flash freezing

Question
Hey RPG, i know that freezing is a big no no on the raw paleo diet. However,
what about flash freezing?  Let me post a brief definition of what flash
freezing is.

"Flash-freezing is an accelerated process in which fish are frozen immediately
after they抮e harvested. It uses ultra-low temperatures to freeze fish solid in a
matter of seconds. In fact, flash-freezing allows fish to be caught, processed,
and frozen solid in a matter of hours, not days. By minimizing the timeframe
between harvest and production, flash-freezing 揷aptures?the salmon at its
peak of perfection. At Vital Choice, we hold our flash-frozen fish at a
constant -10?F, and then pack it in dry ice before shipping."

Got that from here: http://www.vitalchoice.com/faq.cfm#37

I just recently got in touch with my local organic store and they told me that
they can make special orders for organ meats but I was told that the meats
are always flash frozen.  

Answer
Most commercial freezing involves "quick-freezing/flash-freezing". Freezing meat quickly is less harmful to the meat than just leaving meat to freeze gradually in the freezer-compartment at home, but it still isn't a perfect process.

According to standard food-science studies, the process of freezing slightly damages the structure of the enzymes in the food - also, damage to the cell-walls is caused by the expanding ice-crystals which form in the process, resulting in a slight loss of vitamin and mineral-content and some dehydration, once the meat is thawed. Also, once thawed, the meat tends to age at a much faster rate than if it hadn't been frozen, and the meat will end up being less tasty, by comparison - (flash-frozen meat, apparently, takes longer to age, once thawed, than meat that's been only slowly frozen).

Generally speaking, freezing isn't the end of the world, and many RPDers have to compromise and get the flash-frozen alternative if genuinely fresh, raw meat is unavailable, at times. I'm no exception - for practical reasons, I have to buy, each month,  a month's supply of prefrozen raw marrow and suet - I'm not too bothered by this, as I've found, along with other RPDers, that raw animal fats are much less  affected by the process of freezing, by comparison to protein or carbs. However, I make sure that my other foods are not prefrozen.

Anyway, my advice would be to opt for the flash-frozen alternative, for now, but to always keep a lookout for (equally-priced) nonfrozen alternative - visit local farmers'  markets, browse online websites for grass-fed meat farmers to see if they'll deliver nonfrozen meat, by request etc.


RPG

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