Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:56 AM

Can I re-freeze meat?

As long as the meat has been thawed in the refrigerator and handled properly, you can re-freeze raw meat, poultry or fish. You can also freeze meat that has been partially thawed, or even thawed and cooked. But, if you thawed the food on the counter or in the sink, and at some point the meat reaches room temperature, it should not be re-frozen.

Every time you freeze meat, large ice crystals form in the meat, and expand and break the cell structure. When the meat thaws, these broken cells seep out moisture from the ice and from the meat itself. When you cook meat that has been thawed, re-frozen and thawed again, you will probably notice that it's slightly drier and not as flavorful.

P.S. Vacuum-sealing meat with a FoodSaver or the new, super-cute and countertop-friendly Frisper (woohoo! re-usable bags!) will help preserve the quality of re-frozen meats.

A too-short list of some of my favorite WC freeze-able foods...(really...I try, but I can't keep up with all the BUs!)

Joelen's Stock the Freezer!

And just because she's crazy like that, Joelen's When it snows...cook 

Ellysaysopa's Corn and Pepper Bisque (don't add the 1/2&1/2 'til you serve it)

KKAM.04's Massive Freezer-Friendly Recipes PDF (scroll down to "Collections" for the .pdf)

TPOX's Spinach Soup 

MrsOCandME's Chili 

Ally-cat's Home Style Meal (mmm. meatloaf)

Krashed24's Lasagna Rolls

Cristamegan's Veggie Enchiladas 

Duchess281's Savory Breakfast Scones 

Gpointewife's Rocky Road Ice Cream (mostly 'cuz of the brilliant Van Halen tribute...)

What's your favorite freezable recipe? Post a link!