Should you freeze meat more than once?

Storing pork in the wrong way can create a favorable environment for bacteria to grow. Freezing meat is one of the most popular methods of preserving meat. However, does the process of freezing and defrosting meat many times affect the quality of the meat as well as the health of the user?

1. Something About Frozen Meat Fresh meat is easily spoiled under normal conditions. Therefore, freezing meat is a common preservation method used to keep food products safe when it is not used immediately.
This method not only works to preserve meat at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius for several days, but it even helps to reduce the risk of some food-borne diseases such as Toxoplasma.
Furthermore, meat that is stored frozen and thawed slowly in the refrigerator can be frozen multiple times and defrosted multiple times. If done correctly. At the same time it also does not present any health risks to the user. However, depending on the type of meat and the number of times it has been frozen and thawed, the quality of the meat may decrease and may also have a negative effect.
2. Refreeze meat There comes a time when you defrost frozen meat and then decide not to cook it and refreeze it. In this case, the meat will still be safe to refrigerate up to a few days later as long as it was thawed and stored properly in the refrigerator the first time it was removed from the freezer.

Although, defrosting in the refrigerator is not the only way to defrost meat, it is the safest way if you want to freeze meat again. Meat can be safely refrozen within 3 days of thawing, as long as the meat was initially thawed and stored properly.
Meat is frozen multiple times when following these guidelines:
Meat is properly stored in the refrigerator while it is defrosted and is refrozen for about 3-4 days. Do not leave meat out of the refrigerator for more than 2 hours. Meat must not be left at a temperature above 32 degrees Celsius for more than 1 hour. 3. Effects of repeatedly thawing and freezing meat Multiple freezing of meat can be done safely, but meat quality can be significantly affected.
For example, repeatedly freezing and defrosting meat can cause changes in color, odor, taste, loss of water retention and increased fat oxidation that affects the protein quality in the meat.
Oxidation is a process in which electrons are transferred from one atom to another. When this process occurs in meat, it can lead to a significant deterioration in quality.
Any change to the water holding capacity of the meat can significantly affect the tenderness and juiciness of the meat.
It is extremely interesting that in some cases cold storage and repeated freezing of meat can have a positive effect on these factors. However, it seems that the type of meat in question in this case, as well as the exact number of freezing cycles applied to the meat, all affect how the meat will respond to much re-freezing. time.

3.1. Beef An observational study found that different freezing combinations can affect the steak cut of beef. The researchers found that the combination of freezing, thawing and aging was more enhanced than fresh and unfrozen steaks.
In addition, research on the effects of refrigeration and freezing on red meat shows that short-term freezing of meat can help prevent some of the negative effects that can occur with storage. cold red meat.
3.2. Lamb Several studies of Australian lamb chops have compared the effects of freezing and storing lamb chops at different temperatures on meat quality such as: water retention, texture and texture. elastic.
The researchers also found that lamb stored at freezing temperatures of about -50 degrees Celsius to -80 degrees Celsius remained softer after one defrost than meat stored frozen at - 18 degrees Celsius.
3.3. Pork Tenderloin is a type of meat usually taken from the rib cage of a pig. Two recent studies examined the effects of freezing and thawing on pork loin.
First study to compare three levels of freezing for loin quality. Each grade causes meat discoloration differently, but the researchers found that aging pork before freezing can be an effective way to maintain tenderness. The second study found that freezing and then defrosting the tenderloin did not significantly affect the tenderness of the meat. On the other hand, the juiciness of meat may decrease after freezing and thawing.

3.4. Poultry Chicken is also known as white meat. A study of 384 supermarket shoppers in Turkey found that the most commonly used defrosting techniques for frozen chicken include the use of refrigerators, microwaves, warm water, and water. machine.
The researchers determined that none of the defrosting techniques had a significant effect on the color and texture of the chicken. However, defrosting in the refrigerator or microwave can lead to about 18% less shrinkage than other defrosting methods.
However, additional research in this regard has found that the more times a chicken breast is frozen and thawed, the more changes its color and water retention change.
4. Safe method of defrosting meat For best results after refreezing meat, you'll want meat to be safely defrosted before cooking. Here are three different methods that can be used to safely defrost meat:
Defrost in the refrigerator. Defrosting can take 1-7 days depending on the size of the meat. After thawing, the meat should be cooked within 3 days. Thaw with cold water. This is a quick defrost method that requires the meat to be placed in a plastic bag under cold running water. Meat thawed in this way should be cooked immediately. Microwave defrost. Food defrosted in the microwave should be cooked immediately. Because, the defrosting process can significantly increase the temperature of some pieces of meat.

Article referenced source: healthline.com