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refreezing?
- Thread starter donzo
- Start date
I only ran into that once and threw the pinkie out; for as cheap as they are, I just didn't want to take a chance. I just go by if its bad for us to do, then I won't subject my snakes to it; I tend to lean on the protective side of things though.
A cut and paste from an online article about refreezing food, some points of this might (and might not) apply to what we give our snakes; again, take away what you want...
"Refreezing is bad for three reasons.
First, by refreezing food you multiply the damage to it--any cells that escaped rupture the first time the food was frozen are at risk of being ruptured the second time.
Second, when food has been frozen and thawed out, it has larger pockets of liquid within it than the first time due to the ruptured cells. When the food is refrozen, the larger pockets of liquid can freeze into much larger ice crystals, which can tear through many more cell membranes and lead to more damage to the food. (The best way to avoid cell damage, incidentally, is flash-freezing, which produces smaller ice crystals, minimal cell damage, and maximum freshness.)
The third and most important reason not to refreeze is increased risk of spoilage due to microorganisms. Many people thaw food by letting it sit at room temperature for several hours, giving the microorganisms in it time to get busy and partially spoil the food before it's refrozen. The problem is particularly pronounced in large pieces of meat such as a turkey, some parts of which may be at or near room temperature for hours during thawing. That's why turkeys should be thawed in a sink filled with water--the water equalizes the temperature and makes for faster thawing. Alternatively, you can thaw in the refrigerator, which is slower but retards spoilage by keeping the meat cool. Even so you're likely to have some multiplication of microorganisms. If you refreeze and rethaw, you've subjected the food to double the microorganism growth and double the fun.
If you must refreeze food that has been thawed in a warm place (or which has remained thawed in a cold place for a long time), you should cook the food properly first, then refreeze it. Even under the best circumstances, however, multiple freezing cycles aren't recommended."
Regards,
John
A cut and paste from an online article about refreezing food, some points of this might (and might not) apply to what we give our snakes; again, take away what you want...
"Refreezing is bad for three reasons.
First, by refreezing food you multiply the damage to it--any cells that escaped rupture the first time the food was frozen are at risk of being ruptured the second time.
Second, when food has been frozen and thawed out, it has larger pockets of liquid within it than the first time due to the ruptured cells. When the food is refrozen, the larger pockets of liquid can freeze into much larger ice crystals, which can tear through many more cell membranes and lead to more damage to the food. (The best way to avoid cell damage, incidentally, is flash-freezing, which produces smaller ice crystals, minimal cell damage, and maximum freshness.)
The third and most important reason not to refreeze is increased risk of spoilage due to microorganisms. Many people thaw food by letting it sit at room temperature for several hours, giving the microorganisms in it time to get busy and partially spoil the food before it's refrozen. The problem is particularly pronounced in large pieces of meat such as a turkey, some parts of which may be at or near room temperature for hours during thawing. That's why turkeys should be thawed in a sink filled with water--the water equalizes the temperature and makes for faster thawing. Alternatively, you can thaw in the refrigerator, which is slower but retards spoilage by keeping the meat cool. Even so you're likely to have some multiplication of microorganisms. If you refreeze and rethaw, you've subjected the food to double the microorganism growth and double the fun.
If you must refreeze food that has been thawed in a warm place (or which has remained thawed in a cold place for a long time), you should cook the food properly first, then refreeze it. Even under the best circumstances, however, multiple freezing cycles aren't recommended."
Regards,
John
medusacoils
Mr. Enigma!
I have held a food safety certificate and have used the information I learned from that to answer this question a couple of times. Instead of rewriting all that info again, I'm going to point you to a link that might help.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96476&highlight=Refreezing
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Wayne
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96476&highlight=Refreezing
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Wayne