topic Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry... in Community Chat

Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

FiddleDeeDee — Fri, 27 May 2022 03:48:29 GMT

So many times I purchase non-frozen meat or chicken, bring it home, repackage and pop it into the freezer. Never thought it might have been frozen for shipping to the store but apparently the vast majority of meat/poultry IS. I was always taught you NEVER refreeze prior frozen meant/poultry UNLESS you've made a dish with it.

Can you freeze these items again or is that asking for trouble?

Editing to include fish as well. TIA!

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Duckncover — Fri, 27 May 2022 03:55:01 GMT

I always repackage and freeze the meat and poultry I purchase.,,I watch them grind the meat I buy and have never considered that it may have come in frozen. I would freeze it, thaw it, the refreeze it, though. It might be g old to ask when you buy meat now if it has been frozen. So many things are shipped frozen now..Levin the Souter dough bread DH likes is shipped frozen...but you could never tell.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Tinkrbl44 — Fri, 27 May 2022 05:43:42 GMT

@FiddleDeeDee

I'm sure someone has an expert source they can reference.

I have always assumed that much of the "fresh" meat and poultry is shipped at very low temps and even at freezing to assure freshness, but that's just speculation on my part.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

CrazyDaisy — Fri, 27 May 2022 10:01:17 GMT

Don't think it is dangerous to refreeze meat, however it may change the taste.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Imaoldhippie — Fri, 27 May 2022 11:09:28 GMT

@FiddleDeeDee .......The only thing that happens the meat or poultry looses some flavor. It does not cause any problems. I learned this many years ago from a reliable source. Darn, its been so long ago I cant remember what the source was.

It was from something like a county extension agent or similar to that, long before internet.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

CalminHeart — Fri, 27 May 2022 11:13:18 GMT

I've been putting meat in the freezer since I was a kid helping Mom...60+ years. I am am still here. The bigger problem is letting meat stay at room temperature or higher for too long, cooked or raw.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

millieshops — Fri, 27 May 2022 11:41:19 GMT

I have been freezing meat and poultry I bought at local supermarkets for all the years I've had my own kitchen. That's almost 60 years and I'm still here!

I try to buy only fish that is sold as "never frozen" but I rarely buy fresh fish in quantities I would have to freeze.

My "science" tells me to wrap what I freeze very carefully and be aware of how long items are in the freezer. Years ago, DH and I had a chest freezer as well as the refrig/freezer. Long-term freezer quantities went into the chest freezer which didn't get opened nearly as often as the more convenient one. That matters - although more likely for taste and texture than safety.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Harpa — Fri, 27 May 2022 12:00:30 GMT

It used to be stated on the package "previously frozen," usually fish products.

I haven't been looking for that on meat packages. If not used within a day or 2, I always freeze. Then again, I never want anything to be in the freezer for very long.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

On It — Fri, 27 May 2022 12:24:29 GMT

The thing about today's meat is that it is not the meat we older folks have purchased all our lives. The meat is frozen for shipping. It is coming from the large processing plants, not a local meat provider. When meat is thawed and packaged at the grocery store, bacteria can begin growing. Bringing it home after it has been in the meat case for a day or three and then refreezing does seem risky.

Back in the day my home economics class said to never refreeze thawed raw meat. We need to adapt to these new ways of food processing. I buy several pounds of extra lean hamburger, but I cook them before freezing. I brown the meat to be used in spaghetti sauce, tacos, enchiladas, sloppy joe's, etc., let it cool, and freeze it in meal size proportions. The meat is ready to use and handy for a quick meal.

With so few meat suppliers and profit being their primary concern, I think we need to be extremely cautious. The "way I have always done it" isn't viable any longer.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

shoptilyadropagain — Fri, 27 May 2022 13:02:17 GMT

I was always taught the same thing but I've been refreezing meat for years.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Spurt — Fri, 27 May 2022 14:06:27 GMT

@CalminHeart wrote:
I've been putting meat in the freezer since I was a kid helping Mom...60+ years. I am am still here. The bigger problem is letting meat stay at room temperature or higher for too long, cooked or raw.

@CalminHeart

Yep Calmin me too....about meat in the freezer....

And think of Thanksgiving when people eat and then leave all the food on the dinning room table for 4 hours or longer....and then suddenly realize, oh maybe we should have refrigerated the stuff....🙄 That's one reason that I like to go to a restaurant on Thanksgiving and not worry about possibily contaminated leftovers...

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Spurt — Fri, 27 May 2022 14:08:10 GMT

@Imaoldhippie wrote:

@FiddleDeeDee .......The only thing that happens the meat or poultry looses some flavor. It does not cause any problems. I learned this many years ago from a reliable source. Darn, its been so long ago I cant remember what the source was.

It was from something like a county extension agent or similar to that, long before internet.

@Imaoldhippie @FiddleDeeDee

That's a thought your County Extension Agent probably is a good source to ask this question to.......

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Meowingkitty — Fri, 27 May 2022 14:12:48 GMT

I always freeze chicken and beef from the store. I can't say anything about fish because in my 66 years I've never bought any fish.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Sooner — Fri, 27 May 2022 14:44:03 GMT

Unless I go to a local butcher or grind it myself, hamburge always gets thoroughly cooked.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

occasionalrain — Fri, 27 May 2022 14:44:22 GMT

Meat and seafood that has been frozen and then defrosted has to be labeled Previously Frozen, at least it's the law where I live.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

Othereeeen — Fri, 27 May 2022 15:05:36 GMT

So....if you buy meat in bulk and use a food sealer, are you not supposed to do that?

"Buy this sealer and save 4,000 dollars a year in wasted food!!!" they cry on teevee....

( If you're throwing out thousands in wasted food, you need more help than a food sealer in my opinion...)

I've been freezing meat from the store my entire life.

AND.....sometimes I take a package out, thaw in fridge ( or mostly thaw, like for the next day) then change my mind and***gasp*** back in the freezer it goes.

I'm 66 and have NEVER had a bad effect from doing this.

I also buy whole turkeys on sale, and they are way too big for just me. I buy the smallest ones I can. They are ALWAYS purchased rock solid frozen.

I start the thawing process in my fridge, and when it's semi thawed (But still with ice in cavity and the meat still almost frozen) I cut it in half with shears ( a leg, wing and breast each side). Not easy, but it gets it done ( I get them in Walmart or Aldi where there is no butcher to cut them on a band saw)....

One side I cook and eat up in a few days, the other partially thawed half goes right back in the freezer.

I'm 66 and have NEVER had a bad effect from doing this.

The latest crime against expiration dates that I did was.....I had a container of sour cream in my fridge, and decided I wanted some with my meal. It was unopened and WAAAAAYYYY in the back on the lower shelf of the fridge ( my fridge is set on VERY cold..)

Opened it, ate it, and somewhere along the way, looked at the Exp.Date.

It was SIX MONTHS AGO!!!!

Expiration dates are part of the scheme ( in my opinion) to get people to buy MORE and more stuff due to a date. I would NEVER throw out something "Dated" without testing it first ( by odor, appearance, etc).

Now I don't usually let things sit that long. I live alone, and rotate and consume what I buy...

But I won't toss wilted veggies or the last inch of dressing or catsup. Everything gets added to whatever I'm cooking that day. I figure the cooking process will kill any imaginary disease germs on the wilted asparagus.

No slimy lettuce, spinach or rotten spots of course.!!

Another faux pas I did was use apples from an apple tree on my property for making a little apple sauce. I used a paring knife, cut it into small pieces, examined it for worms ( there were none) cut off the one or two tiny blemishes, and all was good.

That tree is never sprayed and it's covered with apples each year!! I figure the deer eat them and they don't die, so I can too.

LIve dangerously!!! Re-freeze a piece of meat!

I agree with posters who say the product must be labeled "previosly frozen". I think that is a law in most states.

I read that chicken, if frozen, the bones turn black when you cook it. I don't know if that's true, but its a way to tell if the chicken bought as "fresh" was previously frozen.....

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

novamc1 — Fri, 27 May 2022 15:19:04 GMT

Have read in various places that frozen seafood is probably superior to what appears to be sold as "fresh" and unfrozen at the grocery store seafood counter.

Frozen seafood is reportedly flash-frozen very soon after it's caught, while whatever is sold unfrozen at the grocery store might have been thawed first and isn't really "fresh".

Not all stores are located close to where seafood is harvested, so I prefer to buy it frozen and thaw it on my own schedule.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

icezeus — Fri, 27 May 2022 15:16:56 GMT

I have never thought about it. When I purchase meat and fish from the grocery store, when I arrive home unless I am cooking the meat that night. I place it in the freezer.

Since, I have done this for many years I will continue this practice.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

CatsyCline — Fri, 27 May 2022 15:38:47 GMT

Just about 99% of all commercial caught fish and other seafood has been flash frozen at sea to kill parasites. Tuna and some others are subject to extra-careful monitoring at sea to stay frozen, but even freezing doesnt kill a certain toxin common to Tuna, Skipjack and some others: Scrombotoxin.

the exception to flash freezing might be locally caught seafood or freshwater fish if you buy it off a day boat. Or a fish market but they do hold the fish temp at 32 deg.

Fish goes bad quickly, i buy and cook it that day or the next at the very latest. never re-freeze it and i don't care for frozen fish portions, i get a stomach ache from them just for an hour or so.

Re: Frozen then thawed then frozen again meat/poultry...

FiddleDeeDee — Fri, 27 May 2022 15:58:05 GMT

I'm reading this after returning from Aldi. I have many packages of chicken breasts that I'm re-wrapping an placing in the freezer and it's obvious that they were previously frozen because many of them are still or partially frozen and it does NOT say prior frozen.

I looked at their hamburger, bacon, sausages and other chicken products....most were just starting to thaw out, none said prior frozen.

I've noticed the same thing at Publix, Costco, Giant, etc which tells me the meat IS shipped frozen and then sits out, thaws and then we buy it and refreeze unless we cook it. I noticed that whole roasters are half frozen as well.

This throws out everything I was taught about refreezing meat, lol. Thanks everyone!!!