Freeze/ re-freeze venison?

[dsa5455]

I have always been taught that once meat has been in the freezer and then thawed it has to be cooked. However, I have seen several videos on you tube that had the hunter make several deer kills over the course of a season, and freeze the meat, only to later thaw all of it put it through a grinder, package and then re-freeze. This was done using frozen beef fat to mix with the venison as well. This would be great if I could wait and do several deer at one time but is it safe? Can someone shed some light?

 

[Jcalder]

I've got some in the freezer that will be ground at a later date. But I was taught same as you. Once it's thawed you cook it.


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[MickThompson]

I've read that you are ok as long as the meat thawed in the fridge and stayed below 40 deg. You reduce the quality every time you freeze, however, as the cells rupture.

 

[dsa5455]

Makes sense on the slow thaw staying below 40 degrees. One person I saw dumped a bunch of packs on the kitchen table over night and then started the mix the next morning. Probably not the best way to do. Thanks for reply

 

[Snowwolfe]

A lot depends on how it was frozen. The colder the freezer and the less mass to the meat the quicker it will freeze. This reduces the size of the ice crystals that will rupture the cells when it thaws allowing the moisture to drain out. Remember all the juices draining out of the pack of burger you sat in the sink to thaw?
Think of it this way, for the faster freeze, spread out pieces on a sheet pan. These will freeze much faster than an entire hindquarter or 2 gallon zip lock bag full of trimmings. For burger meat I don't think its that much of a big deal.
But on the other hand freezing bigger chunks often means less meat surface is contaminated with hair or other stuff. Because of this I will usually freeze entire hind quarters. Then when I want to have burger made will thaw them out, clean again, then debone.

 

[TAFKAP]

I have always been taught that once meat has been in the freezer and then thawed it has to be cooked. However, I have seen several videos on you tube that had the hunter make several deer kills over the course of a season, and freeze the meat, only to later thaw all of it put it through a grinder, package and then re-freeze. This was done using frozen beef fat to mix with the venison as well. This would be great if I could wait and do several deer at one time but is it safe? Can someone shed some light?

Whole muscle becomes mushy when re-frozen. Microscopically, the cells rupture when the water inside them freezes. The muscle structure is different once a cut has thawed.

But once you run it through a grinder, it's getting damaged anyway. I don't see a problem freezing newly ground meat, that used to be frozen whole roasts. It's not the same thing as thawing, then re-freezing a cut of meat.

 

[Rollo]

By grinding and refreezing, and breaking the cells down more, would that sort of "tenderize" the ground meat more???? I've been thinking the same thing by throwing quarters in the freezer and dealing with it later, grinding and jerky. If rupturing the cells more by refreezing it may make for tender burger meat, but risk being mushy???