Can I refreeze my lasagne?!

[surrey321]

So I cooked the meat filling a few days ago & froze it.. defrosted yesterday & made up into a lasagne, cooked it. There’s loads left & no one will eat it now as we’re going away… I can’t refreeze it can I??

Yes I know what has happened to it, but why is it a risk?

Because the mince has already been frozen and cooked twice.

And it was probably sitting around at room temperature, in order to cool, after OP cooked it again yesterday.

But what harm will come from freezing and thawing and heating assuming - as I said - it is properly heated and rapidly chilled? Everyone saying “ooh you can’t do that” isn’t answering the question.

Obviously if it’s been hanging around at room temperature uncovered for several hours, or was not thoroughly heated, it’s probably best binned.

Because each time it has been defrosted, it has been "hanging around at room temperature". Or at least, reaching room temperature.

And then it will have been "hanging around at room temperature" again yesterday, in order to cool.

Mince harbours more bacteria than whole meat, because of the physical processing.

But the mince has been thoroughly cooked to temperatures that will have definitely killed any enterobacteria that were there when it was raw. So that risk was eliminated when the mince was originally cooked.

Again, assuming it was properly cooked.

I'll hand you over to the professionals:

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/how-to-chill-freeze-and-defrost-food-safely

I will offer to eat it to save it going to waste.

I'd also freeze it though.

Id say no. You can refreeze something that has changed form, but you’ve already done that from raw meat to the first cooked lasagne. I’d say you can’t do it again.
I’d reheat it unfrozen again though.

That article also doesn’t explain why you can’t freeze and thaw repeatedly. It makes no sense, microbiologically, why the first freeze, thaw, cook cycle is safe and the second one isn’t.

Oh gosh, never expected so many responses!!! For the record it was defrosted slowly in fridge each time. Never mind.. it’s getting chucked!

But OP would be on to the third cycle. There have already been two thaw/cook/cool/freeze cycles.

The third one then? What’s different?

Agree with this.

I wouldnt risk it. I remember vividly how unwell my Dad made me when he did similar with mince but his was some weird pie thing. I remember asking him if it was ok as even i knew as a really young kid you had to be careful with this stuff.

yea....I was ill for days 🤢

What's different?!

The beef has first been minced, hello bacterial entry. Then the mince has been frozen. Then it was thawed (when bacteria become active again).

Then it was cooked, into a bolognese.

Then the cooked bolognese mince was cooled, at room temperature. Then it was frozen, again.

Then it was thawed, again. Then it was cooked (into a lasagne) again. Then the lasagne was cooled at room temperature.

And now the OP wants to freeze it again, in order to thaw it again, and eat it. If you think that is healthy then crack on.

I wouldn't eat it and definitely would not serve it to others after being frozen twice already once raw and once cooked. I'd bin it or freeze just the betchimal sauce.

I'm not a food scientist. But to answer the question about what is the risk re bacteria, I had thought the issue wasn't the bacteria itself necessarily (which gets killed each time you reheat properly) but the toxins produced by the bacteria, which cause food poisoning and which hang around in the food and aren't neutralised by the reheating. So each time the food is at temps between 5 degrees and 75 degrees (eg when being cooled after re-cooking), more toxins will be in the food. The cumulative effect of the toxins after multiple reheating/cooling/freezing/thawing cycles is (at least this is my understanding) the risk.

No she can't she has already reheated it once. Unless she eats it cold you can't reheat again.

No would not refreeze iits been frozen twice

I would definitely have frozen it again. I can't see the problem if each time it's cooked before freezing. If I make Bolognese sauce from frozen and defrosted mince and there are leftovers I often make it into lasagne which I keep in the fridge and reheat if it doesn't all get eaten. I haven't frozen it in between but it's in the fridge, it won't make any difference if it's frozen again. Just make sure it's piping hot all the way through when reheating.

Over Christmas I made boeuf bourguingnon from steak I'd frozen raw, I then froze the cooked dish. There were leftovers which I then portioned and refroze, I've eaten them over the past couple of days. Again I made sure it was thoroughly cooked through.

I've done this type of thing for decades, no ill effects whatsoever.

Why not, if it's thoroughly cooked on reheating? I do it all the time and have done for decades. I often cook, freeze and reheat things several times, never an issue.

So, if you defrost frozen mince-you can cook it and freeze it again once-is that right?

Absolutely fine to freeze. The flavour and texture might be slightly affected but it will safe to eat.

Yes it's fine just may be a bit less flavoursome but still good.

Thanks @SomethingRattling . Picking your brains...could I cook it from frozen?

I really want lasagne now.