Frozen chicken question****

ducie

If i take frozen chicken out of the freezer and put into fridge for 18 Hrs, can i put back in freezer?

sealgaire

Did that once, all I can say is don't do it.

Sparks

Once you defrost it, you should never re-freeze poultry.

ducie

thats all i needed to know, cheers

kylith

AFAIK if you cook it you can freeze it then.

chuckles30

kylith is right, if you cook it, you can freeze the finished product. I often defrost chicken fillets, cook then in a curry etc & then freeze a leftover portion of the curry no problem.

But you cannot re-freeze it as it is.....very dangerous!!!

The Sweeper

Someone should tell all those Moore Street butchers who sell chicken breast fillets from the large trays in their display cases that it's very dangerous in that case. Half of those are still frozen first thing in the morning and they thaw through the day in the fridge cabinet - am quite sure plenty of people who buy those take them home and put them in their freezers. Sounds like mass hysterical food poisoning waiting to happen for half the residents of Dublin 1.

duploelabs

Sparks wrote: »

Once you defrost it, you should never re-freeze poultry.

Sorry sparks but that's bull, Any food is fine with regards to food poisoning as long as the time at which the bacteria can be active is not an extended period. By freezing it and un-freezing it just means you are putting the bacteria present in the meat into different states of being dormant and active.
The only detrimental thing you can do to food by freezing it and un-freezing it a load of times is that the crystallization of the water molecules in the cells as they freeze will break down the cell structure and lead you to limp and soggy food.

Also a quick note on chickens particularly, A chicken that you buy from a local supplier that has been organically reared and free range will last a lot longer than a "3 for a tenner" type chook

Vodkat

It's ok ONLY IF you defrosted it in the refrigerator - and it's been held at a temperature of 40ºF or lower for no more than a couple of days. A lot of chickens you buy in the grocery store have been frozen, or partially frozen, and thaw overnight in the display case.

If you defrosted it in the microwave, under cold running water, or sitting on the counter - it should be cooked immediately! The cooked chicken can then be frozen.

duploelabs

Vodkat wrote: »

It's ok ONLY IF you defrosted it in the refrigerator - and it's been held at a temperature of 40ºF or lower for no more than a couple of days. A lot of chickens you buy in the grocery store have been frozen, or partially frozen, and thaw overnight in the display case.

If you defrosted it in the microwave, under cold running water, or sitting on the counter - it should be cooked immediately! The cooked chicken can then be frozen.

+1 on that

Carawaystick

As long as the chicken is cooked through it doesn't really matter from a bacteria point of view.

I mean fresh chicken can have salmonella in it, defrosting and refreezing only disimproves the texture of the chicken. you're still gonna cook the chicken through, which will kill all the salmonella.



Maybe anyone who disagrees with this could explain how the process of defrosting or. refreezing accelerates bacteria growth to make the food dangerous

the beer revolu

Carawaystick wrote: »

As long as the chicken is cooked through it doesn't really matter from a bacteria point of view.

I mean fresh chicken can have salmonella in it, defrosting and refreezing only disimproves the texture of the chicken. you're still gonna cook the chicken through, which will kill all the salmonella.



Maybe anyone who disagrees with this could explain how the process of defrosting or. refreezing accelerates bacteria growth to make the food dangerous

I think the issue is the conditions it was defrosted in; ie could some of the chicken have gotten above 5 degrees C.? which would promote bacterial growth.

It seems to be easier to have a blanket rule of "never refreeze defrosted meat" rather than take the risk that people will get it wrong.
This leads to people throwing out freezerfulls of food because it has partially defrosted!! :eek::eek:

I guess people are better at following rules than at thinking for themselves and using their judgement!