I went to the store this morning and I bought some Italian sausage and they were almost frozen. Luckily I was going to use it today, but my concern is I always thought that you couldn't refreeze meat. If this is true, had I come into the store later that day, the sausage would have been thawed. So unknown to me I would have brought it home and stuck it in the freezer. I just wonder how many times other meats in the case are frozen? Can you refreeze store bought meat or not?
Thanks,
Pam
Hi Pam. I think as long as the meat doesn't get to room temp., which allows bacteria to develop, freezing is no problem. I've done that many times and had no problems. You should be fine. (04/06/2005)
By Suzanne
A butcher friend of ours says it's ok to re-freeze meat. I've done it many times since he told us this, and we've never encountered any problems at all! (04/06/2005)
By carol
I was under the impression that raw meat, which had been frozen, can be refrozen if cooked. (04/06/2005)
By Lucille Gifford
Gee, thanks guys for the information. I wish I knew this a few years back when we had a snow storm and electric was out for 4 days and everything in the freezer thawed. I could have refroze it, instead of having pork chops for breakfast. LOL. Like I said, I was always told once thawed you can't refreeze unless you cook it. But, if I understand, as long as it's still cold you can refreeze raw meat, right? Ok, thanks again. (04/07/2005)
By Pam
If the meat was allowed to thaw on the counter or in the microwave, it sounds like there is a concern about bacteria. What happens if the meat is frozen with bacteria? Does the bacteria continue to grow? Doesn't all bacteria die if the meat is cooked properly? (12/30/2007)
By eighttrackin
No! Never refreeze! Bacteria can go in hibernation, and just happily keep going after thawing, and the cells of the meat burst because they're made out of 70/90% water, which expands. So it's probably already dry. Make sure you cook as soon as it's thawed. (04/27/2008)
It's perfectly ok to freeze meat again. As a cook, the staff and I did this all the time.
Bacteria does form when thawed, but when you freeze the meat again, it freezes the bacteria too. When you thaw it out again, it goes back to where it was before.
The texture may be affected a little bit, but that is about it. (09/19/2008)
By Perry
I work at a butcher shop and a lot of the time meat comes in frozen. As for meats like pork and beef, which are made into sausages/hamburger/patties, you have to thaw it enough to work through the grinder, which in turn you mix spices into and make the product. You then freeze those sausages/hamburger/patties for customers. When you go to cook it you in turn thaw it out or as I do, put it on the grill frozen.
A lot of people who hunt their own venison will get it in fresh/frozen (depends if it is really cold outside) and in turn we put it in the cooler to thaw. You then cut it and freeze it. Many months later people will bring in left-over meat to be put into sausages. You then must thaw it and work it into the grinder and freeze it again. Then to actually eat it, you have to thaw it again to cook it.
Think about it; if the meat smells bad and looks green (I don't know of any green eggs and ham to be in existence), then don't eat it! That's the general rule, isn't it? (09/25/2008)
By Matt Boersma
A quote from another article on the subject titled, "Is It Safe to Refreeze Raw Meat and Poultry that Has been Thawed?" by Alice Henneman, MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County:
The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) advises, "Meat and poultry defrosted in the refrigerator may be refrozen before or after cooking. If thawed by other methods, cook before refreezing." (Basics for Handling Food Safely, September 8, 2006.)
(DO NOT thaw meat at room temperature, such as on the kitchen counter.)
Meat/poultry that is refrozen might suffer some quality loss as moisture may be lost during thawing.
Safety will depend on whether the raw product was handled properly before it was frozen, refrozen shortly after it was thawed, cooked to a safe temperature when it is eaten and handled safely if there are any leftovers. (11/10/2008)
By Jensen
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I talked to a US meat inspector, on beef when the meat comes into the processing to be sold plant the meat is frozen, they thaw it but keep constant temperature readings, it must stay below 42 degrees farenheight, sorry abt spelling, they have people constantly checking the temps, as long as it stays below 42, this inspector told me that you could thaw and refreeze, at 3rd un thawing you have to cook and eat or throw away
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