Defrosting Food You should defrost your food in the fridge so that it doesn't get too warm, see our Danger Zone info below for why this is important. It's also important to use food within 24 hours after it's been fully defrosted – it will go bad in the same way as if it were fresh.
Once meat has been defrosted, it should be cooked within 1 to 2 days if it was thawed in the refrigerator. If the meat was defrosted using the cold water method or in the microwave, it should be cooked immediately.
After thawing in the refrigerator, ground meat and poultry should remain useable for an additional day or two before cooking; red meat, 3 to 5 days. Foods defrosted in the refrigerator can be refrozen without cooking, although there may be some loss of quality.
Defrosting and reheating
Defrost frozen food thoroughly before reheating. The safest way to do this is in the fridge (never do it at room temperature) or using the microwave's defrost setting. Once food has been defrosted, eat it within 24 hours.
Most foods previously frozen, thawed and then cooked can be refrozen as long as they have not been sitting at room temperature for more than two hours.
When you freeze, thaw, and refreeze an item, the second thaw will break down even more cells, leaching out moisture and changing the integrity of the product. The other enemy is bacteria. Frozen and thawed food will develop harmful bacteria faster than fresh.
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods.
These principles apply to meat, poultry, shellfish, some vegetables and cooked foods. Do not refreeze ice cream and similar frozen desserts. You can cook and eat thawed but still cold food mixtures like casseroles, pot pies, frozen dinners or pizzas but do not refreeze them.
If food is partly frozen and still has ice crystals, then it is safe to refreeze or use. Discard food that has been warmer than 5 °C for more than two hours.
Food should be left out at room temperature for the shortest time possible. Ideally, defrost these foods in the fridge. Foods will defrost quite quickly at room temperature, but harmful bacteria could grow in food if it gets too warm while defrosting.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also points out that it's unsafe to let food thaw at room temperature because bacteria can multiply rapidly and create toxins that will survive the cooking process — even if the food is cooked to temperatures that kill the bacteria themselves.
Once all the ice and water is gone close the door and turn the freezer back on. Wait for it to reach temperature before returning the food to the freezer.
After thawing beef in the refrigerator, you don't have to cook it right away. Ground beef can be stored an additional 1 to 2 days before cooking; beef roasts and steaks may be stored 3 to 5 additional days before cooking.
While foods are in the process of thawing in the refrigerator (40 °F or less), they remain safe. After thawing, use ground meats, poultry, and fish within one or two additional days, and use beef, pork, lamb or veal (roasts, steaks, or chops) within three to five days.
The longer food sits out, the higher its risk of growing harmful bacteria. However, placing hot foods straight into the refrigerator might raise the appliance's ambient temperature, putting the foods inside directly in the "danger zone" for bacterial growth.
Defrosting Food
You should defrost your food in the fridge so that it doesn't get too warm, see our Danger Zone info below for why this is important. It's also important to use food within 24 hours after it's been fully defrosted – it will go bad in the same way as if it were fresh.
Final State After Overnight Freezing - **Explanation**: After several hours in the freezer, the water inside the bottle will have completely frozen, assuming the freezer is set to a standard freezing temperature of 0°F (-18°C) or lower.
USDA recommends using cooked beef within 3 to 4 days, kept refrigerated (40°F or less). Refrigeration slows but does not stop bacterial growth. USDA recommends using cooked leftovers within 3 to 4 days.
Two hours is the limit for keeping food safe outside the refrigerator or freezer; one hour if the outside temperature is 90 °F ( 32.2 °C) or above. Frozen food can thaw if it is exposed to the sun's rays even when the temperature is very cold.
We do not recommend refreezing Uncrustables® products. Doing so may create ice crystals that cause the bread to become soggy when thawed.
Discard heated leftovers. Thawed cakes, biscuits, breads, fruits and fruit juices are okay to refreeze once if no strong 'yeasty' smell. Thawed snap frozen meat, poultry or fish is okay to refreeze if still below 4°C or transported and handled safely and spent less than 2 hours in temperature danger zone.
Cook thawed seafood for consumption or discard. Ice Cream. Do not refreeze melted ice cream. Consume it or discard.
Perishable foods should never be thawed on the counter, or in hot water and must not be left at room temperature for more than two hours.
Generally, if your frozen pizza has thawed in the refrigerator and has been kept there for no more than a couple of days, it should still be safe to consume. The controlled temperature of the fridge slows down bacterial growth, making it a safe environment for your thawed pizza to reside temporarily.