy, my mom used to always throw frozen pot pies in the oven. Of course, oven temperatures vary, too, but probably not as much as microwaves. I wonder how many people who got sick cooked their pot pies in the oven instead of in the microwave?
Suz, you know I was wiping that thermomter off with a paper towel that went into the garbage. The risk is the same in a conventional overn. Have to use a thermometer to verify.
According to Brownfield Ag News - ConAgra is going to re-write their "cooking" instructions for their pot pies.
Link here:
http://www.brownfieldnetwork.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=8BC70BD3-99F3-D8F9-81C2D10608F1DFB1
Another example of blaming the consumers for contaminated product!
(biting bottom lip) okay, so i've been under a rock (aka busy-as-heck schoolteacher) and had not heard about the recall. so guess what? i JUST downed a banquet chicken pot pie with the "p-9" code on the side panel!!! (fingers trembling while typing) now...the panel also reads, "manufactured after october 26, 2007". is this date past the salmonella scare? am i safe?