How long does frozen meat keep?

georgina_fenwick

Hi, i ALWAYS throw food away if it is past it's sell by date, even tinned foods, but i have just had a rumage through my chest freezer and found 2 bags of chicken breast fillets one with a BBE april 07 and one with BBE feb 07.

They have been frozen since i bought them, NO chance of accidental defrosting.

I'm always reading about people using food after the BBE date, but what about frozen chicken?

Any ideas?


Thanks

Georgina

angelavdavis

I would simply defrost and see what they are like. I have found in the past that the meat starts to break down and kind of gets frost bitten if you let it freeze for too long.

shona189

they should be fine just check if they have any frost damage if they have throw them away if they havent use as asap

redruby

I personally would eat them !! I never look at the sell by dates once things are frozen, they tend to last a lot longer than the guidelines :rolleyes:

Farway

I would eat them as well, for same reason as given. They will not poison you if well cooked

The texture / flavour may not be quite as the maunfacturer wished, but could any one, except the manufacturer, honestly tell with bangers? Doubt it

mookybargirl

Me too. I often freeze sausage and eat then months and months later

Lyndsay_21

i have loads of stuff in the freezer i froze ages ago!!!

vixtress

it never crosses my mind that things have a 'best before date' once frozen is that really bad ?

mind you i'm still here so i must be doing somthing right!

CGG

In the bottom of my freezer I have packs of bacon, lamb chops and some steak. These have been in there over a year now.

Are they still okay to be defrosted and cooked - or should I sling them out?

Thanks.

kazmeister

Before I kept a freezer list I often found meat that had been in there for over 3 years. It was NEVER thrown away, always eaten. The taste and texture might not be so good. I used very old steak in casseroles and things like that. Pleased to say the system I have in place means that the older things are used up first as I look at the list rather than the contents of the freezers (I have 3!!!)