Yes, you can— but you may not want to. According to the USDA, when raw meat is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking. For this reason, it's perfectly OK to purchase, say, a previously frozen piece of salmon from Trader Joe's, and then put it in your freezer when you get home.
But if you refreeze thawed poultry or meat, you will be compromising quality of taste and texture. Not only does meat lose water during the defrosting process, but refreezing it also creates ice crystals within the structure of the meat that alter its fibers, leaving an unfortunately dry cut of meat.
Of course, like all raw animal protein, the true safety of the product will depend on whether it's been properly handled. The best ways to defrost raw meat are in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave — not on a room-temperature kitchen counter.
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J Taylor
I wouldn't..
1I have always wondered this.
2my family has done this in the past, and i guess they've always been fine with it. sometimes it's hard to plan. for example, my mom will defrost steak or something for dinner assuming that my brothers will be home in time, and then their plans change, so a steak has to go back into the freezer. it's either that, or waste the money - and no one's ever really complained about the taste/texture in the past.
3I will do it from time to time but definitely try to avoid it.
I also wanted to mention that you can marinade meat then freeze it - just stick the bag with the meat and marinade right in the freezer! Try to thaw it out in the fridge, that will help the meat to really soak up the flavor (it won't get any of the marinade flavor while frozen). I try to do this a lot because it makes dinner that one step quicker!
4I have always wondered about this. Thank you!
5I've always wondered!!!! I have to say I've had to do it before, rarely but I have.
6Maybe you can do this with beef but definitely not with chicken. I wouldn't do it with either, personally.
7I meant to say 'Been there done that' with chicken. Peeeeyuuuu.
8Thank you sooo much, because, yes, this is exactly the answer I was looking for! I took out a package of frozen chicken breasts from my freezer the night before last and put it into the fridge to defrost. My son (the one in our family who absolutely loves my chicken recipe) reminded me that he is to go to his fathers for the week this morning. So, of course, the chicken would have been ready to cook for dinner tonight, but with this reminder and two other family members out of town on a camping trip for the next 4 days, I decided to put the chicken back in the freezer due to economical hardship @ this time! Needless to say I am much relieved to hear that it may be safe to defrost and eat at a later date, but is this answer coming from an expert or trusted research I wonder now. I know I must sound like a crazy person, but I assure you that I'm only a concerned single mother of 5 children on a tight budget! Can someone provide an answer asap? I would much appreciate it, thanks!
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