How Long Does Meat Last in the Freezer?

For those who’re questioning “how lengthy does meat final within the freezer?” odds are you latterly unearthed a lonely bundle of venison burger from 2022, or these wild turkey legs from 2021 that you simply had the perfect intentions of slow-cooking. The considered cooking and consuming freezer-burned or years-old meat may sound appetizing or and even harmful, however that’s not essentially the case.

We talked to RealTree Timber to Table wild sport chef and hunter Michael Pendley and picked up steering from the USDA and U.S. Division of Well being to get agency solutions for a way lengthy meat truly lasts within the freezer, methods to spot indicators {that a} bundle of meat is previous its prime, and the perfect methods to arrange meat that’s nonetheless salvageable.

How Lengthy Can Frozen Meat Final?

So, how lengthy does meat final within the freezer? A 12 months? Two? Three? Honestly, there’s nobody magic quantity. The reply relies on the way you packaged the meat, what sort of freezer you’re storing it in, and whether or not the meat has stayed deep-frozen the entire time. Did it get transported and partially defrost sooner or later? These elements all make a distinction. When unsure, if the meat smells or appears to be like spoiled or rotten, don’t threat it. 

What the USDA Says

What do businesses say about how lengthy meat lasts within the freezer? In response to the USDA, it doesn’t actually matter how lengthy you retailer sport meat within the freezer for. Each uncooked and cooked sport meat, together with venison and sport birds, can stay frozen “indefinitely” and nonetheless be protected for consumption. 

The USDA additionally advises that frozen ground beef, steaks, and roasts must be cooked inside 3 to 4 months for the highest quality. However for individuals who don’t notably care about top-shelf high quality, beef can even keep frozen indefinitely and nonetheless be fit for human consumption.  

FoodSafety.gov, which is run by the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, doesn’t provide formal steering on sport meat particularly. However it does say that floor meat solely lasts as much as 4 months whereas steaks last as long as a 12 months.

What the Knowledgeable Cooks Say

For those who packaged and froze the meat inside the final two years (and adopted correct food-safety protocols), odds are two-year-old cuts of meat are completely fit for human consumption.  That is very true with complete muscle cuts, Pendley says. Since there’s little or no uncovered floor space, meat that’s nonetheless intact will keep good for a very long time. You have to be suspicious of meat that thawed within the freezer throughout an prolonged energy outage or that’s wrapped in ruined packaging, like a busted vacuum-sealed bag. Meat that’s been saved for longer than a 12 months will begin to falter in high quality, and the longer it stays within the freezer, the extra alternatives there are for one thing to go incorrect, like an influence outage. 

Pendley prefers to go away meat within the freezer for as little time as doable. Freshness and high quality matter to him, which implies he’s aiming to make use of his sport meat inside a 12 months.

“It’s not a security factor, so long as it stays frozen. It’s extra of a high quality issue,” Pendley says. “The longer it’s frozen, the much less it is going to style recent. I shoot for six to 9 months, however as much as a 12 months is often good. I’ve discovered meat in my freezer that’s as much as two or three years outdated, the standard just isn’t there however you possibly can trim off the outer floor and nonetheless make an edible meal out of it. However I wish to shoot for twelve months or much less.”

Meat Freezing Greatest Practices

With the intention to maximize the freezer lifetime of your sport meat, you will need to bundle it correctly. Cooks are divided with regards to utilizing vacuum sealers vs. butcher paper.

You also needs to take into account how your freezer impacts your meat storage. A cupboard-style freezer constructed into a normal fridge will work high quality, however you’ll need to work by your meat extra rapidly. Fridges and their freezers typically have defrost cycles, that are designed to cut back frost buildup. The flipside is that meat in your freezer doesn’t stay at a relentless temperature, and thawing and refreezing could cause moisture loss and lowered meat high quality. Newer fridges/freezer fashions have extra constant freezer temperatures than older fashions, and the freezers usually tend to hit the recommended 0 degrees Fahrenheit. However kitchen freezers are nonetheless topic to extra temperature fluctuations due to defrost cycles and fixed opening through the day.

Learn Subsequent: The Best Meat Grinders, Tested and Reviewed

Deep freezers, comparable to chest and standing freezers, provide extra storage, however in addition they keep frozen meat at a colder and fixed temperature. This constant surroundings maximizes the standard and shelf lifetime of meat.

One good tip for freezing whole-muscle cuts on wild sport like venison is to go away the silver pores and skin and different connective tissues intact, Pendley says. These tissues act like a de-facto protectant of their very own to insulate the inside of the meat by the freezing course of. Plus, some wild sport cooks discover that eradicating silver pores and skin is definitely simpler when the meat continues to be barely frozen.  

Vacuum Sealer or Butcher Paper?

I’ll always remember the look on my fiancé’s grandpa’s face when he found that we meant to bundle an entire elk with a vacuum sealer reasonably than the butcher paper and Ziploc luggage he’d relied on for many years. Even the best vacuum sealers can elicit raised eyebrows from extra conventional hunters, and the divide is commonly a generational one. 

There are advantages to each methods of doing issues. For instance, vacuum sealing floor meat into flat “sheets” reasonably than logs makes for way more environment friendly storage and sooner defrosting. If performed correctly, it could actually additionally safe complete muscle cuts from freezer burn, taking the reply to “how lengthy does meat final within the freezer?” from “months” to “years.”

“Vacuum sealing is the best way to go,” Pendley says. “Freezer burn occurs when the air is available in contact with the floor of the meat. Oxygen seeps in and moistures seeps out because the meat is frozen. That’s once you get that brownish grey freezer burn on the floor. The much less oxygen you permit within the bundle with the meat, the longer it’s going to remain recent within the freezer.” 

Pendley’s go-to vacuum sealer is the MEAT! chamber vacuum sealer. Chamber vacuum sealers are typically dearer than their external suction vacuum sealer counterparts, however each are efficient for packaging and storing strong meals like meat. 

However getting and maintaining excellent suction on bulkier cuts could be difficult, and wrapping bigger cuts in plastic wrap then butcher paper is perhaps the higher possibility. I realized this the exhausting method lately with an entire soccer roast from a doe. The vacuum bag hadn’t sealed correctly across the roast, permitting oxygen into the bag. It resulted in a variety of freezer burn, and whereas I used to be capable of trim away the freezer burn and prepare dinner the roast, it was a waste of meat that might’ve been prevented with correct packaging.

Learn Subsequent: The Best Vacuum Sealers, Tested and Reviewed

As Pendley additionally factors out, plastic and paper can also be a way more economical alternative than a vacuum sealer and sealer luggage. You may even make a kind of DIY vacuum sealer with an enormous bowl of water and a field of gallon plastic luggage. Put a muscle lower in a plastic Ziploc bag and zip it a lot of the method shut. Then submerge the bag in water and watch as all of the air rises to the highest and pushes out. Zip the bag the remainder of the best way and freeze it.

What to Do With Freezer-Burned Meat

As a bundle of meat defrosts in your fridge, you may begin to see some discolored patches. That gray-brown colour is freezer burn. The trick to cooking with freezer-burned meat is to trim it, Pendley says. Even when it feels such as you’re dropping a variety of meat, it’s higher to avoid wasting of it and actually benefit from the meal than to not trim, hate the meal, and find yourself losing it after you spent loads of time cooking.

“I don’t need any of that brownish-gray meat,” Pendley says. “However when you trim away that outer floor, it’s nonetheless completely fit for human consumption … If I’ve obtained a chunk that I by chance left within the freezer for too lengthy, if it’s been within the freezer for as much as 24 months, I’ll use that for a stew or a chili or one thing with slightly spice that may cowl up that texture and taste.” 

Freezer-burned meat isn’t very palatable, however isn’t prone to make you sick. (One time I froze my complete grind pile in a bowling ball-sized mass inside a loose-weave fabric sport bag for eight months. It defrosted and floor simply high quality, and my burgers and bolognese had been nonetheless scrumptious and protected.)

Floor meat has barely completely different guidelines, Pendley says. 

“That’s an entire different subject. Floor meat doesn’t final as lengthy within the freezer as complete cuts,” he explains. He chalks this as much as the elevated floor space and oxygen publicity in floor meat. “I like to make use of my floor meat inside six months. Let’s say I get a number of deer in a season. If I do know that I’m going to grind a few of that meat eleven or twelve months down the street, I’ll freeze it as complete cuts and mark it as ‘grind later’ so I can grind just a few kilos later and it’s nonetheless fairly recent.”

The USDA advises to make use of frozen floor meat inside 4 months of storage for very best quality, however that it could actually keep frozen indefinitely.  

Trimming Suggestions

When you’ve defrosted a lower of meat, look at the outside. Trim away silver pores and skin, fats, discolored patches of meat, and the rest that should go. When you get to deep pink to nearly purple-red meat with a standard moisture content material, Pendley says, you possibly can put down the knife.

Greatest Recipes for Outdated Meat

It ought to go with out saying {that a} carpaccio dish or a medium-rare burger may not be the perfect use of your 4-year-old sport meat. As an alternative, go for a crockpot or slow-cooker recipe that may assist rehydrate some small patches of freezer burn and break down tissues which have toughened through the years. For floor meat, take into account a pasta sauce or chili recipe that’s heavy on spices, moisture, and flavors and that doesn’t require the meat to carry a form as a patty or meatball. Outdated floor meat is perhaps slightly drier and extra crumbly than a recent bundle.

Learn Subsequent: The 7 Golden Rules of Wild Game Care, from Field to Freezer

Use older muscle cuts in soups or stews, Pendley says. Try this roundup of best venison recipes for some inspiration.

How Lengthy Does Meat Final within the Freezer? FAQs

Closing Ideas Concerning the Freezer Lifetime of Meat

The subsequent time you go to look “how lengthy does meat final within the freezer?” do not forget that estimating how lengthy meat lasts within the freezer isn’t a precise science. There are a variety of elements it’s good to take into account. How did you bundle the meat? What sort of freezer do you will have? Did the meat keep deep-frozen the entire time or did it thaw and refreeze? Is it an entire muscle lower or a bundle of floor meat? For optimum storage, preserve your meat in complete muscle cuts for restricted floor space, bundle it correctly to maintain oxygen out, and preserve it in a constant deep freeze. If one thing goes awry, defrost the meat, look it over, and scent it. For those who can trim away some freezer burn and use it in a flavor-heavy recipe, prepare dinner it up.