The actual question: how much can you store meat in the freezer?

Each experienced housewife has her own secrets about how much meat can be stored in the freezer, but newcomers who have encountered this problem for the first time usually have to remember the existing rules. The shelf life of meat products during freezing depends not only on their type (beef, poultry or pork), but also on the preliminary preparation and cutting of raw materials, the shape and size of the piece, its packaging, the maximum temperature of the chamber and many other factors.

The most popular types of meat products

The most popular types of meat today are beef and pork, lamb, rabbit and nutria meat, as well as birds - chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese. In addition, not less popular with consumers are the offal: kidney, liver and heart. The richest source of amino acids and other nutrients for the body due to improper storage in the freezer can lead to infection with an intestinal infection. In industrial freezers the carcasses of animals are stored for decades, but at home, the answer to the question of how much meat can be stored in the freezer depends not only on the type of meat product, but also on the technical characteristics of the camera (the lowest possible temperature), the conditions for keeping the cold in As long-term power outages (more than three to ten hours) significantly reduce the product's shelf-life and reduce its taste.

How to properly prepare meat for freezing

The main mistake of inexperienced cooks is to put in a freezer compartment a whole piece of beef or pork purchased the day before. If it later has to be thawed and re-subjected to freezing, the meat is deprived of vitamins and valuable substances, and the dietary fibers become more rigid or loose, acquire an unpleasant odor. Freezer for four to five hours is better to free from other stored delicacies or at least to prepare a sufficient area for new packages, including the maximum negative temperature (minus 18-24 degrees).

Meat is sorted into by-products and pieces of muscle tissue, cutting off fatty fibers over the surface. The length of how much meat can be stored in the freezer may be different, due to the size of the pieces, so the product must be previously divided into portions. Each of them in size should match one cooking in the future. This will allow you to use the right amount of protein product, without impairing the quality and organoleptic characteristics of other pieces. If the meat is not subjected to washing before freezing, the shelf life will significantly increase. Each of the pieces must be thoroughly soaked from any moisture, wrapped in paper (food film or foil), and then placed in a container or bag with a clip from which it is necessary to remove air. Inside the package, you can put a sticker with the date of freezing the product, which will further control the storage period.

About preparation and storage of forcemeat

The mass of the crushed meat is most conveniently rolled out with a rolling pin inside the cellophane bag and divided into squares (300-350 grams) each, spacing the edges of the cutting board. Such a briquette is easily folded (it is possible to lay paper between the layers) and does not take up excess space in the freezer. In the future, the number of compact plates for preparing juicy cutlets is easily regulated. On the advice of experienced culinary experts, the period of how long it is possible to store meat in the freezer in the form of minced meat is no more than three to four months.

About the bird

Meat of chicken or turkey in the form of whole carcass can be kept frozen for no more than 9-12 months, and pieces of this valuable product are stored no more than eight or nine. However, if it was not kept in a modern chamber with deep freezing (minus 20-24 degrees), even a bird's body after 6-8 months can acquire an unpleasant aftertaste of old fibers. The secret of how much meat can be stored in the freezer (from waterfowl - goose or duck), experienced housewives consider a period of 8-12 months. But most of them tend to the fact that after half a year, goose or duck carcasses (and slices) have an unpleasant taste and smell, which can not be eliminated by any spices.

About beef, pork and lamb

Marked portioned pieces of these types of meat, sealed in cellophane, if the freezer is equipped with a "quick freeze" mode, can be stored a different amount of time: beef - no more than 10, lamb - 6, pork - 8 months. Pure fat or enough meaty pieces of meat can be kept in the cell for no more than four months. After learning how much frozen meat can be stored in the freezer, it must be remembered that the temperature at which it was cooled should be constant, without further lowering or rising. Only in this case you can get delicious and healthy beef, lamb or pork for your culinary masterpieces. If the "fast freeze" mode is not provided in the refrigerator, then any type of meat should be stored at a temperature not higher than minus 18 degrees.

Additional tips experienced

Considering the question of how much raw meat can be stored in the freezer, it is necessary to take into account that any recommended terms are better to reduce, subtracting from them a month. In retail chains or meat shops, the delivery time and the time spent on the display are not indicated, so it is difficult to calculate the exact period of storage of meat for the buyer. Also experienced housewives remind that when joint placing of butter, greens and other products in the freezer with meat briquettes, you need to shorten their shelf life to prepare delicious dishes. To meat does not absorb foreign odors, it is better to wrap it in two plastic bags, tying or tightly sealing them. Gourmets like to order mammoth meat in restaurants, so how many years can you store meat in the freezer? In fact, the secret of its usefulness is that the carcasses of animals that have lain for many centuries in permafrost have never been thawed, were at a constant negative temperature, which is almost impossible at home. There are examples where people used meat after three years of storage in the freezer, but the risk of such dishes is too great, and their taste is doubtful. Freeze also boiled pieces of poultry, which are stored in broth or sauce for no more than six months, and without liquid - no more than four months. Ready meals from minced meat (meatballs, cutlets) can lie in the freezer for up to three months, steaks - up to nine, and sausages or cooked offal - no more than 60 days. Many culinary experts are skeptical about this experience, preferring to store the products raw and cook them as needed.