How Long Can You Keep Food in Freezer?

Recently I did a segment on Mornings on Food safety and your freezer.

Q. Amelia, freezing food is a great way to cut down on food wastage and also very convenient… What groceries can we safely freeze?

+ Raw meat, cooked meat, most fresh vegetables, bread, some seafood freezes better than others, milk but not all dairy pastry

+ Eggs, but out of the shell

+ Butter and margarine freeze really well.

+ Milk can be frozen, but it will lose it’s fresh taste. Best to use it just for cooking

+ Alkaline batteries last longer when frozen

Q. There are obviously some foods that shouldn’t be frozen, what’s on the no go list?

+ Raw eggs in the shell

+ Veggies with a high water content like cucumber and lettuce

+ Soft herbs get burnt by the ice and turn brown

+ Some egg based sauces like mayo will separate and curdle

+ Cottage cheese and yoghurt goes watery

+ Salmon good, but whitefish you can’t

+ Anything deep-fried crumbed things will go soggy

Q. Some items will also freeze better than others… How can we tell when it’s time to throw something out?

+ Write the date and what the food is on the packet with a pen.

+ Freeze in correct portion sizes so you can use as you go

+ Never defrost, reheat and defrost again

+ Beef 2-3 months

+ Chicken 4 months

+ Breads and cakes 3 months

+ meat soups and stews 3 months

+ Raw food freezes for longer

+ chicken 9 months

+ ground meat mince – 4 months

+ sausages 2 months

+ beef around 6 months

+ Vegetables up to a year

Q. And if we do keep something longer than we should – what’s the worst thing that can happen… How sick could we get?

+ It depends on the type of bacteria and sensitive your stomach is

+ If you’re unsure, cook it for longer and at a higher temperature

+ If in doubt, throw it out

+ Make sure your freezer is at -15 degrees

+ It’s also important to make sure you’re freezing the food properly

+ Make sure to cool cooked food before storing

+ Putting hot food in the freezer effectively defrosts it, making the rest of the food unsafe too

For more information about food safety when it comes to freezing, visit: http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/Bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/food_safety_storage?open