Can I refreeze defrosted crumb topping?
I have a crumb topping (margarine + brown sugar + flour) that I usually make double or triple the recipe of and then freeze. Sometimes I don't divide it evenly and end up with extra dough when I defrost a section. Can I refreeze the dough or should I just toss it because it'll affect the taste? (What about cookie dough?)
Best Answer
Generally, freezing and re-freezing is not a big issue. Some things just shouldn't be frozen (certain fruits and veg), because when frozen the water contained in the cell structure expands and in turn bursts the containing structure, which causes mushiness. Meats can be refrozen with a slight moisture loss. From what I was taught by my old pastry chef, this whole notion of freezing and refreezing being dangerous was started when electric freezers were just coming into the market (first half of the 20th century), and the cold storage and ice companies were scared of the potential loss of their business (which absolutely happened). It was them that advertised that this refreezing could be detrimental to health. Truth is, refreezing just sends the item into a (mostly) inert state, where bacteria can't harm the item by propagating. However, your question is about the taste and how refreezing pertains to cookie dough. It's not a matter of the refreezing that has an effect on the taste, rather how long things stay in your freezer. You can thaw, refreeze, thaw, refreeze as much as you want. Happens all the time in commercial kitchens and bakeries. The key is to not make so much that it stays in the freezer too long.
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Quick Answer about "Can I refreeze defrosted crumb topping?"
You can thaw, refreeze, thaw, refreeze as much as you want. Happens all the time in commercial kitchens and bakeries.Can you refreeze crumble topping?
Can You Refreeze Crumble? Yes, you can refreeze crumble. The only potential issue with doing so is that the topping is likely to soften due to the formation of ice crystals in the mixture.Can you freeze breadcrumbs twice?
Although breadcrumbs freeze well, refreezing them is not something we would recommend. Unfortunately, refreezing them can ruin the texture. The only exception to this is if you have frozen breadcrumbs, used them in another dish such as a pasta bake or breaded chicken and then want to freeze this cooked dish.Can you refreeze something that has already been defrosted?
When is it safe to refreeze food? You can safely refreeze frozen food that has thawed\u2014raw or cooked, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. To safely refreeze, the thawed product must have been kept cold at 40 degrees or below for no more than 3-4 days.Can you keep uncooked crumble topping in the fridge?
Keep for later? Store the uncooked crumble in a covered dish and keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours before cooking or freeze for up to three months. If cooking from frozen, bake in the oven at 180\xb0C or gas mark 4 for 50 minutes or until the crumble topping is golden. 1.Is it possible to refreeze defrosted food?
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Answer 2
Freezing and re-freezing dry topping should be no problem at all.
Freezing disrupts the cell structure of things like meat, causing texture change. Repeated freezing/thawing will make this worse. There shouldn't be any effect on the taste, unless perhaps you're going to store it for some months whan you might get rancidity.
For foods suspectible to microbiological growth, there will be stages during the freezing/thawing processes where microbiological growth is possible, which will be repeated in every freeze/thawing cycle. I think this is the real reason for the official line that re-freezing is unacceptable.
Neither of these apply to dry crumb topping, but the microbiological aspects may be an issue for doughs containing water.
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