Realistic freezer storage times for food

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Realistic freezer storage times for food

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:41:01 AM EDT

I've kept hams I bought on sale for up to 15 months then thawed, baked and served several them to rave reviews. These are vacuum sealed (by mfg) bone in hams. Am I flirting with food poisoning here or are food safety storage times for freezing overly cautious?

Food safety.gov advises 1-2 months.

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:44:10 AM EDT

[#1]

I keep stuff that long. I always thought poisoning wasn't the issue but just bad tasting food. Maybe it's both though.

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:45:13 AM EDT

[#2]

Everything starts to taste off after 8-12 months, even when properly sealed.

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:47:07 AM EDT

[#3]

I recently slow cooked a roast that was in the freezer for almost 2 years it came out fine

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:47:51 AM EDT

[#4]

Vacuum sealing prior to freezing has a very long shelf life.

This quick google find for vacuumed and frozen is showing 3 years for meats. click

I suspect its longer than that though

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:47:59 AM EDT

[#5]

Are we talking about frost free freezer or a proper deep freezer?

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:49:14 AM EDT

[#6]

About six months less than whenever I always seem to pull stuff out.

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:55:23 AM EDT

[#7]

Someone share some science.

Why does meet, if vacuum sealed and promptly frozen, degrade some how over time?

Why can't we dig up a mammoth and have a bbq?

Posted: 4/17/2017 11:57:02 AM EDT

[#8]

Quote History

Quoted:
Someone share some science.

Why does meet, if vacuum sealed and promptly frozen, degrade some how over time?

Why can't we dig up a mammoth and have a bbq?

View Quote

ice crystals will always grow.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:00:43 PM EDT

[#9]

Freezer burn is pretty much your only enemy.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:06:28 PM EDT

[#10]

Quote History

Quoted:
Why does meet, if vacuum sealed and promptly frozen, degrade some how over time?

View Quote

Also, most, maybe all, plastics allow the transmission of some water vapor and air. Over a long period of time, the food dehydrates. That's most of what freezer burn is.

I eat food that's been in the freezer 6 months or more all the time. I doubt there's any risk of food poisoning. It's just degradation in quality that you have to worry about.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:07:40 PM EDT

[#11]

Quote History

Quoted:
Someone share some science.

Why does meet, if vacuum sealed and promptly frozen, degrade some how over time?

Why can't we dig up a mammoth and have a bbq?

View Quote

Dehydration and oxidation. Water freezes and then the ice sublimates.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:24:25 PM EDT

[#12]

Last year I found some venison stew meat that was 2 year sold in the bottom of my freezer. Put it in the crock pot and it came out fine. This was vacuum sealed so that is probably the only reason it was still good.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:28:59 PM EDT

[#13]

Thanks for the answers, but now my misspelling of meat is quoted forever.

FWIW, I've pulled elk sausage after several years without ill effect. Can't expound on the flavor because we throw it in chili, or mix it with burger, etc.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:30:26 PM EDT

[#14]

You can store properly packaged food in a freezer for over a year without any change in texture and taste in my experience.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:33:47 PM EDT

[#15]

When growing up we used to buy beef in bulk twice a year and keep them in a upright deep freezer. We cooked and ate beef that were frozen for 6+ months and they were always great tasting and didn't notice anything different.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:34:17 PM EDT

[#16]

My grand parents would eats stuff over a decade past the date they put it in. They were surviviors of the great depression. They had 2 huge freezers. Nothing was ever wasted

I remember one time when i was 33 and visited my grandmother cooked up fish i caught off their pier when i was 12. It tasted fine and that was many, many years ago

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:37:48 PM EDT

[#17]

Quote History

Quoted:
I recently slow cooked a roast that was in the freezer for almost 2 years it came out fine

View Quote

Yep.
I have meat that I vacuum sealed and then put in my chest freezer that is pushing two years old and it still looks and tastes great!
The chest freezer is at -10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Foods that I vacuum seal and keep in my refrigerator freezer (at zero degrees) I like to use within one year.

Posted: 4/17/2017 12:45:23 PM EDT

[#18]

AFAIK, bad flavor from freezer burn is the only issue.

A few months ago I thawed out and ate pack of sloppy joe meat that had been vacuum sealed and lost in our chest freezer circa 2008. As far as I could tell, there was nothing wrong or off with the taste or texture.

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:12:21 PM EDT

[#19]

Quote History

Quoted:
My grand parents would eats stuff over a decade past the date they put it in. They were surviviors of the great depression. They had 2 huge freezers. Nothing was ever wasted

I remember one time when i was 33 and visited my grandmother cooked up fish i caught off their pier when i was 12. It tasted fine and that was many, many years ago

View Quote

Are you joking or serious?

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:18:33 PM EDT

[#20]

12ish months until you start seeing or tasting a difference.
Probably several years until it degraded enough to risk food poisoning.

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:21:41 PM EDT

[#21]

years if it's sealed up correctly

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:23:50 PM EDT

[#22]

I'd think you'd get better results in a chest freezer than in an upright one. In a chest freezer everything is sitting in a bath of cold air. Temp would hardly ever change at all. In an upright, ever time you open to put stuff in or take it out you lose chill. But, that's a WAG. What do I know. Wife eats the old stuff, I can't stand it.

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:24:09 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:
I've kept hams I bought on sale for up to 15 months then thawed, baked and served several them to rave reviews. These are vacuum sealed (by mfg) bone in hams. Am I flirting with food poisoning here or are food safety storage times for freezing overly cautious?

Food safety.gov advises 1-2 months.

View Quote

You won't get food poisoning but taste may suffer. Lean meats will last even longer without even the flavor changing much.

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:34:11 PM EDT

[#24]

Quote History

Quoted:
Someone share some science.

Why does meet, if vacuum sealed and promptly frozen, degrade some how over time?

Why can't we dig up a mammoth and have a bbq?

View Quote

Freezing slows down the decaying process.

Can't stop nature, it always wins.

Maybe if we could store things in absolute zero?

Posted: 4/17/2017 1:47:59 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
I've kept hams I bought on sale for up to 15 months then thawed, baked and served several them to rave reviews. These are vacuum sealed (by mfg) bone in hams. Am I flirting with food poisoning here or are food safety storage times for freezing overly cautious?

Food safety.gov advises 1-2 months.

View Quote

I have eaten things five years later. Pretty good too, as long as it's not freezer burned.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Realistic freezer storage times for food

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