Freezing and Thawing Meat Products

Frozen meat, poultry and fish can also be cooked without thawing if extra cooking time is allowed. The amount of time will depend on the size and shape of the cut. Large frozen roasts can take as much as 1 1¦2 times as long to cook as unfrozen cuts of the same weight and shape.

Select only high quality, fresh meats to freeze. Cured meats, such as ham and bacon, can only be frozen for a short period of time,1 to 3 months. The salt in cured meats, hastens rancidity. Store-bought meat is ready to be frozen as is, or cut into more usable portions and frozen. Store-brought meats need to be over wrapped with freezer wrap since their clear packaging is not moisture-vapor resistant.

Freshly slaughtered meats…

These meats need to be cooled to below 40° degrees Fahrenheit with 24 hours to prevent souring or spoiling. The meat should be chilled from 36 -48 hours at 32° - 36° degrees Fahrenheit. After 48 hours, pork veal, and lamb are ready to be cut-up, wrapped and frozen. Variety meats such as liver or sweetbreads, are also ready to be wrapped and frozen. Beef may be left at the 32° - 36° degrees Fahrenheit for a total of 5 to 7 days to age the meat. Aging makes the meat more tender and flavorful.

Proper thawing of meat is extremely important.

To prevent food spoilage; meat, and poultry should never be thawed at room temperature unprotected. There is a much greater danger of bacterial growth and food spoilage for food thawed at room temperature. Thaw meat and poultry in the refrigerator in the original wrappings. To speed thawing, loosen the wrapping.

For a quicker method, immerse meat or poultry in a water tight bag in cold water and thaw until pliable. Or, the meat or poultry can be thawed in its original wrapper in two or three layers of paper bags at room temperature. The bags act as insulation keeping all of the product cold.

Proper thawing of a protein product is important because some food spoilage that may develop on protein products will not be killed during the cooking process.

A special note about poultry and stuffing.

Poultry should not be stuffed before freezing. During freezing or thawing, food poisoning bacterial could easily grow in the stuffing. Commercially stuffed frozen poultry is prepared under special conditions that cannot be duplicated at home. Leftover stuffed poultry should be divided into poultry and stuffing pigeons and frozen or refrigerated separately.

Another often asked question, about poultry, concerns the maroon colored bones or pink meat in frozen poultry after it is cooked. The coloring hemoglobin or coloring matter in the bones is a natural occurrence. There is nothing wrong with the meat.

For more information on freezing and thawing meat products; contact your local county Extension office.