Freeze Thaw Freeze?

[Bill-Chicago]

I froze a picnic and thawed it for this weekend.

Something came up, and I won't get back to it for more than a week.

Can I refreeze the picnic?

 

[parrothead]

Give it a whirl. Is it cryovaced?

 

[Ron_L]

Can I refreeze fish or meat once it is thawed?

“A good question and the answer is - it depends!” Thawing and refreezing anything will affect the quality of the food. Ice crystals damage cell structure and freezing may remove moisture from the food. In terms of safety, if the food has been in the refrigerator while thawing and is still partially frozen then it can be refrozen. However, if the food was thawed out of the fridge or in the microwave, then do not refreeze. Parts of the surface or interior of the food will have been exposed to temperatures above 4ºC for a period of time. If the food has been thawed, the safest thing to do is cook the fish or meat before refreezing. Never thaw food on the counter. Foods thawed in a mircrowave need to be cooked immediately.

So... based on this, if you thawed it in the fridge, then you should be able to refreeze it. If you are in doubt, don't do it.

 

[BrooklynQ]

A chef friend of mine does this all the time. He says that unless it's very expensive meat, you won't notice a change.

 

[qman]

My general rule is--if you can cook it and eat it right now, you can freeze it! There will be some quality loss in the thaw/freeze cycle, but unless the meat has been at room temp in the danger zone too long, it should be fine. If it has been in the danger zone too long, you aint going to cook it and eat it anyway, are you??

 

[Bill-Chicago]

Thanks guys,

Its a picnic, so if its dry, I'll add more sauce.

Refreezing now.

Thanks again
(no Greg on Cryo, tbut the leg portion is the only thing with "air" in the pack

Fridge thawed too