thawing then re freezing meat
12-29-2010, 07:50 AM
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Its done all the time. And generally safe if thawed properly. But each time a meat is froze and thawed, it opens it up to air, and bacteria. Meat will start spoiling as soon as blood stops pumping thru it.
If you thaw meat by leaving at room temps, then refreeze, this where one can get sick or the meat starts smelling funny.
if you ever go out in the bush in Canada and kill a moose, you have to get the meat home. The standard practice is to quick freeze the meat in extreme freeze, and the meat thaws on the way home to some extent. Then you refreeze it at home.
If you thaw meat by leaving at room temps, then refreeze, this where one can get sick or the meat starts smelling funny.
if you ever go out in the bush in Canada and kill a moose, you have to get the meat home. The standard practice is to quick freeze the meat in extreme freeze, and the meat thaws on the way home to some extent. Then you refreeze it at home.
12-29-2010, 11:56 AM
#12
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Tennessee
Posts: 362
Ok reading all of these I have heard about letting meat cure for a few days on ice before freezing. And even letting a deer hang for three days before processing. I was given an impromptu class from a friend who has an elaborate process: 1. Let the deer hang for three days in a cooler or equivalent temp. 2. Let the meat sit on ice for 7-10 days draining periodically. 3. Freeze the meat then thaw and refreeze. 4. When thawed to eat thaw it in a marinade (can't remember all the ingredients bu there were 5)....
12-29-2010, 04:18 PM
#15
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Central Utah
Posts: 4,815
Meat loses quality when it's thawed and refrozen (due to ice crystals rupturing cell walls). However, it doesn't become unsafe just because it is thawed and refrozen.
Letting it get warm where bacteria will grow on it makes it unsafe. Keep it cool and you're fine.
Letting it get warm where bacteria will grow on it makes it unsafe. Keep it cool and you're fine.
12-30-2010, 12:06 PM
#17
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 25,116
Done it many times to make sausage....it's been fine for me. During one of our hurricanes our entire freezer thawed out..ALL the food refroze when electric was turned back on.Electric was off for 5 days.
12-30-2010, 12:08 PM
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
12-31-2010, 07:31 AM
#20
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SE, Pennsylvania
Posts: 174
I usually freeze meat and rethaw when its a good time to grind or stuff sausage. Thaw in fridge not on countertop. But I don't let thaw all the way, just enough to break pieces apart to get in grinder hole. And also grind or stuff outside in cold weather, which keeps it from thawing to much. Should be fine.