When Can I Re-Freeze Food After Thawing?
Freezing foods is a great way to keep them fresh when you buy them in bulk, but after something’s thawed it’s not always safe to re-freeze. Often the answer to the question: “Can this be re-frozen?” it “depends on the circumstances.”
In general, do not re-freeze something if you are in doubt about how safe it was during thawing. If something has been left at room temperature for too long, re-freezing will not necessarily kill the bacteria that has grown during that time.
Another reason to be careful when re-freezing is texture. Every time a food is frozen, especially meat and food, the cell walls are destroyed. This is why frozen food does not always taste the same as fresh food. When you re-freeze these foods after thawing them, more cellular structure is destroyed.
Raw meat, poultry and seafood
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service states that you can re-freeze raw meat if it has been thawed at refrigerator temperature. In any case, you should never defrost meat at room temperature – neither on the counter, nor in the garage, nor in the basement, nor in the car, nor anywhere else where constant cooling is not maintained.
Ice cream
If the ice cream has softened a little while on the table but still cold, you can put it back in the freezer. But if the ice cream melts, it’s not worth saving.
First, there is a safety issue: if you leave the ice cream package at room temperature, the melted portion may be hot enough to allow the Listeria bacteria to grow.
Second, the creamy texture will never return. The whole concept of ice cream is based on the idea of churning the milk mixture while it is freezing. Think about it: if you could just freeze ice cream dough and make ice cream, the device known as the “ice cream maker” would not exist. The frozen ice cream will be rock-hard and uninteresting.
Sausages and other products
Once the food is cooked, it only has a few days in the fridge before it goes bad. If you freeze it during this time, the freezer will act as a pause button in this process. This way, you can re-freeze cooked food that you defrosted, but return it to the freezer immediately, for a maximum of 2-4 days.
Again, proper handling is required. Throw away leftovers if they have been at room temperature for two hours or more, or if they have been above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour or more.
Even if you think it might save you a few dollars, it’s important to know when you should just throw something away. Similar rules are used in restaurants and grocery stores, so it makes sense to handle food in your home with the same care.