Freezing and re-freezing foods

[Beke]

Hi...I'm curious if it's safe to make foods, freeze to eat some later, then if there's plenty left, freeze it again....repeating until it's gone or ppl get tired of having it. I've always been told that you can only freeze a food once but I have a friend that makes huge pots of chili and freezes and refreezes the stuff until it's gone, sometimes taking a month to finish it all!
No one has ever gotten sick that I know of, but I'm really weird about that sort of thing. If someone says my milk even LOOKS weird I wont drink it lol.

[Half Baked]

Beke, if you have leftovers to freeze, I do them in 1 serving packages so I can bring as much as I need for that dinner and not worrying about the rest.

If I've thawed a big tupperware of chili, I'll cook it up to an appropriate heat to kill the bad 'stuff' and what we don't eat, I'll refreeze.

[boufa06]

You can freeze cooked and uncooked food easily. But if they are in large quantities, divide into smaller quantities, put them in air-tight bags or plastic containers and freeze them when fresh. Use as required. This way they can last a long time in the freezer. Do not freeze, thaw and freeze as this may lead to contamination

[Brukky]

No, it's not safe, raw or cooked foods. The way it's been described to me is that the thawing process on food is actually pretty rough. It has the potential to let a lot of bacteria into the food. By doing this over and over again, you are giving the bacteria an open door do have fun within the food.

Now, that it's going to kill you. That's just the way it has always been explained to me (could be wrong reason for all I know). What Half Baked said is usually how I go about it, if I'm ever freezing anything. Portoin everything. It's really a good idea. Right now my freezer is filled ice cube trays upon ice cube trays of Demi-Glaze, Veal Stock & Chicken stock (still haven't gotten to Fumet yet... I took the idea from Bourdain (who in turn took it from Julia Child).

I think one of the best investments could possibly be the Vacuum sealer. I've been meaning to pick one up for god knows how long. Right along with my icecream maker...

[BreezyCooking]

Definitely NOT advisable. Bacterial contamination seriously possible, & the texture/quality & flavor would suffer enormously under such treatment.

[Constance]

I never re-freeze raw meat. If I thaw hamburger to make chili, I do freeze the leftover chili, but I do it in small packages. I wouldn't think of thawing, then refreezing it. You might get away with it 99 times out of 100, but if you've ever seen anyone with food poisoning, you won't want to take even the smallest chance of getting it.
Let me put it this way: If you think you might have food poisoning, you don't have it. FP hits like a tank, and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it...you are down for the count!
My daughter got food poisoning from a chopped steak at a Bonanza Steakhouse when she was a teenager. She sat on the loo holding a wastebasket in her lap for a week.

[Andy M.]

If you thaw the frozen food in the fridge, and just take what you need out of the fridge to reheat it and then freeze the remainder, you should be OK.

That being said, the absolute best way to go is to freeze leftovers in individual portions and avoid the issue altogether.

[Beke]

Thanks for the replies. I know it grows bacteria but this friend of mine says the reheating kills it all off. Great idea of portioning the food, I dont know why I never thought of that!

[Gretchen]

If there are bacteria growing in the food, this is not a good thing. Properly thawed and ready to serve, food should not have harmful bacteria in it.
If you have a big pot of chili, there is little doubt that it is better to thaw and re-heat close to what you want. But if you have a serving leftover from serving that meal, put it in the freezer for another time. It has been heated again to a proper food keeping temperature and will be all right to freeze.