How Long Can You Store Food at Zero Degrees?

[Another Reader]

Maybe this belongs in the appliance thread...

I was rummaging through my zero degree, NON frost free chest freezer, making space for transferring items until the new refrigerator freezer arrive. Near the bottom I found two packages of bacon from August 2019. Frozen solid, no discoloration. Thoughts? Eat or toss??

 

[aaronc879]

Quote from the USDA: Food stored constantly at 0 °F will always be safe. Only the quality suffers with lengthy freezer storage.

 

[Midpack]

For regular uncooked bacon, the USDA says it can last seven days in the fridge or four months in the freezer.

Interestingly, uncooked bacon that is also cured without any nitrites will last a lot longer — three weeks in the fridge or six months in the freezer. Yet another reason to avoid those potentially harmful additives!

https://www.firstforwomen.com/posts/food-recipes/can-you-freeze-bacon

The pork industry and its related boards offer a very conservative estimate of bacon's freezer storage life. Experts recommend that bacon be frozen in its original packaging and used within one month. At that stage, it should not show any ill effects from being frozen and thawed. If your freezer maintains a consistent temperature, your bacon should retain most of its quality for as long as six to eight months. Over time, its fats might begin to develop off-flavors because of enzyme activity, which slows but doesn't stop in the freezer. Bacon out of its original packaging deteriorates more quickly and should be used within a month or so.

https://oureverydaylife.com/long-bacon-last-frozen-27889.html

 

[ivinsfan]

https://www.firstforwomen.com/posts/food-recipes/can-you-freeze-bacon

https://oureverydaylife.com/long-bacon-last-frozen-27889.html

That whole article is ridiculous...USDA would have us throw away more food then we eat...you by bacon with a use by date 6 weeks away and should toss it after a week in your fridge

 

[njhowie]

Anything can be eaten from the freezer for an indefinite period. As aaronc879 points out, quality/taste may/will deteriorate over time, but you won't get sick reheating after being frozen for extremely long periods.

We still have (what remains of) the top level of our 30 year old wedding cake in the freezer and have a thin slice on our anniversary every year. Still tastes great.

As for the bacon - defrost in the fridge, then into the frying pan. 2019 is not very old at all. I've pulled things out of ours 10 and 15 years old. DW won't eat it, but it's all fine by me.

 

[Another Reader]

You folks are consistent with what I found after asking the question. Should have done the research first!

 

[Gremlin]

2019? It’s still baby bacon!

 

[dmpi]

I would just look & sniff at it and if it don't look or smell funny I would just cook and eat it. If it's vacuumed sealed it can last many years frozen.

 

[marielarmorell]

It is generally safe to eat food that has been stored in a frozen state if it has been frozen properly, so if the bacon has been frozen properly and is still frozen solid, you can eat it. However, it is best to use your judgement and use your sense of smell and taste to decide if the bacon is still safe to eat. If it has any strange odors or tastes, it is best to discard it.

 

[Jerry1]

Today I did some pulled pork. We’ve been trying to eat out of our freezer because it has been a bit too full lately. The pork butt was dated 2015. It was sealed very well in cryovac and was absolutely fine. I opened it last night to rub it and it looked and smelled perfectly fine so I cooked it. It turned out fine. Agree, use common sense(s) and you’ll be fine.

 

[ERD50]

You folks are consistent with what I found after asking the question. Should have done the research first!

Wait a minute, some people quote sources that say a max of eight months, others say 2019 may not be a problem at all. Which side are you seeing as 'consistent'?

AFAIK, it won't hurt to try it (you won't get sick). Flavor may or may not be 'off' in that time. Cook it up when you aren't dependent on it being a part of a meal, if it tastes 'off' toss it. If not use it up (I suspect that 3~4 years is pushing it, and it will taste a bit, or a lot rancid, or has picked up flavors from other food).

From earlier research I did on this subject, the consensus was that cooked fat froze better than raw fat. The raw fat would show signs of going rancid sooner. Cooking did something to stabilize it. IIRC, it was Cook's Kitchen that did a taste test of breakfast sausages, and their #1 was a frozen sausage, due the reason stated. Since then, unless I know I'm going to use it within a month, I'll cook the product before I freeze it. I do that with my homemade breakfast sausage (seasoned as I like it).

Bottom line is, I try to keep a list (on a dry marker board in a cabinet door) of what goes in the freezer, so we can make plans to use it in a few months. Otherwise, it is 'out of sight out of mind".

-ERD50

 

[ownyourfuture]

We still have (what remains of) the top level of our 30 year old wedding cake in the freezer and have a thin slice on our anniversary every year. Still tastes great.

This reminded me of a Seinfeld episode,

 

[Texas Proud]

I have prime steak that I put into shrink freezer bags in Aug 2019 and had them a few months ago...


They were not pink when they unfroze but tasted just as good a new...

 

[Koolau]

We found a 3 year stored turkey in the freezer. Cooked it and couldn't tell the difference from any other frozen turkey. YMMV

 

[old medic]

LOL... got you beat by a longshot... We found a long mystery package in the bottom of our freezer when getting ready to move... wrapped in cellophane and a towel... Turned out to be a 38 inch Musky our son caught about 18 years earlier... It got mounted finally.
We try to date and rotate stock but Its not uncommon to find stuff several years old. Yesterdays Split Pea soup came from a hambone dug out that was over a year old..
YUMMY.

 

[frank]

found a ham bone yesterday dated 2012. thought I would pass on that one.

 

[Philliefan33]

I should show these posts to DH as Exhibit A supporting why I prefer a stand-up freezer vs a chest freezer.

We had a stand-up freezer for 20 years, that we left at the old house when we sold it. We will soon be in our new house, and DH is advocating for a chest freezer. I told him it’s harder to reach the bottom of a chest freezer and things get lost down there.

 

[folivier]

My nose is my judge, if it doesn't smell off or somewhat rancid after defrosting it's usually good. Keep in mind that fats go rancid in the presence of oxygen. So if it's vacuum sealed or sealed in water then it's probably still good. Although I've cut off freezer burnt pieces of meat and ate the rest.

 

[ERD50]

My nose is my judge, if it doesn't smell off or somewhat rancid after defrosting it's usually good. Keep in mind that fats go rancid in the presence of oxygen. So if it's vacuum sealed or sealed in water then it's probably still good. Although I've cut off freezer burnt pieces of meat and ate the rest.

One tip I read, is to add water/juice/sauce (if applicable) - that keeps freezer burn away from the meat itself.

I'm trying to remember to update a list on a dry erase board that is hung in a kitchen cabinet when I put stuff in the freezer. I add anything that isn't used regularly, and might be forgotten. It really helps to glance at that and be reminded that we have a couple steaks, some turkey or whatever, and what date it went in.

I try to use meats and things like that within a couple months. I make split pea soup whenever we have a big ham for a party (a couple times a year), and that seems to keep well for a year. It's an old manual defrost freezer - that helps, the auto defrost dry out the contents of the freezer, so freezer burn is far more likely.

-ERD50

 

[Texas Proud]

I should show these posts to DH as Exhibit A supporting why I prefer a stand-up freezer vs a chest freezer.

We had a stand-up freezer for 20 years, that we left at the old house when we sold it. We will soon be in our new house, and DH is advocating for a chest freezer. I told him it’s harder to reach the bottom of a chest freezer and things get lost down there.

A big yes to stand up.... they cost more but you can find the stuff easier...


My BIL had a chest freezer for many years but eventually bought a stand up one since anything that made it to the bottom of the chest stayed there... it is also hard to get it out...

 

[fosterscik]

I should show these posts to DH as Exhibit A supporting why I prefer a stand-up freezer vs a chest freezer

I told him it’s harder to reach the bottom of a chest freezer and things get lost down there.

When we moved recently we left behind a stand-up freezer (30 years old and still going strong) and replaced it with a chest freezer. I do miss the convenience of that old standup freezer but I use large vigor food storage bins inside the chest to help organize and to improve access. These transparent polycarbonate bins fit our freezer perfectly. Their length just about perfectly matches the width of the freezer. We have 12" x 18" bins, some 9" deep and some 6" deep. My freezer allows one 6" and two 9" bins to stack vertically inside. They have transparent lids and built in handles so you can lift the bins out and easily rummage around inside. It really improves the chest storage experience.

 

[CRLLS]

When we cleaned out MIL's house a year ago, part of that was a stand-up freezer. All of the food was at least 20 years old. Some went back to 1996. Needless to say, we didn't even bother to check it. It all went directly to the garbage.

Some food in the freezer compartment of her fridge, was so freezer-burned, it could not be recognized.

 

[ERD50]

... They have transparent lids and built in handles so you can lift the bins out and easily rummage around inside. It really improves the chest storage experience.

Bins are a big help for an upright freezer too. I should "BTD" on some that really right sized to our freezer. Before I put some bins in there, DW would have a bunch of small containers/bags of spices/herbs, etc, and they'd get shoved to the back or fall under some other stuff. So related things go in each bin. With a bin, you can take it out, close the door, find what you need, then put it back w/o leaving the door open for so long, or freezing your fingers.

-ERD50

 

[ls99]

If it was at 0 Kelvin, it would have been better.

 

[ncbill]

The large, secondhand manual defrost chest freezer I bought was -20ºF after being plugged in overnight.

I've never changed the temperature setting & we use fruits from there that have been frozen for years.

Though even at that low temperature we use up any frozen meat within six months.