[mwncigirl]

We have had a freezer disaster. Our small freezer with all our sausages and 4 joints of pork has not been on for at least 24 hours. Everything is defrosted. I can't believe it. In desperation I'm asking does anyone know if we can re-freeze? Nothing has been taken out. I'm too upset to google it and take it all in. HELP  

[Sbom]

What a nightmare! Pretty sure you can only re freeze defrosted meat if it's been cooked  . Sounds like an excuse for a big party to me  was going to say BBQ , then looked outside 

[Bionic]

Agree with sbom, You can't refreeze unless you cook it first, unless you want to make yourselves ill that is. I definitely wouldn't want to risk it.
Sally

[YorkshireLass]

Is the meat yours or to be sold?


I have refrozen raw meat, but I haven't unpacked or handled it between the disaster and the refreeze (so not introducing more bacteria. And it's hardly Mediterranean here, so 24 hours does not scream "danger!" to me. Have you prodded a package? Does it feel warm? If it feels "fridge temp" or below I wouldn't panic. Warm, and it's obviously been thawed for much longer, and I would give it to the dog I'm afraid.


However, I would be the first one to sample any of the re-frozen meat, and would not consider serving it to others unless I had tried a few different things and been fine.

[robert waddell]

not a cook or a hygienist  is there not another thread on here saying you can freeze thaw and refreeze

[mwncigirl]

Some of the sausages we still frozen in the middle, some weren't. All the joints were defrosted ( they weren't in a heap so defrosted quicker). All were definitely cold - none were handled, all separately packaged and tied. I seem to have read mixed things. I was going to sell some of it.....


Yorkshire lass, I will definitely eat it as I don't reckon it got warm enough to cause any problems.


Thanks Robert Waddell, I'll have a look.


I've calmed down a bit now, but still really gutted 

[nic99]

I don't think there is any way you can sell this meat now i'm afraid. It is one thing taking a risk yourself by refreezing it, but it is whole different ball game risking it and selling it on. Trading standards would have a field day. Personally I don't think it is worth risking it, even on yourself. If it were me (and it has been in the not so distant past) I would cook it all and then refreeze it. Makes absolutely no difference to the eating, just limits your choice of recipes a bit and removes all chance of your becoming seriously ill.

[mwncigirl]

Don't worry, not going to sell it. Will get the other half to try if before I eat it 

[earlybird]

i have had this problem before, i cooked all the joints and sausages then froze the cooked sausages on a baking tray then bagged them, when wanting a quick meal took out how many i needed and cooked them in the oven, only wanted 20 mins from frozen. the joints i cooked and sliced up into portions and froze. then all i had to do was cook veg as normal take out portions of pork placed in oven for 30 mins. no different than these ready cooked frozen meals that you can buy. also did chops that way, we had at least half a pig that thawed out and doing it that way we had no wastage

[oaklandspigs]

This comes up occasionally, and below is a prevous post I did on the subject
 
The food standards agency advice has changed on this. It used to be that once unfrozen you should not re-freeze. Now they say that as long as the middle of the meat has reached 70 degrees c when eventually cooked.
The following thread shows this advice
http://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a10078975/cooking_and_refreezing_meat_a_past_discussion.
in particular a letter from the FSA:
Dear madam,
Thank you for your recent request for information regarding thawing, cooking and refreezing. Your query has been passed to me for reply.
The Food Standards Agency advises that it is safe to thaw raw meat/chicken, and refreeze it.
When thawing raw meat, we advise that you do so overnight in a clean, covered container at the bottom of the fridge, to prevent any juices from dripping onto food which may be eaten without cooking. Once defrosted, you should keep the meat in the fridge and use it within two days. You could also defrost it using the “defrost” setting on a microwave, in which case you should use it immediately. We advise against thawing at room temperature, as doing so exposes food to the “danger zone” between 8°C and 63°C when harmful bacteria can grow quickly.
When cooking the meat, ensure that it is done thoroughly until the it is piping hot throughout, reaching a temperature of 70°C for 2 minutes and chicken should be cooked until no pink remains.
Before putting cooked food in the freezer, you should cool it thoroughly and quickly (ideally taking no more than 1-2 hours). To speed up the cooling process, you could divide the food up into smaller portions, place each portion in a clean container, and place the containers in a shallow dish of water. Once cool, you should transfer the food to the freezer immediately.
However, if the meat/chicken was already cooked prior to freezing, then we would advise that you do not keep any leftovers or refreeze. The reason we advise against refreezing cooked food more than once is because the more times food is frozen and thawed, the more chance there is for something to go wrong. Bacteria might grow and multiply because the food is not defrosted correctly, and might survive because the food isn't reheated properly. So it's best not to reheat and/or refreeze cooked food more than once.
Further advice on keeping food safe can be found on our Eatwell site:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/keepingfoodsafe/
I trust that you will find this information useful and that it answers your question.
Yours sincerely,
Grace Mukasa
Microbiological Food Safety Branch
Food Safety: Hygiene & Microbiology Division
 
However the FSA link then leads to this that says don't !
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/how-to-store-food-safely.aspx

 

[Bionic]

Oaklands, thats very interesting. Thanks for posting
Sally

[mwncigirl]

Oaklandspigs I love you! 

[Berkshire Boy]

No problem with re freezing defrosted meat. Its common sense that if the meat has defrosted in the freezer over 24 hours it will not get warm so will not encourage bacterial growth. If cooked properly no problem.
Do you all throw food away when it reaches it's sell by date, I doubt it. Too much mamby pamby info put out by government bodies.
Most things that people question about food in fridges and freezers the answers come from the days of early fridges, modern fridges and freezers are space age in comparison to the early ones.

[Sylvia]

Unless it's gone off a bit being defrosted, all you will lose is, maybe, a bit of quality. Freezing will only keep food as it was before it was frozen, it won't improve or deteriorate (unless you keep it for years!)