So I have a question, I froze all my quartered meat so I could just spend one day grinding it all. My dad is saying I can't thaw it out and then refreeze it. Is it true??

yes

I've heard that too. I have pulled mine out of the cooler cubed it up and placed it in the refrigerator for a few days until I had time to grind it. I've never froze it and thawed it out to grind it.

I always freeze my deer trimmings throughout the season and thaw to make sausage, then refreeze. Never had a problem.

Do the same every year. Never had a problem.

We've ground an refrozen, haven't had any problems.

Works fine, know some processors that will take the frozen quarters or boned meat and make sausage year round.

Would not thaw/process/refreeze but the one time though

Thanks guys!

Ive been doing about 10# a session since I shot my deer this year hasnt been a problem for me... made 10 pounds of sausage today...

Back when I was getting more than a couple WTails every year, I aways took my leftover chubs of ground venison back to Kuby's to be turned into sausage in time for the Summer Holidays.

As per usual I gotta BIGGER freezer...and NO Xtra Venison last couple years, but it gets filled with a years worth of Stripers every Spring.
Ron

The only way I can do it is to quarter and freeze then when I have time thaw and process. NEVER had a problem. Have made steaks, roasts, burger, jerky, etc- NO PROBLEMS

It is not a problem.

It'll be fine. That's an old wives-tale that you can't refreeze.

I've thawed frozen meat and made chili, stews, gumbo and re-frozen some. Never had any trouble.

You can thaw, refreeze, thaw refreeze.....as long as thawed meat is quickly refrozen. The problem lies with the period of thaw. The meat texture will suffer ....only because the formation of ice crystals in the meat cuts through the cells and makes the tissue partially mushy.

You can thaw and refreeze, but everytime you thaw frozen meat it becomes easier for bacteria to go from the surface of the meat to the center of the meat. Sausage and other meats that you cook all the way through will be fine, but there is a bigger chance for bacteria to enter deeper into the meat, so steaks and other cuts that people like to cook to a lower temp become a little more dangerous to consume. Freezing also causes the tissues to rupture and meat becomes more likely to form crystals deeper in the meat which could cause an off taste due to freezer burn.

This is correct. It is more of a quality issue. You wouldn't want to keep thawing and re-freezing steaks, but anything that you are going to further process is no issue.

From what I understand, it depends on how warm it got and for how long. I suspect that, as along as it stayed around 40°, you'd be good to refreeze.

Like many said, you freeze the sausage you make and it came from frozen quarters that had to be thawed to make the sausage.

Here's a link that may help > FoodSaftey.gov Explore that site. It has lots of good food storage information both for best quality and safety. And YOU paid for it!!!

Good info.

The thawing and freezing actually doesn't matter (well it may affect the taste quality). What matters is how long the meat stays between 41 and 135 degrees. Meat should't stay in this temp range more than 4 hours TOTAL before it's fully cooked. After the 4 hour total is reached the meat is said to be unrecoverable. So even if you thaw it as long as it doesn't get above 41 degrees for more than 4 hours it will be fine.

I am a firm believer in that each time you thaw and re-freeze meat it affects the taste and tenderness. However, if you are just going to grind it and make burger/sausage, it really doesn't matter. The best steaks are the ones that have been aged to perfection and never been frozen....IMO