Re-Freezing Defrosted Meat Will Damage Texture
I can’t tell you how many times I took meat out of the freezer in the morning just so that dinner plans suddenly changed that evening. It may be tempting to put the cut piece back in the freezer, but this will negatively affect the taste and texture of the food.
To see how re-freezing defrosted meat can be harmful, Cook’s Illustrated prepared three different chicken breasts from three different states:
Cut the boneless chicken breast into three parts. We have prepared one serving from a fresh state. The second was frozen, thawed, and then cooked. The third was frozen, thawed, re-frozen, thawed again, and then cooked.
Each sample before and after weighing for moisture loss and, of course, tasting. Results? The fresh sample, which lost only 20% moisture, tasted better, which is not surprising. The most interesting part of the experiment, however, was that while the moisture loss between chicken pieces frozen once and twice was fairly comparable (25% and 26%, respectively), the samples frozen twice had a much drier taste . As Cook’s Illustrated explains, the real culprit is not water, but solutes:
Freezing water inside the protein cells of meat causes the release of soluble salts. These salts affect some proteins, causing them to physically change shape and actually contract, resulting in a stiffer texture. And this effect is noticeable after each freeze-thaw cycle.
So if you find that the thawed piece of meat is no longer on the menu, just cook it and store it in the refrigerator. It will last a little longer and taste much better.
Science: can meat be frozen? | Illustrated chef