Took Baked Chicken From Freezer to Frig Is It Safe to Refreeze Again
Did y'all get more food out of your freezer than you lot can use? Are you wondering if you can safely refreeze it? Wonder no more! Find out here.
Can I Refreeze Food After It Was Thawed?
Did you take some ground beefiness out of the freezer and decide to go out for dinner at the last minute? Did you thaw some steaks, but something came up and had leftovers instead? Did yous merely get also tired to cook and had cereal for dinner?
Yeah, me too.
OK, and so now what? You can keep thawed foods in the refrigerator for a few days, but it'due south best to utilize them as before long as you tin can.
If you lot won't get effectually to using the defrosted food shortly enough, y'all can refreeze information technology! That's right, you tin put it dorsum in the freezer.
Nutrient Safety Bug and Refreezing
Nosotros do need to talk almost nutrient safety for a minute. Keeping food in the refrigerator doesn't kill bacteria, and neither does freezing it. In the refrigerator, bacterial growth is slowed only not stopped. In the freezer, bacterial growth is stopped – until the food is thawed. So the bacteria pick up right where they left off.
Just because you freeze, thaw, and refreeze food won't brand it unsafe. Merely it does increase the risk of bacterial growth to dangerous levels. Exist sure to that your refrigerator and freezer are at the recommended temperatures. And refreeze whatsoever thawed food as soon equally you know that y'all won't be using it. (Remember, keep these guidelines in mind for how long food tin stay in the refrigerator.) When you do thaw it (again) to melt it, be sure to apply a food thermometer and melt it to the minimum recommended internal temperature.
Food Quality Issues and Refreezing
Although food prophylactic isn't a major concern when y'all refreeze something, quality can be. When h2o is frozen, information technology expands. (Ever overfill an ice cube tray or water bottle? I didn't think then. Me neither.) All nutrient is made upward of cells, and the inside of those cells is mainly water. When nutrient is frozen, the h2o inside those cells expands and some of the cells break. When the food thaws, the water that was inside the cells leaks out of the food.
That's why nosotros recommend always thawing food on a lipped tray in your refrigerator. In case your packaging leaks, you'll still accept something to catch that liquid.
When you refreeze food, y'all can't recapture that moisture inside the food. And more than cells will break and a fiddling more moisture will be lost. Y'all can expect foods to exist a bit less moist after they are refrozen.
This just means you need to be a little more creative when yous're cooking. It's not a very large deal with ground meat or with a big roast that's going to hang out in a ho-hum cooker all twenty-four hours. Just for chicken breasts or nice steaks, you demand to think about unlike methods of cooking. Think about brining or marinating meats, searing quickly over high heat instead of cooking for a longer fourth dimension over low heat, or adding sauces to the dish to keep (or add) more wet.
Packaging for Refreezing
Air is always the enemy when yous're freezing foods. Air inside a package will make food dry out out faster (leading to freezer burn) and tin introduce strange odors or tastes to frozen food. Always use air-tight packages for the freezer. My favorite is Ziploc freezer bags. I squeeze all the air out earlier I seal information technology. Y'all tin can besides use a straw to suck the last few air bubbles out. Or invest in a vacuum sealer if you freeze a lot.
It's best to repackage anything that you volition be refreezing. Throw away the original packaging and wrap the food in a new air-tight packet. Be sure to label and appointment the food. Mark the package with both dates the food was frozen – the beginning fourth dimension and the refreezing date. This volition aid yous to apply the foods that accept been in the freezer longer first.
What other questions do y'all take about freezing? I'd honey to read them in the comments below. I'll answer equally many as I can in the comments, and I'll likewise use them every bit ideas for more articles!
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Source: https://www.myfearlesskitchen.com/can-i-refreeze-food-after-it-was-thawed/