Freezing Bunny Meat Question

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karebru

karebru

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I have 6 dress-outs from yesterday resting in the fridge. My vacuum sealer is ready to go when I butcher them. I would like to grind some and maybe try making some sausage, but it might be a week or two before I get a grinder. Is it safe to freeze the meat, thaw it, grind it, then refreeze it?
Thanks! :)
 
It should be safe to freeze, thaw and grind, and refreeze. Most of the issue with thawing and refreezing has to do with texture, but you are destroying the original texture by grinding anyway.

I don't think you actually have to completely thaw to grind, either. I think somebody said it grinds best when it's still partially frozen?
 
If the grinder is on the weaker side (like the grinder attachment on my stand mixer) it is better to grind when partially frozen. When using an actual electric grinder strong enough to grind wild game, it's much easier to not freeze it first.
 
If you grind it frozen and put it right back in the freezer, it will probably still have ice crystals in it during grinding and is perfectly fine to freeze again. Besides, this isn't factory meat that's probably already gone through several freeze/thaw cycles and germ environments before hitting your shopping cart. I would say you have a wider margin for error in handling than store bought meat.
 
Miss M":6ft7vdeu said:
Most of the issue with thawing and refreezing has to do with texture, but you are destroying the original texture by grinding anyway.
Click to expand...

I thought the issue was bacterial growth? :? There is always bacteria present on meat, but when frozen that either slows greatly or stops altogether depending on the particular type of bacteria. When thawed, the bacteria become viable again and start to replicate.

Ground meat is the most dangerous when it comes to bacterial growth because there is so much more surface area- so I definitely would not recommend thawing and refreezing after the meat has been ground... although I imagine that when people combine pork sausage (or other high fat meat) with rabbit, they are probably doing just that? If so, working as quickly as possible and under very sanitary conditions would be of utmost importance.

:hmm: This has got me thinking that if I ever get into sausage making (no grinder here!) that I will reserve the cuts destined to be sausage from my Guinea hogs as whole chunks and grind at the same time as the rabbit...

Thawing a slab of meat and then grinding and refreezing shouldn't pose a problem in my (non FDA sanctioned!) opinion.
 

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