Re-Freezing Previously Frozen Chicken?

[Fishawn]

We buy those 10 lb bags of boneless skinless chicken breasts from Costco. Question is what do you all think aboot partially thawing some breasts, cutting them Ka-Bob size or filleting them amd marinading in Italian dressing when still partially thawed in the fridge, then putting them back in the freezer for future use? We love Italian dressing marinated chicken, but I would like to do a whole 10 lb bag at once for convenience.

Thoughts

[barkonbutts]

I look at it like this...when the grocery unpacks the "fresh" chicken from the box it is frozen.. I sits in the cooler and thaws out.. and when you get home what do you do.. well put it back in the freezer...so you are refreezing it right... Well you are doing the same thing here...go ahead...or vac pac breast in Italian dressing in packs say 2 or 3.. Tyson used to do this as well..... just my thoughts...

[SMOKE FREAK]

That's why in the store it says "previously frozen"...
I was taught that refreezing was a bad thing...
However today I hear its no big thing...
Not sure that goes for chicken though...

[Fishawn]

I look at it like this...when the grocery unpacks the "fresh" chicken from the box it is frozen.. I sits in the cooler and thaws out.. and when you get home what do you do.. well put it back in the freezer...so you are refreezing it right... Well you are doing the same thing here...go ahead...or vac pac breast in Italian dressing in packs say 2 or 3.. Tyson used to do this as well..... just my thoughts...

I agree, just wanted some input and suggestions, and wondered if anybody else did this, or had suggestions. Thanks Brian! I know you do a lot of cooking and food prep. for your family.

[THE ICEMAN]

When you freeze some meat, any kind, ice crystals will form breaking down the cellular structure of the meat. If you do the freeze/thaw thing too many times... y'know, like a couple thousand, you will end up with meat mush. In other words...

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[Mikey]

I've thawed and refroze poultry, beef and pork many times. It's usually after I've vac pakd it and when I vac pac it again, I just make sure it's dry. No ice crystals form that way and if they do, it's a minimal amount. Go for all the gusto you can, Scott

[Fishawn]

I've thawed and refroze poultry, beef and pork many times. It's usually after I've vac pakd it and when I vac pac it again, I just make sure it's dry. No ice crystals form that way and if they do, it's a minimal amount. Go for all the gusto you can, Scott

Thanks Mikey! This will help in dinner prep. a bunch

[IrishChef]

Its fine, as long as you keep a few things in mind. It must be thawed under refrigeration, and not on the countertop or sink. If you stray from that, you can get some bacterial growth, that freezing will only halt, not kill, and then you have that much more of a bacterial load ready to go once thawed.

[Fishawn]

Its fine, as long as you keep a few things in mind. It must be thawed under refrigeration, and not on the countertop or sink. If you stray from that, you can get some bacterial growth, that freezing will only halt, not kill, and then you have that much more of a bacterial load ready to go once thawed.

Thanks Paul, yes, was planning on thawing under refrigeration, although I did consider cold water in the sink method. Thanks for the heads up on that. OK Bud?

[Fishawn]

OK, got a 10 pound bag of chicken breasts thawing in the fridge, gonna head the advice/input from all and marinade, then vac pack in fileted breasts, strips and chunks for Ka-Bobs / Skewers for future use and easy thawing/prep. Having 10lbs marinated, ready to thaw / grill boobs sounds pretty good

Thanks: Mikey, IC, BOB, Ice, Craiger

[chefrob]

what IC said.........get on it pre-marinated-kabob-daddy..................

[Fishawn]

what IC said.........get on it pre-marinated-kabob-daddy..................

LMAO!

[ThunderDome]

Id like to see pics of ur prepped chix ready for the refeeeze

We've talked about it before, but we're in the same boat as far as family chix breast cooks. Could always use ideas

[Fishawn]

Re-Freezing Previously Frozen Chicken?

Id like to see pics of ur prepped chix ready for the refeeeze



We've talked about it before, but we're in the same boat as far as family chix breast cooks. Could always use ideas

Amen, I got a pic, for what its worth.... ..... 10 lb bag of chicken breasts ready to go in the fridge to semi-thaw... To be continued......

[HistoricFoodie]

Putting aside the possibility of bacterial growth, every time the same piece of meat protein is frozen and thawed there is a loss of quality. You might not notice it, but it's there.

Mickey almost had it right. The culprit is ice. But it's not surface ice, which is irrelevant.

When the liquid in cells freezes, ice crystals can puncture the side walls. This damage is more likely the larger the crystals. And crystal size is a function of speed.

Those breasts were flash-frozen in a liquid nitrogen environment. Which means the crystals are very small, and do little damage---providing the breasts are thawed slowly, in the fridge. When you refreeze them raw, the home freezer acts relatively slowly, producing larger crystals, with greater likelihood of cell damage.

First time around you probably won't notice much or any difference, particularly if the breasts have been marinated. But each subsequent time there is more cell damage, which becomes progressively more noticeable as mushiness, dryness, and lots of liquid in the container.

Obviously, the way to minimize cell damage is to treat the breasts the way you want, then break them down into portion-sized packages, and only defrost as much as you need at one time.