The freezer is a great anti-waste solution for keeping your food.
But do you know how long you can keep them without risking your health?
That's a very good question!
To answer this, we have prepared a handy table with the storage times for each type of food.
By respecting these conservation times, you are sure not to degrade their taste, texture and quality. Watch:
Click here to easily print this guide in PDF.
- Whole chicken: 1 year
- Chicken in pieces: 9 months
- Salmon: 3 months
- Cod and dab: 6 months
- Ground meat (beef, lamb, pork): 3 months
- Pork chops &lamb chops: 6 months
- Steaks: 6 months
- Roast beef: 6 months
- Fruits &vegetables: 8 to 12 months
- Nuts &almonds: 6 months
- Bread: 1 month
- Soups: 2 months
- Simmered dishes: 2 months
According to food professionals, keeping food frozen for long periods of time is not really a health problem.
On the other hand, food cannot stay frozen indefinitely .
In fact, after a certain period of time, the taste and texture of food begin to deteriorate seriously...
Here are some examples:
- Chicken: a whole chicken can be frozen for up to a year, but the chicken pieces (thighs, wings, drumsticks) should be eaten within 6 to 9 months. Leftover cooked chicken will keep for 4 to 6 months.
- Fatty fish: fatty fish such as salmon can be frozen for 2 to 3 months, while lean fish such as cod or dab can be stored for up to 6 months. As for leftover cooked fish, you should not exceed 3 months.
- Meat (beef, lamb, pork): minced, the meat can be kept for only 2 to 3 months. Larger cuts such as roasts, steaks and chops have a freezing life of at least 6 months. And for leftover cooked meat:2 to 3 months.
- Fruits and vegetables can be kept in the freezer for 8 to 12 months without altering their taste.
That said, be aware that food will spoil faster if your freezer is not kept at the ideal temperature!
Food professionals recommend a freezing temperature of -18°C .
That is, a temperature cold enough for the ice cream to become rock hard.
By the way, speaking of ice cream, know that it has a freezing time of 2 months maximum!
To make sure you have the right temperature in your freezer, you can put a special freezer thermometer inside.
- First of all, know that freezing does not kill bacteria — so be especially careful when cooking food.
- To destroy all bacteria, cook your leftovers until the core temperature reaches 75°C. As for stews and soups, be sure to bring them to a boil.
- It is recommended to defrost food in the refrigerator . Indeed, the temperature of the refrigerator keeps your food below 4°C. This temperature is the critical threshold above which bacteria proliferate.
- Generally, it takes a whole day in the refrigerator to thaw poultry and beef .
- For frozen turkey and the largest pieces of meat, it takes about 10 hours of defrosting per kilo.
- Dishes with meat cut into small pieces , it takes a little less than 1 day.
- Most of the time, frozen vegetables can go straight to cooking.
- Finally, to preserve their flavor, most foods should be cooked immediately after defrosting.
Have you tried this practical guide to storing food in the freezer? Let us know in the comments if it worked for you. We can't wait to read you!
