deer meat! bad or good?
 

i was over my hunting buddies house the other day and got into a "discussion" that if you thaw venision out you cant refreeze it and eat it at a later date becuase the meat is bad now. I have done it countless times and told him that it is a crock because im living proof. but my hunting buddies insist that once thawed out you cant refreeze. is there anybody on my side or am i just crazy and going to get very ill of years of doing this!! somebody give me some feedback please [8D]

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

i have never thawer out any deer meat then refroze i always wind up eatin it . my mom has always hollered u cant refreeze meat so i dont know that one .

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Can I refreeze fish or meat once it is thawed?

“A good question and the answer is - it depends!” Thawing and refreezing anything will affect the quality of the food. Ice crystals damage cell structure and freezing may remove moisture from the food. In terms of safety, if the food has been in the refrigerator while thawing and is still partially frozen then it can be refrozen. However, if the food was thawed out of the fridge or in the microwave, then do not refreeze. Parts of the surface or interior of the food will have been exposed to temperatures above 4ºC for a period of time. If the food has been thawed, the safest thing to do is cook the fish or meat before refreezing. Never thaw food on the counter. Foods thawed in a mircrowave need to be cooked immediately.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Dear Waldo,

There are two concerns with refreezing meat. The first is safety. If the meat has thawed in a refrigerator, then it’s okay to refreeze. In terms of other methods, make sure it doesn’t sit in the “danger zone”—40°F–140°F (4°C–60°C)—for more than two hours. And if it’s been thawed by other methods, cook it before refreezing. This is the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service’s position. If you do refreeze, the sooner you do it, the better.








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The second concern is about the meat’s quality. When you think of how meat fibers change on a cellular level, freezing not only affects the solids in meat cells but also turns the liquid within the cells into frozen crystals. As you can imagine, these sharp, angular crystals can shear a delicate cell wall rather quickly. Then as the meat thaws, the contents of the cells seep out, creating that familiar puddle of juices. This leaves the thawed meat fibers more prone to drying out as they cook.

Freezing food as fast as possible minimizes the loss of liquid, because when ice crystals form quickly, they remain very tiny. If the process of freezing and thawing is repeated, however, greater moisture losses occur and the quality of the meat lessens.

Thanks for an excellent question.

Best regards,
Anne & Sue

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I would not eat any meat that I have known to be thawed and refrozen. Stuff like bacterial contamination, Ecoli, Samonella frighten me. I do not like to vomit or sit on a toliet for hours.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Good posts Reb. I personally never refreeze meats once thawed. Mainly because it detracts from the quality greatly, and it increases the chance of freezer burn.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I always thaw my meat in the fridge and have refroze a couple of packages because of unforeseen circumstance but normally cook the meat within a day or so...

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I've refrozen it before after thawing by various methods including room temp , water bath , and fridge , other than a loss of quality I've suffered no ill effects .

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I usually get the haunches deboned at the processor and freeze it when I get home. Then when I have the time, I thaw it partiallyand cut it into jerky strips and stir fry. I use what I need and refreeze the rest. Never had a problem and the quality remains very good...to my taste anyway.

The biggest concern for me is proper handling and clean up after it's partially thawed out.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I have never worried about it much either. I used to take risks like dethawing in running hot water, refreezing meat. Used to tell everyone it won't hurt ya.

Then one day, I got deathly ill on some moose from Newfoundland, half Thawed on the plane ride, froze again until I could cut it up,half thawed (mostly frozen) to cutup, refroze and thawed to consume. Did it many times over theyears but Ieven had to take off work one day. It only takes once to learn ya. sooner or later it will happen. But until then, I figure, you going to always do it the way your doing it, so no use telling you not too. go for it.

I have froze and dethawed and refroze hundreds of times in my life, but only took one day and night on the pot, for me to know why those guidelines are there in teh first place.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

You can freeze and thaw all you want, the only thing it will change is quality/ taste. How do you think low end grocery stores get their meet? Frozen then they set it out and you buy unthawed. Most chicken is sold to stores frozen and then set out to thaw in the stores. Then we buy it and refreeze it.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Good point HOTBURN76. I work for a huge food distributor here in Columbus Ohio, and we get in "fresh" chicken" for a certain restaurant chain and it is frozen when we get it and is thawed by the time it is picke and shipped. Of course it is stored and picked in a 34 degree whse. I purchase this chicken myself and it is fine. better than i can go buy at any grocerie store. I see nothing wrong with refreezing meat as long as it has been thawed in the refrigerator. Handling is the most important part of any meat processing , weather it be cooking, thawing,or packaging. I woulkd bet BIGCOUNTRY ate something that somewhere down the line wasn't handled correctly. Remember, clean, sanitary, equipment, (knives, counter top, and any packaging material) and you should be OK 99% of the time.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

So why do you guys think they come up with those guidelines? Everybody wants to take shortcuts including myself.

Hey thats why I say keep doing it. sooner or later, will learn ya.[:'(]

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Time and temperature is the question 44 degrees for an hour won't bother or contaminate the meet. Frozen,thawed and refrozen or hung for days in the first place are about the same. I also freeze whole hinds and then thaw in the fridge to make jerkey.During the cutting and piling up of the strips I expect some of the meat gets over forty degrees for an hour or sobefore it gets back to the fridge or freezer. Never had a problem. I don't like hanging more than a day, so each to their own comfort level.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I can see that some people are lucky and never had food poisoning
or they would not take such foolish chances.

Spend 3 days in the hospital with an IV & you are so sick that you want to just die.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I have refrozen meat before and I don't think its a problem if you use it up soon after refreezing.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

It depends on where it was thawed and if above 40F how long was it out. The danger is bacteria growth on the meat, that when frozen it will still exist and when thawed back out will continue to culture. Don't forget that when the meat is cooked above 160F the any bacteria is killed - so again it depends on how well you cook it after it sits out.

I re-freeze time and time but only if the thaw was in the fridge, or the meat sitting out did not completly thaw out above 40F.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Another point to mention is that meat from the "wild" is less succeptable to bacteria growth because of the lack of hormone presence in the meat. Farm raised beef will spoil at a much faster rate than venison, moose, elk or the best meat CARIBOU!

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Goodness gracious you cook your deer roast over 160???? Can you say very well done, very dry?

Most I ever smoke a quarter to is 152F. Thats almost medium to medium well.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

The general rule for safety is, 4/40. The food, no matter what, should not be over 40 degrees for 4 hour total not each time. So if you have fresh meat (never frozen) and it takes two hours to get it below 40, you then have two hours safely later above 40. At least that is what is taught in Rest. cert. courses as I remember it. Also, as far as cooking temp goes, your main goal is over 140 degrees. 99% of bacteria dies at this temp, so for the most part you will be safe. The 1% remaining doesn't die until 190 degrees, which is ruined food.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I thought the main reason people cooked food was to kill bacteria. If you cook your food properly then the bacteria should be kill no matter how many times meat has been thawed and refrozen. Those that have got sick from refrozen meat didn't cook it well enough.Think about it!

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

If the meat spoils, no amount of cooking will make it 100% safe.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Many times our animals have frozen while being transported home from hunting.They were then hung until they thawed so the meat could be cut up.I have never had a problem with spoiled meat.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Only way to kill the bacteria is to cook it to well done. Thats over 165. Most people I know don't like well done. Especially game, it will be very tough, that moose there you got would be like leather over 165.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I usually put the oven on at least 300. smother some steaks in watered down BBQ sauce and pop it in. Then make some mashed potatos and use the sauce for gravy.

Pizza sauce works good too.

Now jerky is another story.

I never worried about getting sick from refreezing.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Iwas thinking. When I do hamburgers, in a skillet, on the stove, the juices sizzle. I know that water boils at 212 degrees. So that would mean that the skillet is at least 212 or the juices wouldn't sizzle and evaporate. I think if I replaced the skillet with a pot of water it would boil eventually. I just might have to start putting a meat thermometer in stuff when I cook it just to see.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

The way I was taught it, the bacteria often are toxic and then it does not matter if they are dead, once their numbers have grown. I have also heard that bacteriacrap is often toxic.
Does anyone know if these asumptions are correct?

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

I have to agree. I’ve done this lots of times with wild game and it sure is cold on the fingers...

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Actually bacteria is present upon harvesting an animal or whatever. When one freezes the meat then it either kills or slows the bacteria. Then once it is thawed the bacteria if not killed can reactivate. There are many different strains of bacteria some that are harmful some that are not. Some may only be harmful if one has a supressed immune system. It just depends. E. Coli is common in under cooked meat. Food that is cooked and left out at room temperature for >2hours Bacteria can mutiply rapidly. Most bacteria grow undetected because they do not give off an odor. It is best when thawing meat you do so in the refridge because the bacteria tends not to reactivate as fast if you thaw at room temp, using mcro wave or water bath.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

10-4:)

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Except for stew I always eat venison very rare. The outside 1/4 inch browned and the rest blood red. never had a problen in the last 40 years!! Heck, Chinese food gives me the squirts 30 minutes later every time, no problem with Venison.

RE: deer meat! bad or good?
 

Good one, Striper Phil. Good to see so many thoughts. Meat that has been thawed can be refroze, no problem there, it willjust be drier.... think about it all that blood/juice seeps out everytime you thaw it and can never be returned to the meat. Like was said in above and in whatever variation you want .... DON'T LET IT GET TOO WARM. If you have a pack of meat that you need to spit, thaw it half way.... so that there are still ice crystals in the meat, you now know that it wasn't too warm and you steaks will look better b/c half froze meat cuts more even. B/c it hasn't thawed all the way through, depletion of blood/juices is minimal and your refrze meat will taste just the same. I am very carefull w/ my venison and will eat it RAW,but lets be serious the guys at the local supermarket don't care as much about the productas I do when I have cared for the meat since the time of death and will consume the whole thing. I know this b/c I got a job in a supermarket butcher shop to learn to cut my own at home. Not all bacteria is bad..... don't worry too much about it or you'll never touch another public door handle again or public washrooms. The guys that handle burger get just over min wage....trust me if all bacteriacould kill so quickly we would all be dead. Oh, and I eat my PORK--PINK no blood, beef or all other red meat is just that RED, domestic chicken and turkey get cooked all the way through but some wild birds I will eat med-rare.