Thawing meat to make meatloaf, and then re-freezing?

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Ugh, I think I made a big mistake. I thawed ground beef and ground turkey in the fridge to make two meatloaf, and then I froze the two meatloaves, planning to use them this week. However, in looking for advice on how to cook them from frozen, I came across the admonition that you can't thaw meat to make meatloaf and then re-freeze it all, you have to cook it right then.

 

Is this true? I thawed the meat in the fridge for three days, though it was still frozen or mostly frozen for the first two. Then I put the two loaves (in the pans they'd be cooked in) directly into the deep freeze. 

 

I'm so careful about this stuff, I can't believe I didn't think of it! I had originally planned to cook at least one of the loaves directly, but then our schedule was derailed and I ended up with too much thawed meat all at once, so I hit on this brilliant plan (sigh). 

 

So would you eat this meatloaf? Or is this too much freezing/refreezing to be safe?

 

Thanks. 

 

 

[zoobie]

I would be concerned it will be really dry. Freezing and thawing leeches the moisture out of meat. I'd cook from frozen and not thaw first. 

[Mergath]

Since you thawed them in your fridge, you've minimized the risk of bacteria and probably won't get sick from eating them. However, freezing and refreezing meat really does a number of the quality, so they probably aren't going to taste too good.

 

I'd eat the meatloaves after a good sniff test, but if they taste at all off (not dry and nasty but actually bad) throw out the whole batch.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Mergath

[VaKim]

Not true at all about the refreezing! Now, if you bought dated meat, I'd be more careful. But even then, as long as you cook it thoroughly, it is fine! I do this all the time! Nobody has ever gotten sick.

 

http://food.unl.edu/it-safe-refreeze-raw-meat-and-poultry-has-thawed

 

Much of the meat you buy in the store has already been frozen once. Then it thaws in the store and you bring it home and freeze it. 

Edited March 15, 2016 by VaKim

[ThursdayNext]

I wouldn't let it sit for several more days in the fridge, just thaw overnight or maybe cook from frozen. (Does meatloaf cook evenly from frozen?) I don't see any food safety issue, as long as it wasn't expiring when you made the meatloaf. I know they say it lowers the quality a little to thaw and refreeze, but with a little ketchup on the meatloaf, you won't notice a taste difference.

[Farrar]

As I understand it, there's no food safety issue, just a food quality one when you do that. For something like meatloaf, if it has enough spices and other things, I'm thinking it'll be fine. Just something to know for the future.