Am I The Only Idiot?

rednose66

Last weekend I went to a BBQ at a friends. Being the local South African I ended up doing the cooking while the rest of the boys umm'd and aah'd over fireworks. I must have barbecued 20 odd burgers (and these were proper beef burgers and not cheap value ones) and a similar number of sausages - far more than was required but I cooked what was handed to me. I left early and was horrified to hear the next morning that my mate had thrown a load of burgers and sausages into the bin - becasue he believed that you can't freeze cooked meat. A couple of the other people at the barbecue were of the same opinion - the opinion being you can't freeze something twice even if it has been cooked.

Now I am in my forties and I have on numerous occasions frozen excess BBQ'd meat. Its not ideal but rather than waste it I freeze it. I have never suffered any ill effects and have always ensured that the meat is well cooked and then properly heated up again. Have people become so blinkered by sell by dates and kitchen gadgetry that they no longer know anything about what they consume? Maybe it is the African in me but wasting that amount of good quality meat is just wrong!

Money_saving_Diva_2

No you aren't honey - I would have either frozen the rest or used them in another meal the next day. I would be upset too at the waste.

Diva.x

Generali

rednose66 wrote: »

Last weekend I went to a BBQ at a friends. Being the local South African I ended up doing the cooking while the rest of the boys umm'd and aah'd over fireworks. I must have barbecued 20 odd burgers (and these were proper beef burgers and not cheap value ones) and a similar number of sausages - far more than was required but I cooked what was handed to me. I left early and was horrified to hear the next morning that my mate had thrown a load of burgers and sausages into the bin - becasue he believed that you can't freeze cooked meat. A couple of the other people at the barbecue were of the same opinion - the opinion being you can't freeze something twice even if it has been cooked.

Now I am in my forties and I have on numerous occasions frozen excess BBQ'd meat. Its not ideal but rather than waste it I freeze it. I have never suffered any ill effects and have always ensured that the meat is well cooked and then properly heated up again. Have people become so blinkered by sell by dates and kitchen gadgetry that they no longer know anything about what they consume? Maybe it is the African in me but wasting that amount of good quality meat is just wrong!

You can freeze something again once it's been thoroughly cooked (internal temperature of 80C for several minutes).

I guess the only problem could be that a thin piece of meat could dry out in that time so perhaps it wouldn't be hot enough for long enough.

Personally, I spend a little more to avoid risk of food poisoning as it can be very nasty - a mate once spent 2 weeks in hospital with salmonella. As long as you show a little caution you should be fine.

sukysue

I don't think I would have refrozen the meat but I would have cooked it the next day.

thriftlady_2

Of course you can freeze cooked meat

kezlou

How daft of them to throw it away.
Of course your not an idiot i freeze cooked meat all the time, once defrosted i make sure it warmed up fully before eating but that's it..

People are obsessed with dates nowadays, my sister was about to throw a perfectly good piece of meat out of the freezer one time because it was 1 day past the date. I took it out her hands and said don't be so stupid give it here the kids will eat it.
Were all still alive and healthy.

DianneB

Hi, no they are the idiots!!! what a waste!!

Bitsy_Beans

I think it's about time Schools introduced some lessons about the basics, home management, cooking etc so kids aren't totally ignorant of these things when they leave. My home economics was a waste of time and I wish now I'd had lessons in mortgages, money managementv etc.
Why on earth would anyone think you can't freeze cooked meat?! Do they not realise that most of the stuff in a ready meal is already part cooked or in fact cooked?

[Deleted User]

I too freeze cooked meat,and I am the wrong side of 60 so it hasn't hurt me at all.more money than sense some folk.What a waste

Kimonokawaii

Grr! I HATE waste!

I would certainly freeze it again once cooked and then re-heat once defrosted to eat. If I could put cooked meat scraps on my compost heap believe me I would but alas the dogs tend to get the scraps

thriftlady_2

Bitsy_Beans wrote: »

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Why on earth would anyone think you can't freeze cooked meat?!

I wish I knew where the belief that you can't freeze certain things comes from. I'm constantly amazed by how many people believe food will go off in the freezer or that preserves need to be stored in the fridge.