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Can You Refreeze Sausages?

By: Author William Thomas

William Thomas

Editor-in-Chief & Pitmaster

I have been smoking and grilling meat from an early age and enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise through the hundreds of articles I have written about BBQ. I hope to make everyone’s BBQ journey that little bit easier.
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Can You Refreeze Sausages?

The reason we take food out of the freezer and thaw it is that we plan to cook it for a meal. This is often done with meat.

Sometimes, however, you may take out the raw meat from the freezer but decide you don’t want it. You either have to chuck it, cook it, or put it back in the freezer.

People need to be aware refreezing meat comes with some caveats, so you need to keep some things in mind before putting it back in the freezer.

One meat people do this with is sausages, and in this article, we will find out if you really can refreeze sausages and how to do so safely.

Is It Possible to Refreeze Sausages?

It is very much possible to refreeze sausage, and this goes for pork or turkey sausages. As long as it’s sausage we are talking about, it can be refrozen.

This goes for raw sausage and cooked sausage that has gone through the freezing and thawing process.

In the next section, we’ll go into the specifics of both types of sausage.

Refreezing Cooked Sausages

When you plan to refreeze cooked sausage, make sure you haven’t left it out on the counter for more than two hours.

If you have, then it needs to be thrown away due to the bacteria that can grow on it. Better yet, never thaw it on the counter, to begin with.

No good comes from thawing sausage on the counter.

The sausage can last about 2 or so days in the fridge before you need to decide what you need to do with it.

Either you can reheat it, put it back in the freezer, or throw it away… we hope you don’t go with that method because the meat is expensive!

Throwing it away in the trash is like throwing away your hard-earned money.

Refreezing Raw Sausages

The rule for refreezing raw sausage is similar to the ones that exist when refreezing cooked sausage.

If it’s in the fridge, you have around 2 days to figure out what you want to do.

Now, if it has been left on the counter, a similar thing will happen. Bacteria will grow on it, and then you pose a greater risk of getting sick should you decide to eat it.

It can be left at room temperature for around 2 or so hours before the meat hits the danger zone.

The biggest difference between raw sausage and cooked sausage is that if you use any method other than the fridge method to thaw your sausage, then it needs to be cooked before being refrozen.

If you’re wondering if this is because of bacteria, then you would be correct.

Bacteria is one of those pesky little things that just won’t leave our food alone!

How to Safely Thaw Sausages

There are methods you can take to safely thaw your sausage. These methods include:

  • We will say that the best way to thaw the sausage is by doing it in the fridge. It doesn’t matter if it is done with raw or cooked sausage. First, take it out of the freezer and put it right in the fridge. Leave it in there overnight and by the time morning comes around, it will be completely thawed for you.
  • The next method is the cold water method. Thisway is quicker than putting it in the fridge to thaw overnight. First, put the sausagein a bowl with cold water and change the water every 30 minutes until it has completely thawed. Remember, if you do this with raw sausage, it needs to be cooked before being refrozen.
  • Finally, the last method is by far the quickest. It’s even quicker than the cold water method… easier than well.Go putthe sausage in the microwave in a microwave-safe bowl and then hit the defrost button. Remember, if you do this with raw sausage, it needs to be cooked before being refrozen.

All of these methods come with their strengths and weaknesses, but they are by far the best ways to do it.

How to Safely Freeze Sausages

Similar to thawing sausage, there are things you can do to ensure that your sausage is being frozen properly.

  • The first thing you should do is wrap the sausage in a freezer bag, foil, or plastic. Then you need to put the sausage in some kind of zip-lock bag. It doesn’t have to be the actual zip-lock brand and can be an off-brand. Finally, make sure you get all the air out of it because if there is air left in there, then you run the risk of your meat getting freezer burn. It won’t hurt you, but it will ruin the meat.
  • Second thing you should consider doing is putting the date on the packaging that the sausage is in. The human brain can only remember so much, and chances are you aren’t going to remember the date of everything you put in your freezer. If you have the date on it, then you have a solid reference point.

By following these suggestions, you will ensure that you won’t end up getting freezer burn.

As always, consider doing the sniff test once the meat has thawed. This way, you can triple-check if it is still good or not.

Final Thoughts

And there you go, all you sausage lovers out there in the world!

In the article, we showed you that you could refreeze sausage that has been cooked and then thawed as well as sausage that went through a similar process.

We also felt that we had to mention how to safely thaw and freeze it in general.

The reason for this is so you can avoid getting any freezer burn on meat. It’s not deadly, but it is a pain.

It’s going to take some time for you to become used to refreezing meat properly, but one day soon, you’ll be an expert!

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