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Question for those of you that freeze food...

January 25th, 2018 at 11:58 am

OK, so when we purchased our house, we inherited a deep freezer. I began freezing leftover meals, some meats, etc. Over the course of three really busy years, it has sat relatively untouched. What's the statute of limitations on frozen foods? I mean, I may not even know how long some of those items have sat down there. The CDC's recommendations I find to be really short.

Any and all advice is welcome! I am hoping to not have to heartbreakingly throw a whole lot of stuff out (but have a feeling I may have no other choice).

5 Responses to “Question for those of you that freeze food...”

  1. PatientSaver Says:
    1516883468

    They say 1 year although i can imagine you can stretch that a bit. However, the quality may suffer.

  2. Carol Says:
    1516893218

    I believe safety wise, it is fine. ( As long as the food was frozen the whole time.) Taste wise it may have gone down hill.
    Things get dried out or get "freezer burn" and then you have to toss them cause they are like cardboard.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1516894725

    I think PS and Carol are correct...as long as it has stayed frozen it is probably OK. But some of it might not be as tasty. I did accidentally forget some beef and it was sort of burned, but I did use it to make broth and it turned out OK. I didn't eat the meat, just used it for the broth.

  4. LuckyRobin Says:
    1516908143

    I've had meat last 2 years that was wrapped first in plastic and then in freezer paper with no reduction in quality. It really depends on how well it is wrapped. Anything I put in a food saver bag can last longer than three years. If you just put it in the way it comes from the store, 3 to 6 months on meat, 3 months on fruits and veggies, 2 months on frozen dinners and pizzas, although that can be extended if you double wrap in foil.

    The biggest problem with freezing is not getting all the air out of the food when it is wrapped. The moisture kind of rises out of the food and sits on top, leaving the food dried out or freezer-burned, which affects the taste. This is why I like the food saver, because it sucks all the air out of the bag and seals it tightly. But it can't be used with anything that has really sharp edges, like cut bone, so in that case I use plastic wrap and freezer paper. Ziplocs are okay for a while, if you seal it almost all the way up, stick a straw in, suck out all the air and then quickly seal the bag once you remove the straw.

  5. crazyliblady Says:
    1522955150

    For the future, I would recommend dating anything you put in there. With freezer bags, I write what it is and the date with a sharpie. I need to come up with a good way to label the "what" and "when" for bowls of stuff. And the when I go to make up my meal plan for the week, I check what I have in the deep freeze and include something from there in the plan so that the supply is constantly rotating. I would love to get one of the meal freezer things to use with jars.

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