Can I re-freeze fruit?
I bought about 1.2kg of frozen raspberries with the intention of using them yesterday, but it turns out I won't need them for another couple of weeks. I had let them thaw but have put them in the fridge since I realised my mistake.
Am I able to refreeze the berries or should I find some immediate use for them?
What are the risks / consequences if I do refreeze?
Best Answer
Basically, you can refreeze the raspberries.
When a fruit or veg. is frozen, the water inside the plant cell expands, and bursts the cell wall, which is why there is so much 'juice' when you thaw. If you refreeze, you can be sure that the raspberries will freeze into a giant block. If you are using them to make a sauce or a jam, this is not significant. That being said, if you are using frozen raspberries in the first place, you are obviously not looking for a perfectly intact raspberry, you are using them for some other purpose. Therefor, refreezing is no big deal. I recently answered another question about freezing and refreezing, and how it is basically a myth that it renders the refrozen product inedible. Any time you freeze you know that you are not going to get 'exactly' the same product when you thaw it, and the same goes with refreezing, there is always a 'slight' degredation of the product with each successive freeze (do you like my liberal usage of quotes?) You won't poison yourself or anything like that, you should have no worries.
That being said, what are you doing with the berries? Certainly a refrozen raspberry should be no worse that a raspberry frozen once.
Pictures about "Can I re-freeze fruit?"
Quick Answer about "Can I re-freeze fruit?"
Thawed fruit and fruit juice concentrates can be refrozen if they taste and smell good. Since thawed fruits suffer in appearance, flavor and texture from refreezing, you may want to make them into jam instead. You can safely refreeze breads, cookies and similar bakery items.Can fruit be frozen twice?
But it is safe to refreeze frozen fruit as long as it was still good when refrozen. In order to safely refreeze fruit, you will need freezer safe bags or containers. If your frozen fruit was purchased from the grocery store, do not refreeze it in it's original bag.Can You Can previously frozen fruit?
Yes, canning foods that were previously frozen is perfectly safe so long as you follow all food safety procedures during freezing and canning. Frozen fruits can be used the same as fresh fruits in preparing pies, upside down cakes, sherbets, ices and salads.Why should you not refreeze frozen fruit?
The longer answer: when fruits are frozen, the water inside the plant cells expands and bursts the cell wall. This is what creates all that delicious berry juice when you thaw. If you refreeze the berries at this point, unless you drain off the liquid, they'll form a block when placed back in the freezer.Can you refreeze frozen fruit and vegetables?
Oftentimes, when a freezer starts defrosting, for example during an unexpected blackout, the inside will still stay colder than the surrounding areas for a long time. So, if your fruit and vegetables are still cold and partly frozen, and you can refreeze them immediately, there is nothing more to worry about.Can You Refreeze Thawed Meat?
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: SHVETS production, MART PRODUCTION, MART PRODUCTION, MART PRODUCTION