Community Chat

[FiddleDeeDee]

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!

[Duckncover]

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.

[Tinkrbl44]

@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.

[CrazyDaisy]

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

[Imaoldhippie]

@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.

[CalminHeart]

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.

[millieshops]

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.

[Harpa]

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.

[On It]

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.

[shoptilyadropagain]

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