Is it OK to freeze raw meat twice?

[Anonymous]

I took raw minced meat out of the freezer, but now I want to put it back in. I know this is bad to do with chicken and pork, but what about beef?

[Anonymous]

Hell no. Meat is meat. Once it's thawed, cook it or toss it. Imagine you just left a burger on the floor for an hour. Would you eat it? Read the label when in doubt.

[Anonymous]

Probably not, but I've done it without ill effect. But I'll only do it if I thawed the meat in the fridge and it wasn't setting out.

[Anonymous]

Noooooo. Never refreeze meat.

[Anonymous]

what if you defrost the meat (any meat) in the frig and not on the floor, I mean counter?

I've always wondered this.

[Anonymous]

I think I've done it before--moved it from freezer to fridge and then changed my mind and moved it back to the freezer. as i recall, the meat wasn't great, but it was fine and no one got sick from it.

[Anonymous]

Bad idea. Says so on the package. Samonella can kill you or your kids. Just toss it, it's a few bucks.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand this. What if the meat is hermetically sealed? How is a change in temperature going to affect that?

And, we're cooking our meats to safe temperature anyway. Why is salmonella or e-coli or anything else MORE of a danger based on what happened to the meat before it reached 165 degrees?

I do agree that the texture suffers. But I'm not convinced by all the pearl-clutching around safety.

[Anonymous]

I always thought the rule was that if it was defrosting in the fridge, it was fine to refreeze within the day.

[Anonymous]

Do not defrost on the counter:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this. What if the meat is hermetically sealed? How is a change in temperature going to affect that?

And, we're cooking our meats to safe temperature anyway. Why is salmonella or e-coli or anything else MORE of a danger based on what happened to the meat before it reached 165 degrees?

I do agree that the texture suffers. But I'm not convinced by all the pearl-clutching around safety.

The cooking will kill most of the bacteria, but not all. But a small amount might not be enough to get you sick. So you want to give the bacteria as little time as possible under favorable conditions to reproduce, when it can replicate to high enough numbers that there are still enough survivors to cause an infection after cooking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not defrost on the counter:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

Don't tell this to my mother. We grew up with her thawing the ground beef on the counter... or in the sink (gasp!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not defrost on the counter:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp

Don't tell this to my mother. We grew up with her thawing the ground beef on the counter... or in the sink (gasp!)

And I grew up without ever using a car seat. We know better now.