# Is thawing/refreezing always bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108 "2012-01-20T05:15:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/21 "2012-01-21T01:15:37Z")
> [@misling](#): > > How about this solution: > Take a saw. Wash it. Cut the frozen block in half. Wrap one half tightly and put back in the freezer. > I’ve actually done this. Or buy one of [these](http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Specialty-Kitchen-Knife-Frozen/dp/B0052EH8MW). ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/22 "2012-01-22T19:03:15Z")
Hmm; I’ve been thinking of the “brown the whole thing and freeze the rest” idea. However, I’ve never frozen cooked ground meat that way. It should last for a week or two that way, right? How do I thaw it? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/23 "2012-01-22T19:20:14Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > The thing is that you have no guarantee - it can also go wrong badly, and result in a day of feeling like crap from food poisioning. Over at notmydesk (a temp writing funny articles about how life as a temp sucks) he says that because he’s low on money, his weekly gamble is eating the seafood buffet on Fridays at a certain restaurant. If it works, he gets food cheap - if he looses, he spends the day vomiting and having the trots (for fun both at the same time). > > Not everybody likes to take that gamble; not everybody can afford to (even if healthy adults recover quickly that isn’t much help if a child, elderly or immuncompromised person lives in the same household); not everybody is that low on money that they need to take the gamble. A good bout of food poisoning would probably cure me of my occasional lapse of food hygiene. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/24 "2012-01-22T19:42:20Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Or buy one of [these](http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Specialty-Kitchen-Knife-Frozen/dp/B0052EH8MW). I just use my Sawzall. ---
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/25 "2012-01-23T18:40:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > The issue is the total amount of time the meat is unfrozen, not whether that time is punctuated by episodes of freezing. But, as noted above, the amount of time a piece of meat unfrozen is going to vary throughout that piece if you do multiple freezings and defrostings. > > Assuming we’re talking about safety, not taste. This has always been my understanding. People don’t remember how long something was unfrozen. That’s why “it’s ok if it still has ice crystals” is/was the rule of thumb. If it still has ice crystals you didn’t add much time to the “unfrozen” time period. Personally, I write the date on the bag and add “use in x days” and if I throw something back in the freezer after I’ve thawed it I adjust the number of days. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/26 "2012-01-23T18:54:30Z")
Basically, as others have said, there are two problems. 1) The texture degrades with each freezing and defrost. 2) Bacterial growth continues in food over time above freezing temperatures, so the total amount of time spent above freezing must be counted for spoilage. Bacterial growth stops totally at some point actually below freezing, but obviously to be fully thawed, everything but the center of a piece of meat has to spend time above that point. One notable exception, ice cubes can be thawed and refrozen many times without problems. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108/27 "2012-01-23T21:11:11Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I just use my Sawzall. How do you make a dog go “meow?” Frozen dog, bandsaw - MEEEEE-YOOOOWWWWWW. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-thawing-refreezing-always-bad/610108.md?page=1)