food safety regarding re freezing twice cooked chicken
I am defrosting a cooked chicken to use in a curry it will be thoroughly heated at a high temperature. If I have too much curry will i be able to freeze it, as the cooked chicken was frozen before?
Best Answer
As long as you treat the food safely in between, and the communicative time in the danger zone of 40-140 F / 4 - 60 C does not exceed about 2 hours, you can thaw and refreeze foods an unlimited number of times. Whether they are raw or cooked doesn't matte for safety.
On the other hand, multiple thawing and refreezing may degrade the quality of the food, especially its texture, and is generally avoided for that reason.
Thawing cooked chicken once, cooking in a curry, then freezing the cooked product is probably well within the tolerances of most people's palette, and you probably will not notice any quality loss, especially in an application like curry. Just don't over cook your chicken--that will definitely result in dry, tough chicken and won't be pleasant.
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Can I freeze twice cooked chicken?
It is perfectly fine to refreeze cooked chicken, as long as you store and handle it properly. Cooked chicken can only be refrozen if it has been defrosted in the fridge and has not been allowed to heat up to higher than 40 degrees Fahrenheit.What happens if you freeze chicken twice?
The U. S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) advises: Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods.Can you thaw and refreeze chicken multiple times?
Bottom Line. You can refreeze chicken that's been thawed, but it must be cooked first if it has been thawed in the microwave or in cold water. But if the chicken has thawed in the refrigerator, then it can be refrozen raw within two days of thawing.How to Safely Freeze Cooked Meats | 1 Minute Tips | DJ BBQ
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