[coldtea]

>Ok I didn't consider the "makes meat more permeable to bacteria" -argument. Still, bacteria do die from repeated freeze-thawing cycles.

Not really. They multiply during the thawing and lie "inactive" during freezing. So repeated freeze-thawing cycles = several generations more bacteria than you started with.

Bernhard Redl, an associate professor in the molecular biology department at the University of Innsbruck in Austria:

"It is clear that freezing does not kill most of the bacteria," said Redl, "but puts them in a dormant state." (...)