I am traveling for the holidays and would like to take along some venison. It's a three day trip and no matter how well I pack the meat it will be partially or fully thawed by the time I get to my destination. I wrap it in newspaper and put it on ice and change the ice daily. Can I refreeze the meat rather than having it immediately on arrival? It was always a no-no to refreeze meat in my family, so I always followed suit.
Refreezing Meat?
- Thread starter Sea Buck
- Start date
Smoke & Recoil
New member
Dry ice will solve the problem, but you can cook all the meat, then refreeze it.
Do not refreeze as it will dry out the meat. Cook then freeze is OK.
A better cooler of the Yeti type will work well. When on a hunting trip I cut up the meat and put it in the cooler . In the corners of the cooler I put plastic 1QT containers which I have filled with water and frozen. This works very well as the meat doesn't sit in water as things melt .
A better cooler of the Yeti type will work well. When on a hunting trip I cut up the meat and put it in the cooler . In the corners of the cooler I put plastic 1QT containers which I have filled with water and frozen. This works very well as the meat doesn't sit in water as things melt .
Whistlebritches
New member
Dry ice will keep it frozen for days.
Sure Shot Mc Gee
New member
Trick to keeping coolers cold? Buy a draw tight belt as seen in the (link) and loop around the entire cooler pulling the coolers lid down tight as possible. Do not open the cooler until you reach your destination. If you must replace the ice. Fill zip lock bags with ice. i.e. done to keep melted ice water contained.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Classic...Down-Straps-2-Pack-52-030-010401-00/203028359
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Classic...Down-Straps-2-Pack-52-030-010401-00/203028359
FIRST you need to prep the cooler by getting it cold - either in a big freezer or at least with ice. Jugs of frozen water keep moisture away from it. Dry ice do the job, but do not let it touch the meat. Wrap the cooler in some form of insulating blanket. On hunting trips, we used old moving company blankets -those quilted, heavy blankets also doubled well for a ground cloth to keep you warm.
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Ruga Booga
New member
Refreezing the meat may lessen the quality but it isnt dangerous. Never made me sick
Another vote
Another vote for dry ice. Most large grocery stores have it.
Do not allow the dry ice to touch the meat. Newspaper works well to insulate the two from each other.
Years ago that's what we did to fly a couple hundred pounds of Halibut home from Alaska.
In those days the airline would "look the other way" with regard to boxes packed with dry ice. They did require them to be sealed up tight.
We bought the waxed cardboard fish boxes and insulated with newspaper. Worked great and still frozen hard as a rock when we got home.
Another vote for dry ice. Most large grocery stores have it.
Do not allow the dry ice to touch the meat. Newspaper works well to insulate the two from each other.
Years ago that's what we did to fly a couple hundred pounds of Halibut home from Alaska.
In those days the airline would "look the other way" with regard to boxes packed with dry ice. They did require them to be sealed up tight.
We bought the waxed cardboard fish boxes and insulated with newspaper. Worked great and still frozen hard as a rock when we got home.
Agree with Smoke. I normally use dry ice as this will keep for several days anything in the cooler frozen. If there is no dry ice spread sea salt at the bottom of the cooler, about a one pound dependent on size of cooler. than layer ice on top than the meat and more ice on top of meat. Keep the cooler closed, do not check to see if you need more ice as this lets out a lot of the cold air escape. If the ice has melted do not worry because the salt water is still below the freezing point of 32 degrees because salt water melts at a lower temperature, but your meat will still remain frozen. And as everyone has suggested cook the meat and freeze it works well too.
wild willy
New member
Ice alone doesn't really do that good of job of keeping meat frozen hard.You need dry ice or freezer packs.Any farm supply stores nearby I get all the Gel packs I want for free they get medicine in with them maybe check with a pharmacy.Opening the cooler and checking it is the worst thing you can do.With a good cooler you should be able to keep meat frozen three days
"Dry ice will keep it frozen for days."
Dry ice will make the meat even colder than many home freezers. I left Albuquerque NM with some 1/2 frozen elk meat in a cooler with 7# of dry ice. At the end of a 25 hour trip in 60* temps, the meat was frozen all the way through and still 1-1.5# of dry ice left.
"Ice alone doesn't really do that good of job of keeping meat frozen hard"
The ice in the stores is barely frozen and actually warmer than meat coming out of a home freezer.
Dry ice will make the meat even colder than many home freezers. I left Albuquerque NM with some 1/2 frozen elk meat in a cooler with 7# of dry ice. At the end of a 25 hour trip in 60* temps, the meat was frozen all the way through and still 1-1.5# of dry ice left.
"Ice alone doesn't really do that good of job of keeping meat frozen hard"
The ice in the stores is barely frozen and actually warmer than meat coming out of a home freezer.
Use dry ice. Wrap it in newspaper and limit airspace in cooler to make it last longer. when i was in the military i would take a cooler full of beef back from the family cattle ranch when i visited. I would fill the cooler and but a block of dry ice in it wrapped in newspaper and the meat was always frozen a few days later. However I don't recommend using it to try and cool some soda quickly but that is another story.
Yes you can refreeze. Think of it as having X time thawed before the meat turns bad. If the meat is frozen then thawed for .04 X you can refreeze it but you will then only have .06 X amount of time left before it turns and so on.
Like others have said keeping meat frozen in a cooler can last for several days.
Meat drying out from freezing has more to do with exposure to air than the process of refreezing.
Like others have said keeping meat frozen in a cooler can last for several days.
Meat drying out from freezing has more to do with exposure to air than the process of refreezing.
buck460XVR
New member
^^^This. Everytime thawed meat is frozen it will loose moisture. This degrades taste and texture. Venison is especially prone to this since it is a fairly dry meat to start with. Most meat one buys at the grocery store has been frozen and then thawed before putting in the display case. Very few, if any store, handles fresh meat anymore. That means if you buy it at the store thawed and then go home and freeze it, it's a refreeze. It's also why grocery store meat never tastes as good as that one gets from a butcher shop.
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