Re-freezing Meat question

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 00:57

I would appreciate some guidance on a topic that I have no experience on:- Re-freezing meat.

If I buy meat, and at that time it has 2 days before the "use by date", vacuum pack and freeze it the day I buy it for about 1 or 2 weeks, then defrost to process to sausage, can the sausage be frozen?
Essentially I am then re-freezing the meat.

Would this be a safe practice? This would apply to Beef, Pork, Chicken and Turkey.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 01:05

I have been doing it for years. Probably shortened my life to less than one hundred years.

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 01:53

ssorllih wrote:I have been doing it for years. Probably shortened my life to less than one hundred years.

Thank you Ross, only a hundred years life span then?

Oh well, I guess one can't eat the sausage from both ends, got to pay the penalty somewhere along the line.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 09:47

Shucks Bubba,
Ol' Ross was with General Sherman when they "mooned" the rebel soldiers and then marched on down to the sea to have a little dip in the Atlantic.

Yes, the meat is safe, although each time it freezes, the ice crystals will rupture more cells. The meat's texture will suffer a little and it will be slightly less flavorful - but safe. Quick freezing makes smaller ice crystals thus less damage.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 17:47

Chuckwagon wrote:Ol' Ross was with General Sherman when they "mooned" the rebel soldiers

William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 - February 14, 1891)

The waters of the Atlantic must have waved their magic on them, that's pretty good going in years.

Thank you for the update on re-freezing meat, Chuckwagon, I will keep these freezing times to an absolute minimum.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 20:09

I don't remember too much about that scrap. My mind has been a bit foggy ever since that charge up San Jaun Hill.

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 21:25

OOOOoooo... I've created a monster!

Don't believe it for a moment Bubba! His lack of memory is due to sniffin' and snortin' all that sodium nitrite!

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 02:05

Chuckwagon wrote:Don't believe it for a moment Bubba! His lack of memory is due to sniffin' and snortin' all that sodium nitrite!

But the Cuban Cigars are good!

I suspect former President Theodore Roosevelt had a few stuffed in his pockets after returning from the San Juan Hill.

uwanna61 · Post by **uwanna61** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 02:10

Cuban cigar? Last time I had a Cuban cigar with a shot of cognac, I thought I was gonna fall over the rail of the cruise ship

No it wasn`t motion sickness either

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 02:13

Maybe the Cognac was past it's "sell by" date?

uwanna61 · Post by **uwanna61** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 02:30

No, when it comes to strong liquor and cigars, I`m a wimp. It was my B-day cruise several years back and the gang wanted to celebrate in style. Of course it didn`t help the waiter at our table, held a bottle of rum over me, like a bartender gone wild.
Anyhow back to ice crystals, CW will probably throw me out on my mustache if I keep jabbering about non topic material

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 03:34

My experience has been that the colder I keep my freezer and the more widely spaced my meat packages when I put them in the freezer the more quickly they freeze and the less bleeding I get when they thaw. Slow freezing make big ice crystals.