re freezing???

cookiequeen

Hi guys with all the christmas cooking i have to prepare for loads of guests coming over I think I made a huge error. I had a frozen pork shoulder which i defrosted yesterday and made into barbeque pulled pork, so basically it is boiled and steamed for about 2 and 1/2 hours. Then forgetting that it had been frozed raw I put it back into the freezer last night so it can be had by guests on sunday while I'm at work. Please help. I need to know if its totally inedible or if i've lost sleep over nothing.

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Food that is thawed and then cooked should be ok for re-freezing I think.

Boiling and steaming would have killed any bacteria in there, so yeah, I reckon it would be ok.

antoniosicily

I would freeze just once, even if it's cooked.

I suppose that there is nothing wrong in refreezing after you cook your food but I don't really like this practice.

Mr Magnolia

As Des says, it's fine to re-freeze as you have done, once everything has been prepared correctly.

Enjoy!

rubadub

Freezing and refreezing over and over just breaks up the cells, like how mushrooms will turn to mush. Some say it makes it toxic or produces bacteria which is a myth. Manufacturers say not to refreeze since it effects the texture and hence does taste as good.

But frozen, cooked and refrozen, should be fine bacteria wise, it may have tasted a little better if not frozen at all, or just once. but no food poisioning worries, as long as it was not, and will not be sitting at room temp for a long period.

Mr Magnolia

I may have picked you up wrong from your first paragraph rubadub but, freezing and refreezing will not only break up cells, it will also provide a breeding ground for bacteria.

'Freezing -> thawing -> cooking -> freezing' as the OP did is fine though as you point out in your second paragraph is fine.

rubadub

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

I may have picked you up wrong from your first paragraph rubadub but, freezing and refreezing will not only break up cells, it will also provide a breeding ground for bacteria.

It is really when it is left to defrost at room temps for long periods, this is the same as leaving fresh meat out at room temp. You should always defrost in a fridge unless you are certain it will not be at room temp for any length of time.

Some people think some weird thing/process happens upon freezing and defrosting which makes millions of bacteria grow, that is the myth. The myth probably came about due to incorrect/poor defrosting procedures, but that is just equivalent to fresh meat at room temp, no more, no less. In fact freezing should kill off some bacteria that cannot survive cold temps which would still be present in fresh meat.

e.g. if I bought 2 fresh chicken fillets today, dated 1 week, and froze one today, defrosted in the fridge alongside the other, refroze, and thawed in the fridge over and over, there should be no more bacteria in the frozen one than the fresh one, probably less. Now if I did my thawing at room temp it is the same as leaving the fresh one out each day at room temp too, both would be full of bacteria. The freeze/thaw cycling would break up the cells and make it very odd tasting though.

Problem is moreso in large joints of meat, as it takes longer to defrost so the outer layers can be at room temp for a whole day before the inner bit is thawed. When semi thawed it could be sliced and popped in an oven to reheat properly.

I have a particular hobby that requires complete sterilization of food/grains and have tried many methods and tested many ways of doing it, and have done a lot of reading up about it, and have found from my own experience and tests that freezing will kill off some already present bacteria.

Dizzyblonde

Freezing cooked meat when it's been frozen raw is not a preblem. I find that the best way to reheat it when thawed is in a dish in the oven covered in tinfoil, with a nice gravy or sauce poured over it.

Miss Fluff

After cooking, was it fully cooled when you put it back in the freezer?

cookiequeen

i wouldn't say it was stone cold as I didn't want it sitting around atroom temp for hours. I know it raises the temp of your freezer but I think it was sufficiently cold tonot raise the temp in my freezer too much for too long. Packed it with ice!!