Is my chicken edible after being frozen twice?!


Question: Is my chicken edible after being frozen twice!?
I bought a tray of 1kg of chicken thighs 2 two weeks ago!. I froze it!. I thawed it in the fridge so it would be ready to cook for dinner on the weekend but then we went away for the weekend so I put it back in the freezer and then took it out when we come back on Sunday night!. My husband argues that the chicken has been frozen twice and should therefore not be eaten but I thought that since it was only unfrozen for 1 day or so before I froze it again and it was only refrozen for 2 days it would be okay!. Is anyone an expert on food hygiene who could advise me on this!?Www@FoodAQ@Com


Answers:
It is a good rule of thumb that you should not refreeze meat, because while it is thawing it can get bacteria!.

It is all very well to make this into some sort of first cookery commandment: "thou shalt not refreeze meat!.", but I think a little common sense could be applied!.

You took the meat out the freezer and left it in the fridge a few hours, you could have left it in the fridge for up to 3 days and it would have been fine!. The simple fact that you put it back in the freezer does not suddenly rend the chicken inedible!.

I think that your husband and the above posters are applying this rule of thumb with out thinking about it or applying any logic to your situation!.

Lets imagine that on day one you took two chicken legs out the freezer and left them in the fridge!. In the evening you put one leg (A)back in the freezer and leave the other in the fridge (B)!.

On day 3 you and your husband fancy chicken!. Ask him if he would prefer the leg that has been sitting in the fridge for 3 days, and could have picked up bacteria during that time, or the leg that was only out the freezer for a few hours!?

While it refreezing meat can lead to food poisoning, and we should all be very very careful, like you I fail to see any reason why leg A would be in a worse condition than leg B!.

Www@FoodAQ@Com

I really don't recommend eating that!.

You can get food poisoning from doing stuff like that!.
E-Coli, Salmonella, you can even get Gastroenteritis from eating something like that!.

If i was you, just so it doesn't happen again, is go and have a few cooking lessons, they'll teach you the right and wrongs of storing food and the such!.

The day you want to eat it is the day you Defrost it and cook it!. never refreeze it!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

Brian C is basically correct in the process - with bacteria growth but the do not trust the smell test - it could be off and full of bacteria and smell fine!.

You should never eat any meat that has been frozen twice!. Chicken is one of the worst foods for attracting bacteria hence you have to be careful in the cooking process!.

Throw the chicken awayWww@FoodAQ@Com

never eat any food frozen more than once, you will surely get food poisoning your husband is right not to cook it!. each time u defrost it gets bacteria and you are freezing old bacteria each time you freeze it!.
dont touch it !!
i worked as a chef and have done intermediate food hygiene Www@FoodAQ@Com

any meat or fish that has been frozen and them thawed should never be refrozen, it should be cooked a!.s!.a!.p!. then it can then be kept in the fridge for several days before being eaten (it can be reheated to be eaten hot)!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

I don't think you are supposed to eat meat that has been frozen>thawed>frozen again!.

Thats a bummer but food poisining would be worse!.!.

I'm not sure but yeah, I don't think you can!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

You should not eat meat, especially poultry, that has been thawed and then refrozen!. Your husband is absolutely correct!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

NO!. dont eat it!. throw it away!.Www@FoodAQ@Com

The safety of meat all depends on one thing, really!. Smell it!. If it smells bad, it probably isn't safe!.
Freezing meat of any kind isn't good if you do it more than once, but it isn't necessarily bad either!. What happens is when it is thawed the first time, bacteria can start to form on the meat, and freezing it just slows the bacterias' growth to a screeching halt!. Thawing it a second time just makes all that bacteria spring to life again!.
In a nutshell, if bacteria didn't have enough time to colonize on the chicken the first thaw, and it didn't have time to colonize during the second thaw, your chicken should smell decent, and decent smelling meat is not-spoiled meat!.

If it smells like nothing, or smells like "meat", it should be good!. If it has any putrid odor to it, that smells like rotting, or sour milk, you should probably throw it out!.Www@FoodAQ@Com





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