Freezing raw meet twice? Bad idea or is it safe?
sakurablossoms82
Posts: 62 Member
I had some frozen raw meat to defrost in the fridge for about half a day but due some changes of plans it won't be eaten in the next 2-3 day so I did put it back in the freezer because I assume it won't last that long in the fridge. But now I wonder: Is that safe to eat after 2-3 days after defrosting in the fridge again? The meat was in it's packaging the whole time. I don't want my guests to get sick and I don't eat meat myself. It was quite expensive meat too.
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I can only share my experience. Husband pulled out a large tube of ground beef from the freezer a few weeks back and let it defrost. He bought it weeks prior to that and instead of opening it and dividing it up before freezing, he threw it all in the freezer. After it defrosted in the refrigerator he thought he'd just take what he needed and throw the rest back in the freezer. I told him no and gave him two options. One, cook it all now or cook it over the next couple of days. Refreezing wasn't an option for me because I don't feel like freezing, unfreezing and freezing, yet, again is a feasible idea and I would not have eaten it had he refrozen it. I would try to find a purpose for it, even just to cook it and refrigerate it and then find recipes sooner than later where you could use the cooked meat. I would freeze the cooked meat, though. That, too, can be done. I hope this long winded post helps.1
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https://food.unl.edu/free-resources/newsletters/it-safe-refreeze-raw-meat-and-poultry-has-thawed
Here’s what I found on the net.0 -
I can only share my experience. Husband pulled out a large tube of ground beef from the freezer a few weeks back and let it defrost. He bought it weeks prior to that and instead of opening it and dividing it up before freezing, he threw it all in the freezer. After it defrosted in the refrigerator he thought he'd just take what he needed and throw the rest back in the freezer. I told him no and gave him two options. One, cook it all now or cook it over the next couple of days. Refreezing wasn't an option for me because I don't feel like freezing, unfreezing and freezing, yet, again is a feasible idea and I would not have eaten it had he refrozen it. I would try to find a purpose for it, even just to cook it and refrigerate it and then find recipes sooner than later where you could use the cooked meat. I would freeze the cooked meat, though. That, too, can be done. I hope this long winded post helps.
This is what I would do. Cook the meat and freeze that. We do that for taco meat when we have tacos.4 -
My thought is that it depends a bit on the actual meat, its weight, and degree of notable defrosting. Fully defrosted - yes, do not refreeze regardless of the meat. Half a day in my fridge, might not actually defrost a piece of meat. For instance, the meats I purchased and used for stuffed shells this am, were a 1 lb package and a 1.25 lb package, and I began defrosting it two days ago. For my thanksgiving turkey, I begin defrosting a full week before. So have a day, might not have done much. That being said, I would also consider 2 lb ground beef different than a 2 lb roast. Grinding meat adds bacteria into the interior and is a riskier meat to begin with. Sooo, if it was a larger roast type meat, and only defrosted half a day, I personally would not be concerned, but please do use your own judgement. I am only sharing how I would think about the situation if it were myself. Best of luck!1
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RelCanonical wrote: »I can only share my experience. Husband pulled out a large tube of ground beef from the freezer a few weeks back and let it defrost. He bought it weeks prior to that and instead of opening it and dividing it up before freezing, he threw it all in the freezer. After it defrosted in the refrigerator he thought he'd just take what he needed and throw the rest back in the freezer. I told him no and gave him two options. One, cook it all now or cook it over the next couple of days. Refreezing wasn't an option for me because I don't feel like freezing, unfreezing and freezing, yet, again is a feasible idea and I would not have eaten it had he refrozen it. I would try to find a purpose for it, even just to cook it and refrigerate it and then find recipes sooner than later where you could use the cooked meat. I would freeze the cooked meat, though. That, too, can be done. I hope this long winded post helps.
This is what I would do. Cook the meat and freeze that. We do that for taco meat when we have tacos.
I think she'd be better off having googled it herself as everyone here is disagreeing with us. Oh well, lesson learnt!1 -
I grew up with it drilled into my head to never refreeze thawed meat... I never knew why, but always thought it was a food safety issue as adamant as my parents were. Maybe not and it’s more about the texture?
I too vote to cook it and freeze the cooked product.4 -
RelCanonical wrote: »I can only share my experience. Husband pulled out a large tube of ground beef from the freezer a few weeks back and let it defrost. He bought it weeks prior to that and instead of opening it and dividing it up before freezing, he threw it all in the freezer. After it defrosted in the refrigerator he thought he'd just take what he needed and throw the rest back in the freezer. I told him no and gave him two options. One, cook it all now or cook it over the next couple of days. Refreezing wasn't an option for me because I don't feel like freezing, unfreezing and freezing, yet, again is a feasible idea and I would not have eaten it had he refrozen it. I would try to find a purpose for it, even just to cook it and refrigerate it and then find recipes sooner than later where you could use the cooked meat. I would freeze the cooked meat, though. That, too, can be done. I hope this long winded post helps.
This is what I would do. Cook the meat and freeze that. We do that for taco meat when we have tacos.
I think she'd be better off having googled it herself as everyone here is disagreeing with us. Oh well, lesson learnt!
@lovelychar I 100% agree with you if the meat was actually defrosted. In my fridge, “half day” would barely make a dent in the defrosting, and therefore I felt there were aspects to evaluate for a particular situation.2 -
It's not me who clicked the disagree. I always find it strange when I see that on perfectly fine posts. And yes I googled but I found different views. I don't think it was completely defrosted as I still saw some ice here and there when I did put it back in the freezer. Maybe I will just toss it out just to be safe...2
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sakurablossoms82 wrote: »It's not me who clicked the disagree. I always find it strange when I see that on perfectly fine posts. And yes I googled but I found different views. I don't think it was completely defrosted as I still saw some ice here and there when I did put it back in the freezer. Maybe I will just toss it out just to be safe...
If you could see ice on the outside, remember it is even more frozen on the inside This is a decision only you can make.0 -
I saw conflicting advice on google too.
I tend to let it depend on the type of meat. I don't trust refreezing raw mince because there is bacteria all through the meat because the bacteria is on the surface. A couple of steaks cleft together that need to be slightly defrosted to separate I would dare refreeze, remembering to sear it at high temperature when you get around to cooking it. For solid pieces of meat that can be served very rare (ie not pork or chicken) I would dare to barely defrost enough to separate portions and then refreeze.
What do people think about prawns which are often frozen raw but rock solid in large boxes way too big to serve a small household?3 -
I vacuum seal all of my meat/seafood and have no problem refreezing any of it, wc I do on occasion when I chg my mind about what I want 2 cook and return it to the freezer from the frig.
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I would cook thawed meat and then re-freeze, personally, but 1/2 day in my fridge wouldn't have thawed the meat at all.0
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I saw conflicting advice on google too.
I tend to let it depend on the type of meat. I don't trust refreezing raw mince because there is bacteria all through the meat because the bacteria is on the surface. A couple of steaks cleft together that need to be slightly defrosted to separate I would dare refreeze, remembering to sear it at high temperature when you get around to cooking it. For solid pieces of meat that can be served very rare (ie not pork or chicken) I would dare to barely defrost enough to separate portions and then refreeze.
What do people think about prawns which are often frozen raw but rock solid in large boxes way too big to serve a small household?
I have a flat screwdriver dedicated to prying frozen foods apart. This might work for prawns. You could also let them defrost a tiny bit, just enough to pry them apart.1 -
sakurablossoms82 wrote: »I had some frozen raw meat to defrost in the fridge for about half a day but due some changes of plans it won't be eaten in the next 2-3 day so I did put it back in the freezer because I assume it won't last that long in the fridge. But now I wonder: Is that safe to eat after 2-3 days after defrosting in the fridge again? The meat was in it's packaging the whole time. I don't want my guests to get sick and I don't eat meat myself. It was quite expensive meat too.
Today my 12 oz of ground beef that defrosted in the frig for 12 hours was still hard as a rock when I took it out so assuming yours was still quite frozen as well it will be fine
(Sausages defrost much more quickly, for whatever reason.)
Anyway, refreezing foods defrosted in the frig is not a SAFETY issue anyway, but a potential QUALITY issue:
https://theconversation.com/you-can-thaw-and-refreeze-meat-five-food-safety-myths-busted-51125
...Myth 1: if you’ve defrosted frozen meat or chicken you can’t refreeze it
From a safety point of view, it is fine to refreeze defrosted meat or chicken or any frozen food as long as it was defrosted in a fridge running at 5°C (41°F) or below. Some quality may be lost by defrosting then refreezing foods as the cells break down a little and the food can become slightly watery.4 -
Generally not advisable to refreeze raw meat once it has thawed, as the texture can get a little funky. Like the others on this thread, I would cook it and refreeze it. That way the work is already done!
All right, disagree fairy...do your worst! I can take it! 😂2 -
kshama2001 wrote: »I saw conflicting advice on google too.
I tend to let it depend on the type of meat. I don't trust refreezing raw mince because there is bacteria all through the meat because the bacteria is on the surface. A couple of steaks cleft together that need to be slightly defrosted to separate I would dare refreeze, remembering to sear it at high temperature when you get around to cooking it. For solid pieces of meat that can be served very rare (ie not pork or chicken) I would dare to barely defrost enough to separate portions and then refreeze.
What do people think about prawns which are often frozen raw but rock solid in large boxes way too big to serve a small household?
I have a flat screwdriver dedicated to prying frozen foods apart. This might work for prawns. You could also let them defrost a tiny bit, just enough to pry them apart.
When I freeze foods that clump together, like blueberries, prawns, meatballs and scallops, I put them in one layer in a freezer bag on a dinner plate, put in the freezer and later remove the plate. Then they not only break apart easily, they are stackable.2 -
I decided to throw it away because it kept bothering me like what if my guests will get sick? It's a waste but I don't want to give food poisoning for late Christmas.2
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When in doubt, throw it out.2
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sakurablossoms82 wrote: »I decided to throw it away because it kept bothering me like what if my guests will get sick? It's a waste but I don't want to give food poisoning for late Christmas.
You could try the pet test. If you have a cat or a dog, remember that they have a better sense of smell than we do. If your pets won't eat some, chuck it.1 -
My dog eats a LOT of things I wouldn’t 🤢 I trust her for safe water sources (long story), for some reason she is more particular about that...sakurablossoms82 wrote: »I decided to throw it away because it kept bothering me like what if my guests will get sick? It's a waste but I don't want to give food poisoning for late Christmas.
You could try the pet test. If you have a cat or a dog, remember that they have a better sense of smell than we do. If your pets won't eat some, chuck it.
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Hey, I got a disagree!2
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It's old hat for me! (I have 549, at least some of which are from statements of personal preferences.) For what it's worth, I think kshama's info is right about safety -- I tend to focus on number of days not frozen, which is as I understand it the safety concern -- but that for quality whether it's been actually defrosted and refrozen is something to avoid, but I don't have an issue if I put something in the refrigerator for a bit and then change my mind before it is unfrozen.2
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moonangel12 wrote: »
My dog eats a LOT of things I wouldn’t 🤢 I trust her for safe water sources (long story), for some reason she is more particular about that...sakurablossoms82 wrote: »I decided to throw it away because it kept bothering me like what if my guests will get sick? It's a waste but I don't want to give food poisoning for late Christmas.
You could try the pet test. If you have a cat or a dog, remember that they have a better sense of smell than we do. If your pets won't eat some, chuck it.
I don't advocate eating anything your dog is willing to eat. However as a minimum standard, if there is a piece of meat the dog won't eat, I would avoid it too. My step dad probably could have used a dog. Before he moved in with us he used to get food poisoning all the time because botched reconstructive surgery following a broken nose left him with no sense of smell, so he couldn't tell if food had gone off.1 -
According to the USDA, refreezing isn't a food safety issue as long as the food hasn't been in the "danger zone" (45F+) for more than two hours. They do note refreezing can change the texture of foods in negative ways but safety isn't a problem.2
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sakurablossoms82 wrote: »I decided to throw it away because it kept bothering me like what if my guests will get sick? It's a waste but I don't want to give food poisoning for late Christmas.
You could try the pet test. If you have a cat or a dog, remember that they have a better sense of smell than we do. If your pets won't eat some, chuck it.
i have 2 great Pyrenees that will haul a deer carcass that's falling apart through our upper pasture and gnaw down like its a feast.
I'm not going by their judgement
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