Is it OK, taste wise, to refreeze thawed octopus?

Question

Where I live, I have to travel a bit to get octopus. The octopus they sell in the store is imported frozen, and thawed in the store. Sometimes they don’t have it, or the octopus they have is not thawed yet, so it can not be cut. Then I have to go home empty handed. They also sell whole octopuses in frozen form there, but that is way too big for one meal.

So I thought about whether I could buy a big one frozen, thaw it at home, cut it up and refreeze it in separate pieces. I reckon it’s safe, but I’m curious whether it’s considered to affect the quality negatively.

I have searched online, but most sources I find either assume that all meat is the same, or all seafood is the same. I thought maybe octopus was different, since many people consider it to be better when bought frozen, unlike pretty much all other meats. Therefore, maybe refreezing also would be less harmful to taste and texture. Do anyone have specific advice about octopus? Other solutions are also welcome. I guess chopping it up in frozen form would be impossible without specialized equipment? I’m talking about a regular home freezer.

Answer 1

Refreezing any type of seafood, including octopus, is generally not recommended. Here's why: every time you freeze seafood, ice crystals form. These ice crystals can damage the cell structure of the meat, leading to a mushy texture once defrosted. Refreezing only exacerbates this problem.

Now, with that said, octopus is a bit of a unique case. It's often frozen and thawed multiple times before it even reaches your kitchen, mainly to tenderize the meat. However, keep in mind there's a limit to this process before it starts negatively impacting the quality.

If you absolutely must freeze, thaw, and refreeze your octopus, do so with caution. Thaw it slowly in the fridge, cut it into manageable portions, and then refreeze quickly to minimize the formation of ice crystals. But remember, there's no guarantee the texture and taste won't be affected.

A better solution might be to cook the whole octopus after the initial thawing, even if it's more than you need for one meal. Once cooked, octopus keeps quite well, and you can freeze the cooked meat in portions for later use. This way, you're only freezing and thawing once, and you'll likely have a better end result. Plus, having cooked octopus on hand opens up a world of quick and easy meals – from octopus salad to pasta dishes.