Thread: Re-freezing meat?

Sorry admins, wasn’t sure where to put this. Maybe we need a section for butchery?

I knocked over a couple of deer the other week. We quartered them out and hung everything in pillowcases in a cool spot for a few days. A mate kindly took it all home and put it in his freezer, as I wasn’t going straight home.

Now I’ve got it all back at my place, but it’s still in whole fore and hindquarters.

I have an old fridge I use for ageing meat that I can thaw it out in, but once processed, can I re-freeze it? Even if I do one leg at a time, we won’t go through that amount of meat before it spoils.

I always thought that was a no-no though.

I have re frozen stuff before with no issues. I think it kind of pulls the cells apart (maybe) doing it too often though


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cant see any harm in it...after all most stuff taken to butchers to be made into sausages will have been frozen then thawed at least once,your only other option is to bandsaw it into giant steaks frozen....not ideal but have seen it done with fallow legs before and was good steaks afterwards.

Sweet as. Just don't let it sit out warm too long

If you thaw it slightly so it's just cutable with a sharp knife but not fully thawed it's all good. Don't let it get warm.

Yeah, keep there thawing process slow and cool and do it as soon as you can cut it and you will have no problems.

Fine. Thaw in fridge overnight.

Originally Posted by MB

Fine. Thaw in fridge overnight.

yup keep cool wet and warm are your enemy with meat and exposure to flys as MB says thaw in fridge

Thanks all! That sounds like a consensus to me 😁

If the meat is still cold or even partially frozen/crunchy there will be no problem at all. Actually I prefer the meat like that when I'm cutting it up, especially when I'm cutting thin slices for stir-fry's etc.

It's fine to thaw out but do not let it get up to room temperature or anything - ideally work with the meat when its so cold it hurts your fingers and is still a little stiff (before refreezing).

Doing it once is fine, and as said above so cold it still numbs your fingers after a while.