Questions about refrigeration

I am wondering if I refrigerate my fruit, will it not go bad as quickly? I am specifically talking about nectarines, as they seem to go bad faster than I can eat them...I'm talking within 5 days time. I also prefer cold fruit anyway, but I don't know if it does anything to affect the ripening process nagatively.

Also, my SIL told me that you should not refreeze thawed meat. I do this all the time as I will only use a partial package of mince that I have thawed for dinner. I just re-wrap it and stick it back in the freezer. My SIL says that it is not good to do as the meat is full of bacteria by that time.  I have never heard this before. Does anyone know anything about this?

I don't refreeze thawed meat.  The way I do it is separate the meat once I get home before freezing it in the first instance.  If something happens and I just don't end up using as much as I've thawed, I cook it as simply as possible and then refridgerate it for use within a day or two (like mince that can be browned, put in the fridge, and then added to sauce and heated through).

Can't help you on the fruit - there's 4 of us in the house and fruit rarely hangs around long enough to go bad!

I was always told never to refreeze as well. I think your SIL is right. To avoid the problem, separate your mince into two portions as soon as you get back from the store and freeze that way. It's a bit of a pain but much more safe.

As for fruit, if it's already ripe when you buy it, the fridge will delay it spoiling. If not, keep it out until just ripe and then refrigerate.

 

Ditto what Peedal and your SIL said.  If the meat packages are too big for a single serving, then I break them down into smaller sizes and freeze them in freezer bags.  Some meat packaging is rather large in the first place, so I find it saves room in the freezer if I break it down.

I recently saw some instructions on a carton of peaches that said: "Leave out to ripen, once ripened refrigerate".  I would imagine it works the same for nectarines.

Also, my SIL told me that you should not refreeze thawed meat...<snip>...My SIL says that it is not good to do as the meat is full of bacteria by that time. 

Every time a piece of meat is thawed, bacteria multiplies. And also, every time meat goes through the freezing process, its quality is reduced. Both are reasons for doing as the others advice and breaking the meat down into meal-sizes before freezing.

and yes, putting fruit in the fridge slows down the ripening process.   

I never re-freeze thawed meat, and do what the others have suggested as far as separating the meat into pound portions (or whatever size you use, I imagine I'll have to make the portions bigger soon).

You can, though, cook thawed mince and freeze it for up to two or three months.  So if it's loose meat you want, for spaghetti or whatever, and you've thawed too much, you can cook and freeze it.

As everyone else pretty well said... re-freezing thawed meat is a quick route to food poisoning! 

Thanks everyone. It's strange to me that I didn't know this as I always really try to practise food safety. And thanks Saf, for the tip on re-freezing cooked mince. I am assuming I can do this with chicken as well. I think I logically knew that I could do this, but since I always re-freeze my meat, I've never really had to! 

Anyway, thanks again for all the helpful replies. 

Hey, I didn't realize this for a few years either, and I'm so obsessive about food safety I rinse my Thanksgiving turkey with a very mild bleach solution!  So don't feel bad.

And yes, you can cook and re-freeze chicken, but be warned the texture isn't as nice.  That's one reason I rarely buy chicken.

I find that refridgerating fruit changes its texture a little bit - makes it more... mealy if that makes any sense. My b/f puts ripe tomatoes in the fridge but I don't like the texture. It does seem to keep it all from going bad as quickly, though so if the texture doesn't bother you it's probably good practice!!

Oh no - tomatoes should not go in the fridge!

I like oranges, grapes, strawberries and bananas when they are chilled. They really aren't harmed by the fridge, though I do feel like bananas may ripen a little faster when they are kept cool. However, nectarines and peaches are my favourite fruits and they seem to be temperamental. Some weeks, I can't keep them good for more than a few days, some weeks (like this week) I can't get them to ripen so they don't chip my teeth when I eat them! 

I agree Peedal, tomotoes are better non-refrigerated.

I rinse my Thanksgiving turkey with a very mild bleach solution!

  I used to scrub all my fruits and veg with soap, including lettuce leaves. I've given up on that now and just give them a very vigerous wash and rinse with the salad spinner.

I like oranges, grapes, strawberries and bananas when they are chilled. They really aren't harmed by the fridge, though I do feel like bananas may ripen a little faster when they are kept cool. However, nectarines and peaches are my favourite fruits and they seem to be temperamental. Some weeks, I can't keep them good for more than a few days, some weeks (like this week) I can't get them to ripen so they don't chip my teeth when I eat them! 

My guess is that this has less to do with your ability to keep the fruit properly and a lot more to do with the quality of the fruit you are buying. Not that you are deliberately chosing bad fruit. But these days you can buy anything when it is out of season and it's been shipped from rather far away. Some fruit travels well, others don't. Peaches and nectarines don't do so well and if I'm not mistaken, aren't grown in the UK very well. The same goes for tomatoes. Anyone from Italy, or even the Eastern shore of Maryland will tell you that tomatoes in season from the area they are grown in taste worlds apart from what you get at the supermarket!

I love peaches and nectarines, too and have pretty much given up on getting good ones. I've had better luck with nectarines though.

 

That's a good point and probably true with everything.  The cucumbers and tomatoes that I got the other day from the farmers market tasted sooooo much better than ones bought in the supermarket.