jeff@heurikon.UUCP (02/26/84)
Ten or 15 years ago I remember reading about why you
should *not* refreeze meat. You bought it chilled, not
frozen, so that you could freeze it for the first time.
Once you thawed it out, the advise was not to freeze
it again or else some sort of DREADFUL thing would
happen to the meat and, hence, future consumers.
My wife thinks I'm crazy because I go wild when she
refreezes hamburger meat.
Does anybody know what this is all about?
--
/"""\ Jeffrey Mattox, Heurikon Corp, Madison, WI
|O.O| {harpo, hao, philabs}!seismo!uwvax!heurikon!jeff (news & mail)
\_=_/ ihnp4!heurikon!jeff (mail - fast)ecs@inuxd.UUCP (Eileen Schwab) (02/29/84)
I am also concerned about refreezing meat, having been told this was unsafe. However, I've noticed that the grocery stores frequently put out meat (chicken) which IS frozen. It then thaws in the meat counter. When you purchase it it may be completely thawed. Since it is not obvious that the meat has been previously frozen, I'm sure people are refreezing it. Maybe its OK to refreeze some meats, but not others? /\ "Some Eileen Schwab /V V\ like (AT&T Consumer Products) / ^ ^ \ it ...inuxc!inuxd!ecs \______/ HOT!"
hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison) (02/29/84)
<Where's the beef?> Frozen meat which has thawed and then been refrozen is subject to freezer burn, which makes it tougher, drier, and can give it a funny taste. If it reaches room temperature, it can start to culture salmonella, and any other lovely bacteria which it picked up in handling and packing. When it refreezes, these bacteria will continue to grow but at a slower rate. Therefore, the time it is safe to store the meat is reduced by some random amount. No, home irradiation to kill the bacteria is NOT advised. Hutch
halle1@houxz.UUCP (J.HALLE) (02/29/84)
The health problem is not with refreezing meat per se, but with refreezing meat that has been contaminated with bacteria. If this meet is refrozen, the bacteria will survive to multiply upon rethawing, if they don't while frozen. If the meat still has some ice crystals in it, it should be OK. If it thawed in a cold fridge so that it never got above 36-40 F or so, it is probably OK. Just because it is safe, however, does not mean you want to refreeze it. The freeze-thaw cycle will affect the flavor and texture, so you might want to cook it now, anyway.
marc@genrad.UUCP (Marc Smith) (03/06/84)
Yes, refreezing meat is quite dangerous and is much akin to eating refrozen ice cream. According to a national publication, refrozen ice cream was the third largest killer of young children in 1976. Anyway don't you remember just dying when your mother made you eat all the old ice cream before you could have any of the new. Oh, by the way that national publication was National Lampoon, at least as accurate as the Star. -- [decvax!genrad!]marc smith GenRad, Inc. Bolton Mass