Meat 101 - beef mince (raw hamburger) in fridge overnight?
September 1, 2014 12:36 PM
Sorry for the basicness of this question, but I don't usually cook meat and google is overwhelming. Can I keep defrosted mince in the fridge overnight?
1. Organic beef mince (? hamburger?)
2. In the freezer (promptly frozen from shop) for er about a year (which may be another question)
3. Thawed in a plastic bag submerged in cold water
4. When thawed, mixed with parsely, cumin and onion (no egg)
5. Half fried into burgers.
No major mistake so far, right?
My question is: if I dont't want to fry and eat the rest of the mince now, can I keep the mince and onion in the fridge overnight? Or is it better to fry it into burgers now, keep them in the fridge and eat cold tommorrow? Or is refreezing the mince/burgers an option?
Thanks for helping me not poison myself!
1. Organic beef mince (? hamburger?)
2. In the freezer (promptly frozen from shop) for er about a year (which may be another question)
3. Thawed in a plastic bag submerged in cold water
4. When thawed, mixed with parsely, cumin and onion (no egg)
5. Half fried into burgers.
No major mistake so far, right?
My question is: if I dont't want to fry and eat the rest of the mince now, can I keep the mince and onion in the fridge overnight? Or is it better to fry it into burgers now, keep them in the fridge and eat cold tommorrow? Or is refreezing the mince/burgers an option?
Thanks for helping me not poison myself!
I think the answer is "definitely," and especially so if you're then heating said beef to over 160.
posted by mr. digits at 12:39 PM on September 1, 2014
posted by mr. digits at 12:39 PM on September 1, 2014
Yes, you can probably keep it several more days uncooked. I do this routinely with hamburger/meatball mix (and mine includes egg).
Refreezing is contraindicated for raw meat, though you'd almost certainly survive - with no ill effects - if you did. You could cook them and freeze them with no issues, but I wouldn't bother if you plan to cook the rest in the next two days.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:40 PM on September 1, 2014
Refreezing is contraindicated for raw meat, though you'd almost certainly survive - with no ill effects - if you did. You could cook them and freeze them with no issues, but I wouldn't bother if you plan to cook the rest in the next two days.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:40 PM on September 1, 2014
Yes, no problem. Take it out of the water and just shove it to the back of the fridge where it's colder.
You could re-freeze it, it won't be a problem.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:53 PM on September 1, 2014
You could re-freeze it, it won't be a problem.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:53 PM on September 1, 2014
Refreezing is fine with raw meat. It's what most supermarkets do. It's best if the meat is defrosted in the fridge and kept below 40F. The only thing that would concern me is your mention of half fried not sure just what you mean by this. If they are part cooked & part very raw I might be concerned if only because the meat might not have dropped back down to the safe temp fast enough in the raw part.
The following is from the USDA website.
Refreezing
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. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F.
If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly.
posted by wwax at 1:00 PM on September 1, 2014
The following is from the USDA website.
Refreezing
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. If previously cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour in temperatures above 90 °F.
If you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store, you can refreeze if it has been handled properly.
posted by wwax at 1:00 PM on September 1, 2014
I meant that I fried half the quantity and wasn't sure what to do with the rest of the defrosted stuff. Seems like I am okay frying the rest of it up tommorrow though. Thanks all!
posted by runincircles at 1:04 PM on September 1, 2014
posted by runincircles at 1:04 PM on September 1, 2014
It's fine to keep in the fridge for a day or two, but i recommend against refreezing. In food service, i was taught not to refreeze things that had been thawed.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 1:05 PM on September 1, 2014
posted by kinddieserzeit at 1:05 PM on September 1, 2014
nice one.
posted by runincircles at 1:08 PM on September 1, 2014
posted by runincircles at 1:08 PM on September 1, 2014
In the freezer (promptly frozen from shop) for er about a year (which may be another question)
That perfectly safe (assuming it's been well packaged and looks and smells ok after thawing), but the quality may suffer -- the usual recommendation for ground beef is 3 months (see e.g. this FDA overview).
posted by effbot at 3:24 PM on September 1, 2014
That perfectly safe (assuming it's been well packaged and looks and smells ok after thawing), but the quality may suffer -- the usual recommendation for ground beef is 3 months (see e.g. this FDA overview).
posted by effbot at 3:24 PM on September 1, 2014
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posted by KathrynT at 12:38 PM on September 1, 2014