refreezing chicken

Nurse_Bambi · 11 August 2004 at 2:17AM

Hi
Today I defrosted raw chicken joints and made a casserole. It was lovely. Theres half left and I would like to freeze it for another day. Is it ok to refreeze this chicken?

I'm sure the answer is yes, but my other half tells me you shouldnt refreeze a chicken!

Also how should i warm it up next time round? I don't like using the microwave.

thanks.

ps. just to add a money saving element to this post, I bought the chicken and used the breasts for another dish and froze the rest of it for a casserole. I find this more economic than buying those pack of 2 chicken breasts, which seem really expensive compared to buying a whole chicken.

mink35 · 11 August 2004 at 2:20AM

You can't refreeze raw chicken but once it has been cooked you can freeze it again. You just have to make sure it is red hot when you reheat it.

16011996 · 12 August 2004 at 4:46PM

is that the same with all meats, so long as its cooked you casn refreeze it?

carly · 12 August 2004 at 5:19PM

Yes it is. You should cool the cooked meat down as quickly as possible ( ie dont leave it in a warm oven ). Freeze as soon as it is cool enough to go into the freezer and make sure it is thoroughly reheated through when you want to serve it .

cathy_3 · 13 August 2004 at 2:23AM

you actuall can re freeze raw meat !!!!

take a look here

near the bottom of the page

http://www.nbc4.com/answerstoaskliz2002/1789275/detail.html

Old myth: you can't re-freeze meat after it has been thawed. The truth: If it has been thawed in the ice box (refrigerator) and has NEVER reached a temperature ABOVE 40°F you can re-freeze it.

from...http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/Cooking/Meats/meats.htm

and
http://www.dalesnet.co.uk/cooking.htm

But as for re-freezing raw chicken I wouldnt risk it as the above sites except the last one are american and they dont have salmonella over their in their chickens

;D

16011996 · 13 August 2004 at 11:21AM

thanks for that cathy, thats a great link. spent ages flickin thru it.

FieryBlondeScot · 15 August 2004 at 6:20AM

i wondered about this too. i was in my local asda the other day and they were marking down their fresh meat. i bough a fresh chicken with garlic butter or something on it reduced from £3 to £1 and the sell by date was for the following day. i stuck it straight in the freezer. mind u i was not sure if i should do this and what the rules are bout deforsting and cooking it as i am not a kitchen person at all.... ::)

Chris25 · 15 August 2004 at 11:19AM

If it's a whole chicken, I think you need to defrost it first (seemingly, the slower, the better - in a fridge, say)before cooking but if it's chicken breasts, you can cook from frozen.
If you want to defrost quickly........put whatever (either bagged or wrapped in cling film) into a bowl of cold (never warm or hot) water.
I usually defrost the Christmas turkey by putting it unwrapped, into a huge tupperware style box and leaving it in the garage. Or, if it's a whopper, I use a coolbox.

Chris25 · 15 August 2004 at 8:45PM

That's an interesting site, Sheel. It's amazing what you can find on the net.
In fact, I spent so long looking, I almost forgot to put our sunday chicken in the oven!
Almost needed the microwave recipes ;D ;D

16011996 · 16 August 2004 at 4:26PM

yeah, thanks for the site, sheel. was really interesting,

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refreezing chicken

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