Refreeze cooked tamales can be tricky to deal with and store for the rest of the future gatherings. The fact, you might not want to throw it away because this dish took a lot of hours to cook.
So, to make use of your deforested cooked tamales again, you would possibly want to know, can you refreeze cooked tamales?
You can refreeze cooked tamales for at least one or two weeks. Because refreezing affects the quality of cooked tamales, it is best not to refreeze more than once as it will lose its consistency. Also, the texture and flavor will change a lot. Thus, it is not suitable to refreeze cooked tamales for up to a year as they won’t last that long.
Keep in mind that long-term refreezing of cooked tamales can cause a risk of bacterial infection resulting in spoiled food.
So, before you start the refreezing process, it is best to discover the possible side effects and the exact time duration to avoid such a challenging situation.
Table of Contents
Is it Safe to Refreeze Cooked Tamales?
Tamales are a delicious Mexican dish. The Dough is made from Masa Harina flour. A variety of items are used to fill it: any beef or chicken, cheese, fruits, green onions, and chocolate. It then comes wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves and gets cooked in steam.
It indicates that with so many ingredients inside, the refreezing process will require proper handling. To ensure the quality and safety of cooked tamales, do not refreeze cooked tamales longer than 12 days, or else they will be no more suitable to use.
So, within this time duration, refreeze cooked tamales would be completely safe to eat. However, if you freeze cooked tamales twice, the quality, color, flavor, overall appearance, and palatability of cooked tamales will degrade.
Also, cooked tamales can only be reheated once, so the taste and flavor will not change. Also, pay attention to how you thaw and refreeze it; as long as it’s properly prepared and packaged, it’ll be safe to eat.
The Effects of Thawing and Refreezing Cooked Tamales
The most considerable side effect of refreezing cooked tamales is that it becomes excessively mushy as it is partially thawed, which damages the filling and makes the texture of the tamales very soft. The masa will become crumble as a result of drying out.
However, if you freeze it twice, it will change the shape of cooked tamales physically. The more you do it, the more evident the difference becomes. It ruins the crunchiness of the vegetables.
So, it is best to only take leftovers out of the freeze once as it starts to go bad if you thaw it for a second time.
Avoid placing the cooked tamales in a temperature limit of about 40°F to 140°F because bacteria will propagate within this duration to cause an increased risk of getting you sick. The thawing and refreezing will result in a loss of flavor.
Why is it Bad to Refreeze Cooked Tamales?
When it comes to cooking tamales, it can take quite a while to get them ready. They are therefore ideal for freezing when you are short on time.
On the other hand, the second thaw will impact the texture of the tamales, it will smell bad, and it also affects your health. It will cause you terrible food poisoning and it must be discarded as soon as possible.
Due to continuous freezing and thawing, the texture and flavor change significantly, making it not pleasant to eat. Their smell will be stinky, so you will know that it’s lousy. The bad tamales have a rotten smell.
For How Long Can Tamales Left Be Good to Eat?
If the weather is cool, cooked tamales will probably be good for at least one day. If the weather is warm, cooked tamales go bad much faster, so put them in the fridge. If you leave the cooked tamale sitting at room temperature for too long, this can be dangerous and cause the cooked tamales to spoil sooner.
For uncooked tamales, ensure not to leave them out at room temperature for more than an hour.
The cooked and uncooked tamales in the freezer will stay up to six months. So, it is better to consume beyond that time but eat them as soon as possible for the best taste.
In the refrigerator, tamales can go well for up to a week. Still, when handled the right way, they can keep up to four months in the freezer.
Conclusion
To sum up, cooked Tamales that have been frozen or thawed will be safer to eat more quickly than those that come twice frozen. Refreezing cooked tamales are safe to eat within 12 days. The taste might get changed during the process, but it is still safe to eat and healthy to consume.
However, placing it back in the freezer will affect the overall taste and quality of cooked tamales. So, this is not something that is recommended because it can be risky to refreeze cooked tamales. Instead, try only to thaw the number of cooked tamales you plan on using.
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