Refreezing

[Henno]

Have just finished making 5kg of snags. A few firsts for me. For a start I actually bought pork meat and fat and minced from scratch. I usually buy mince and run it through the fine plate before mixing in spice and stuffing. The other first was using colagen casings for the first time. We couldn't get much of this weird wrinkly dry stuff onto the stuffing tube so it took many reloadings to do the whole 5kg.

After all was said and done my wife aked me something that got me thinking. Turns out her mum in Japan had asked her when she had described a sausage making day to her. Question was how can we refreeze sausages? We had 90% defrosted the meat and buy the time we had mucked around running it through the course plate, adding spice and then the multiple loads of the colagen casings it was well and truly defrosted. My mum always used to tell me you could not refreeze meat. I know it is a bacteria thing and the cooler you keep everything the better. I haven't just made 5kg of botchulism snags have I?

Yours nervously
Henno

 

[manticle]

The idea behind not refreezing is that bacteria grow at a certain temperature range and while defrosting and while freezing meat may spend a certain amount of time at that temperature range. Therefore the assumption that meat will remain fresh becuase it's frozen can be a risky one and generally, to keep it simple, it's recommended not to refreeze. However the actual act of refreezing does not automatically create instant bacteria banks - it just gives more time for bacteria contained in the meat to multiply (to toxic levels).

Some meats are far more risky than others, due to the types and toxicity of bacteria contained within and general shelf life. For instance refreezing seafood or chicken or pork is pretty much a no-no, just because the risks entailed are not worth it. Refreezing beef or lamb can be got away with provided the meat was fresh when it was first frozen and the time frame between being defrosted and refrozen is very short.

I'm not recommending that you do it - it is a risk and is entirely your decision. As I said - I'd avoid doing it with pork (which doesn't lead to botulism by the way) unless you cook the sausages first (can be frozen no dramas then).

 

[tcraig20]

My usual pork snag making sequence goes something like this:

Find pork shoulder on special, buy and freeze until needed.
Defrost.
Slice meat, allow to partially refreeze.
Mince meat, mix in spices
Allow to partially refreeze (if required)
Stuff into casings
Freeze sausages.

So from that I could be 'freezing' things three or four times. Ive never noticed a problem with my sausages. But that is not to say that there is no risk.

I live in a fairly cold climate (fermenter of lager in the dining room has been 10C for the last three days without any artificial cooling), so the risks arent as high. I certainly wouldnt treat my meat like this if I lived in the tropics, for the reasons Manticle outlined.

 

[Kai]

As manticle said, it's when your meat sits in the 'danger zone' for microbial growth that is the issue. So, if you're in the habit of refreezing then you might have left your meat incubating on the kitchen bench for several hours over a couple of defrost cycles.

Another issue with refreezing meat is as the water turns to ice it damage the cell structure every time you freeze it. Not an issue with sausages as you've already ground the crap out of it.

You should be keeping your bangers as cold as possible when you make them, on a larger manufacturing scale ice is normally added to the mix while grinding just to keep the temperature down. As it stands right now your snags will be just as safe if you freeze them as the would be if you ate them right now, and you probably don't want to eat 5kg of sausages in one go...

 

[Mercs Own]

obvious I know but - buy pork, make sausages, freeze in seperate lots and eat with no fear.

 

[Henno]

obvious I know but - buy pork, make sausages, freeze in seperate lots and eat with no fear.

Not that simple up here in the bush. We have to buy and freeze just because of the amount of kilometres we are from the closest supermarkets. Usually go shopping after working our way to Bundaberg and sometimes get home at 7 or 8pm. Unpack car, pack and freeze meat, make dinner, go to bed get up and go back to work the next day.