How Long Does Meat Stay Good in Freezer?

[muscle96ss]

I was just looking for something in one of my freezers and found a bunch of grass fed steaks and grass fed buffalo steaks buried on the bottom that are around 2 years old. Anybody knowledgeable in whether these are still good or should I throw them away?

 

[Ataraxia]

great question, don't want to jack your thread... but i have 2 homegrown pork butts sitting in my freezer from about a year ago.... still good?

 

[Desizon1012]

Eat away

 

[ManoftheWorld]

I'm going to say 6mo to 1 yr... just have to occasionally check them for freezer burn since even the best attempts to wrap and prep for the freeze is never 100%, even if you kept in original wrap/butcher paper and tossed in immediately once home still take every few months.. and make sure your storage freezer is at coldest setting and never temp get too high... I think if you can maintain -10 to -15 (below 0) then you may be able to go a couple years even...

 

[magnus82]

You can freeze meat indefinately. At that temp microrganisms that cause bacteria become dormant and cannot grow. Alhough the quality may suffer, the meat is perfectly fine to consume. I have eaten meat over 5 years old. Remember the food safety rule. Food stored at 40 - 140 will keep about 2 hours and 1 hour at temps above 90. This is when bacteria grows the fastest. Keep in mind this is cumulative, especially on food frequently left out like milk, dressings, and Thanksgiving dinners.

**broken link removed**

 

[Bazook Joe]

Depending on freezer burn, but I usually always go no longer then 6 months. It seems to taste different the longer its kept

 

[anabolic2k]

I can just about put up with frozen chicken and turkey but once your frozen a nice peice of steak it just never tastes as good :naughty:

Most government guidelines recommend no longer than 12 months for fresh meats - make of that what you will!?

 

[Akamai]

My understanding is it is dependent on packaging and freezer temp.

Ak

 

[maldorf]

My understanding is it is dependent on packaging and freezer temp.

Ak

Yeah, thats it. I have eaten chicken that was over 1 year old and it was fine. Now that taste wasnt as good as normal becaue there was freezer burn, but it tasted ok and did not make me feel the least bit sick.

I say cook it up!

 

[saps]

Agreed. If you have one of those food vacuum sealers I do think meat is good for over a year there. If its merely in a ziplock type thing I might not give it as long

 

[kyleb]

Taste and quality wise. Until its freezer burned.

If you sole concern is protein, Im not sure.

My roommate is a chef of 15 years.