Why shouldn't you thaw and then refreeze meat?

Question

I have this huge pack of ribs in the freezer, enough to feed me for a week, but all I've heard is you shouldn't refreeze it. Why?

Answer 1

Because all meat, especiallly pork contains worms. when you defrost them the worms start to grow from larvae and if cooked immediately that won't happen. But when you refreeze then thaw and refreeze... they keep growing a little bigger until the meat is unhealthy to eat.

Answer 2

Actually a butcher told me you can refreeze meat so long as it hasn't been thawed for a number of days and has thawed in the fridge only and not on the counter or in cold water. Ex; you take it out on Tuesday and by Thursday decided you don't want it, it's fine to refreeze. I've done this a few times and not gotten sick but it usually takes 2 days for anything to thaw in my fridge anyway!

He does not recommmend it with steaks or with any food you aren't going to FULLY cook.

Answer 3

What happens when you freeze meats is you are freezing the water in the meat. when the meat is thawed the cell structure breaks down and every time you do this the cell structure breaks down more until you are left with a slimy puddle of mush. Paracites are killed by extreme heat and cold so you shouldn't have to worry about that unless you leave the meat out where flys and other insects can land on it. It is reccommended that you thaw meat in the fridge over night.

Answer 4

Because bacteria can invade the warmed-up meat and give you food poisoning. I had it once. I NEVER want to have it again! If the ribs are still frozen, just keep them that way. If they have thawed, cut off the fat, boil them in a big pot, cut off any remaining fat and freeze the frozen meat again. It will be OK once cooked.

Answer 5

You could get food poisoning from eating meat that has been thawed, and refrozen.

If the pack of ribs has thawed, you can freeze them only AFTER you cook them, so prepare them any way you like, wrap them well, and freeze.

Answer 6

Beats me. I say have some friends over and make ribs for them, or try to cut the frozen Ribs in half, and stick one half back in the freezer, and cook the other half. All this freezing and re-freezing makes the meat tough.

Answer 7

Several reasons. Meat contain bacteria and parasites. Once frozen and thawed, they start to break down. If refrozen, the bacteria will become toxic. Second, meat contains amines that increase as it ages (amines are things that cause inflamation, such as histamine, glutamine, etc) Amines increase the more food is aged or stored, and will also cause the meat to rot if refrozen. Last, meat is muscle tissue of a dead animal. Too much treating causes the proteins to break down, leaving the meat stringy and weird.

Answer 8

I wouldn't recommend it with pork. I think you could get away with it if it were beef, but pork has all kinds of parasites in it. Well, so does beef, but no where near as bad as pork. Remember that pigs literally live in their own caca and eat decomposing food. Better to play it safe than sorry with pork.

Answer 9

Food poisoning