So why exactly can't you re-freeze meat?

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xonophone
xonophone Posts: 474 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have always wondered this. I've been told that you shouldn't re-freeze meat after it's been thawed but no one has ever explained WHY. Every now & then I take something out of the freezer to defrost and then for some reason I don't cook it and I just hate to throw it away...And today, I took some frozen leftovers for work, but we ended up having a catered lunch so I put my leftovers back in the freezer and plan on eating them tomorrow. Unless by re-freezing it's going to release some toxic spores upon reheating, that will cause all my hair to fall out and aliens to spew forth from my belly Sigourney Weaver style...:noway:

Replies

  • nsking83
    nsking83 Posts: 145
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    I've always wondered this, too! Good question :huh:
  • tiffanygil
    tiffanygil Posts: 478 Member
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    lol...dont knw exactly why but I've thrown out a lot of money because of this =)

    oh here is a link
    http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2232/why-is-refreezing-food-bad-what-exactly-is-freezer-burn
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
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    I think a couple of reasons. Freezing, thawing, refreezing, thawing again and cooking might do a number on the texture of the meat (and this would probably be the case for vegetables too). When food freezes, the cell walls can burst and make the texture kind of mushy.

    Also, when you thaw it, you are opening up the window to bacteria growth (but, presumably, you would eventually be cooking the meat to kill the bacteria anyway).

    Are there any more reasons anyone knows of? As far as I know it isn't an absolute DON'T but more of a "best not to" or "do at your own risk".
  • msbanana
    msbanana Posts: 793 Member
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    Unless by re-freezing it's going to release some toxic spores upon reheating, that will cause all my hair to fall out and aliens to spew forth from my belly Sigourney Weaver style...:noway:

    yes... that's EXACTLY what happens... Actually, freezing and refreezing will change the texture (not for the better) and once a food has been defrosted it starts growing bacteria, yes re-freezing will stop their growth BUT once you redefrost it there will be new growth and shorten the life span of your food overall... and that whole weird texture thing.
  • durbanski
    durbanski Posts: 183 Member
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    You can refreeze but you need to make sure to cook out any bacteria that might have grown during the thawing process then you can re-freeze.
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
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    You know what? Most commercial grocery stores receive their meat frozen. I just bought some chicken leg quarters for my dogs today that were still frozen from shipping. So, if you ever put it in the freezer at home, you're refreezing it. :wink: S'okay! Like others have said, if you do it repeatedly, it's likely to get freezerburned, but so what? As long as it still tastes & smells okay, it's pretty much good to go. If it's been sitting around a while, just make sure you cook it *thoroughly.*
  • xonophone
    xonophone Posts: 474 Member
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    You know what? Most commercial grocery stores receive their meat frozen. I just bought some chicken leg quarters for my dogs today that were still frozen from shipping. So, if you ever put it in the freezer at home, you're refreezing it. :wink: S'okay! Like others have said, if you do it repeatedly, it's likely to get freezerburned, but so what? As long as it still tastes & smells okay, it's pretty much good to go. If it's been sitting around a while, just make sure you cook it *thoroughly.*

    You're RIGHT! I've frequently bought meat from the supermarket that was clearly frozen at one time but was defrosted by the time I bought it.

    Thanks everyone for your input. I'll bring my leftovers, but i'll also bring a couple of dollars with me just in case I need to buy something instead :smile:
  • chrissyh
    chrissyh Posts: 8,235 Member
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    I refreeze because half of what's sold at the grocery store came to the store frozen and they defrost it to sell it!
  • ktischler
    ktischler Posts: 1 Member
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    If I defrost something and decide not to use it, I usually just cook it then refreeze it. Never had a problem, and taste and texture has always been fine.
  • dotties
    dotties Posts: 1
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    My butcher said some steaks I had in the fridge for two days defrosting (40 degrees or under) were safe to refreeze...and I did with no problem
  • Heather_b1986
    Heather_b1986 Posts: 125 Member
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    bacteria is dormant when the food is frozen so if there are for example 100 bacteria on the frozen product, when you defrost the food the bacteria starts to grow again multiplying by 2 every 20 min approx, so you can imagine how fast it could get to food poisoning levels. also some bacteria are resistant to heat so cooking them might not make them safe to eat. as far as retailers are concerned its a case of better safe than sorry- they dont want to be sued for saying its safe to eat refrozen food so if in the past you have refrozen meat and had no ill effects, you where probably just very lucky and the bacteria was at a safe level to begin with

    hope this clears things up im not saying im completely accurate on all the details (studied food hygiene 5 years ago lol)
    basicly if in doubt throw it out!

    :smile:
  • xonophone
    xonophone Posts: 474 Member
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    bacteria is dormant when the food is frozen so if there are for example 100 bacteria on the frozen product, when you defrost the food the bacteria starts to grow again multiplying by 2 every 20 min approx, so you can imagine how fast it could get to food poisoning levels. also some bacteria are resistant to heat so cooking them might not make them safe to eat. as far as retailers are concerned its a case of better safe than sorry- they dont want to be sued for saying its safe to eat refrozen food so if in the past you have refrozen meat and had no ill effects, you where probably just very lucky and the bacteria was at a safe level to begin with

    hope this clears things up im not saying im completely accurate on all the details (studied food hygiene 5 years ago lol)
    basicly if in doubt throw it out!

    :smile:

    Wow, that is very informative, thanks! And EEWW! I'm having second thoughts about eating my awesome leftover sirloin with mushrooms and onions and zucchini tomorrow:sad:
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
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    bacteria is dormant when the food is frozen so if there are for example 100 bacteria on the frozen product, when you defrost the food the bacteria starts to grow again multiplying by 2 every 20 min approx, so you can imagine how fast it could get to food poisoning levels. also some bacteria are resistant to heat so cooking them might not make them safe to eat. as far as retailers are concerned its a case of better safe than sorry- they dont want to be sued for saying its safe to eat refrozen food so if in the past you have refrozen meat and had no ill effects, you where probably just very lucky and the bacteria was at a safe level to begin with

    No s***! :laugh: If the meat has been defrosted for weeks & then you refreeze it, yep you're probably going to have some problems with it -- the very same problems you would've had if you had eaten it *without* refreezing it. Meat will indeed go bad. Freezing/refreezing it doesn't change that fact.

    I guess I too often assume that people use their brains. I freeze and refreeze meat. I use my brain. I have never gotten sick from it (I know this because all of the times I've puked in the last 10 years have involved an excessive amount of liquor. :laugh:).

    I've rawfed my dogs for years & none of us have ever gotten sick from that, either. :wink: There's a lot of **crazy** misinformation floating around out there. :laugh: Again, use your noggin' (& your nose).
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    I've always heard this too but last night... I tampered with fate. Dun dun DUN!!!! So, I bought a thing of chicken and forgot to separate it into bags to freeze and just threw the whole thing in - major disaster 'cause then you have to thaw the whole thing and I'm all about convenience & thaw everything real quick in the microwave right before cooking. So, this weekend, I thawed the chicken in the sink all day and then separated into bags and re-froze. Last night, I cooked some of the re-frozen chicken in the oven with my asparagus and it turned out perfect. It didn't taste any different, I'm not sick today because of it... so in conclusion:

    I think it just depends on the circumstances... do it at your own risk and make sure it's not like, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, freeze, thaw, etc.
  • thumper44
    thumper44 Posts: 1,464 Member
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    bacteria is dormant when the food is frozen so if there are for example 100 bacteria on the frozen product, when you defrost the food the bacteria starts to grow again multiplying by 2 every 20 min approx, so you can imagine how fast it could get to food poisoning levels. also some bacteria are resistant to heat so cooking them might not make them safe to eat. as far as retailers are concerned its a case of better safe than sorry- they dont want to be sued for saying its safe to eat refrozen food so if in the past you have refrozen meat and had no ill effects, you where probably just very lucky and the bacteria was at a safe level to begin with

    So true. Worse thing is because we can't see it, doesn't mean that there's bacteria in/on the meat.
    Alot of people are assuming beef/steaks in their reply.

    Is everyone's view the same with chicken? Would you let chicken defrost, and then re freeze it?
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
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    Is everyone's view the same with chicken? Would you let chicken defrost, and then re freeze it?

    I do it all the time and my opinion is the same.
  • NYCDutchess
    NYCDutchess Posts: 622 Member
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    [/quote]
    Wow, that is very informative, thanks! And EEWW! I'm having second thoughts about eating my awesome leftover sirloin with mushrooms and onions and zucchini tomorrow:sad:
    [/quote]

    I'm sure it's fine to freeze AFTER it's cooked, but just not defrosted, then re-frozen. I think if you defrost it in the refigerator (not out on the counter) it should be fine to re-freeze if it was there only for the day
  • Heather_b1986
    Heather_b1986 Posts: 125 Member
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    i agree with whats been said before, really at the end of the day its up to you if you think it smells ok and looks ok chances are that it probably is, although what i would point out is dogs stomachs are different to ours (they didnt always eat dog food from a can you know :laugh: . personally i wouldnt risk spending all day in the bathroom :sick: but thats just me :laugh:
  • xonophone
    xonophone Posts: 474 Member
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    Just want to say that I DID eat my re-defrosted leftovers and boy were they good! And I live to tell about it! :drinker:

    On another (similar?) note my dog is on a raw diet with only two issues. Once he did sniff at a chicken leg, then look at me and whimper. I told him to eat it anyway, and eventually he did because...well, he's a dog and was hungry, and wouldn't you know it, he had the runs the next day. Similar thing happened this weekend. So I guess dog's noses are more sensitive to the bacteria we can't smell. So I will learn to listen to him when he doesn't want a particular piece of meat, but at the same time, I don't have any intentions of having my dog sniff MY meat!!!! :laugh:

    (edited for my spelling errors :) )

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