# Is it OK to re-freeze?



## Kess (Jun 20, 2011)

Does anyone know if it would be OK to re-freeze raw meat once it has been defrosted. Somehow my freezer door was left open without anyone realizing and everything is now mostly defrosted. I was always told to never re-freeze something that has been defrosted (although, I’m not sure why – I think something about losing nutrients). So, the meat for humans I will throw out, but do you think it would be OK to re-freeze the stuff for my dog? I had some pork ribs, some ground meat, and chicken wings in there. Or should I just throw it out, I don’t want to give it if it’s true about losing vitamins/nutrients etc.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

I do it all the time(get larger cuts, make it the proper size and then re-freeze)...the boys havent complained!:lol:

Oh and there shouldnt be anything(unless it was cooked/cured/salted/marinated) "for humans" that you need to throw out!! Just feed it to the babies!!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Dear Lord, don't throw out the "human food" just save it for the pups. If you want just take a sharpie and mark it so you know it's for the dogs now. The biggest issue is that the texture changes a bit when defrosted andd refrozen.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

Yes, it will be fine for the dogs. Even if the meat gets "ripe" and has some odor to it, its still ok to feed the dogs.


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

Don't throw it away, give it to the dogs!! lol i've eaten refrozen meats before and they didn't taste any different than once frozen meats.


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## Kess (Jun 20, 2011)

Thank you all for your replies...I feel so much better now.

I love this board!


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## SerenityFL (Sep 28, 2010)

I was also taught, when growing up, by my parents, that once meat has been defrosted, you cannot refreeze it. So I've tried never to do that even with the pets' food. I guess it was so ingrained in me that I have a hard time getting over that even though others say it's fine. Guess you just use your judgment on this one.


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

The reason for the "no refreeze" rule is that freezing stops bacteria growth. It doesn't kill bacteria but stops the growth. When you thaw, bacteria begins to grow again all the time the meat isn't frozen. When you refreeze you are refreezing with the new higher level of bacteria. Thaw again and bacteria growth resumes, adding even more bacteria to the meat. Go through that a few times and you can have a pretty big buildup of bacteria. Thats bad for humans. Makes no difference with dogs.


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## DoglovingSenior (Jun 26, 2011)

If you are hesitant to refreeze then you must not have pooches that will bury a bone ! <lol> By the time they dig them up, I wouldn't want to feed it to them and they think it is just Wonderful!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

I had the same reservations 18 months or so ago, but got over it quickly when it was pointed out to me that a lot of people on here buy their meat in bulk. The meat comes in big blocks, so they defrost the meat, then separate it into individual meals and refreeze it. Dogs have such a high acid content in their stomachs that eating meat thats been thawed and refrozen a few times is not a problem for them. And, they are right because I've had to do that myself a couple of times and Mollie has been as right as rain.
For us, I'd be very hesitant to refreeze. And the same with cats, I might be wrong, but I think you have to be a bit careful about refreezing more than once for them as well.


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## Scarlett_O' (May 19, 2011)

DoglovingSenior said:


> If you are hesitant to refreeze then you must not have pooches that will bury a bone ! <lol> By the time they dig them up, I wouldn't want to feed it to them and they think it is just Wonderful!


HAHAHA, EXACTLY!! Rhett came trotting in with a chunk of lamb neck the other day....they havent had lamb necks for 2 and 1/2 weeks!:lol:


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## Foxy (Jan 21, 2010)

Freezing and Food Safety
USDA info on safe food handling has a section on refreezing foods and also on power outages in the freezer, good guide for the human foods.


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## Mokapi (Apr 7, 2011)

Would it still be okay to feed if the meat was left out thawing for 12+ hours? Two days ago I set out the pack of drummies I was going to separate, and right after I had packaged them and put them back in the bag to freeze I had to run Chip to the e-vet and forgot to put them back in the freezer until the next morning. I haven't fed him one yet and was planning to go buy new ones tonight and throw these away, but if they're usable then that'd be great.


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