I am a cheapskate, with a lot of uncooked meat which is probabaly not "bad" yet.
But I am not certain. 

If I freeze this meat, will it kill any "bugs" or bacteria already in the meat?
Or, am I simply delaying my trip to the Tomaine Temple?

A great answer would be 1-2 sentences.

All comments greatly appreciated!

Hello Bryan,

It’s nice to work with you again. 


According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, freezing
your meat will not kill the bacteria that the meat already has.

“Does freezing kill germs?

Freezing does not kill all bacteria, yeasts and molds present in food,
but it does prevent their multiplication if the food is held at 0°F or
less. When thawed, the surviving organisms can multiply again.

Does freezing improve the quality of food?

Freezing does not improve the quality of the product. Frozen food is
only as good as the quality of the fresh food. So, select only high
quality products at optimum maturity and freshness.”

Source: National Center for Home Food Preservation
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/questions/FAQ_freezing.html#7


Most Frequently Asked Freezing Questions:

Q. Does freezing kill germs? 

“Freezing does not kill all germs (microorganisms) present in food,
but it does prevent their growth and multiplication if the food is
held at 0°F or less. When thawed, the surviving organisms can grow
again.”

Source: University of Florida – Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_HE489


Additional information that may interest you:

How Can Consumers Reduce Risks? 
http://www.stop-usa.org/illness/redcrisk.html


Search Criteria:
freezing Meat kill germs


Thank you for your question and I hope this response has provided you
with the information you were seeking.


Best Regards,
Bobbie7-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 01 Jan 2003 10:52 PST

Sorry about Bryan, it should say Ron.

Sizzling answer!   
The meat is out of here. My stomach and I thank you, bobbie7...

Keep in mind that the enzymatic process that causes rancidity in pork
is not halted by freezing.

I learned this the hard way after I froze ten pounds of lovely pork
chops, only to find, three months later, that they had become rancid.

It is odd that some foods deteriorate so badly in the freezer. Try
freezing a banana. A week later, it resembles something from The
Mummy's Tomb.

:-)

The reason that many fruits and vegetables freeze so poorly has a lot
to do with the water content of these foods.  A banana has a water
content of 75% (http://www.ca.uky.edu/enri/pubs/enri129.pdf).  When
you freeze a banana, the water expands, exploding the cell walls which
give it structure.  When you take it out and warm it back up, it's
just a pile of mush.  Mushrooms, too, use cell walls for structure,
which is why they too become piles of black mush when frozen.

The water content of fresh meat varies from ~50% water to ~75% water
(http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/watrmeat.htm).  Meat doesn't end up
as a pile of mush because animal cells do not rely on cell walls for
structure.

somestudent---that is SOME answer.  Thank you very much!  ron