How long will ham/turkey keep

emmaBZ

i intend on cooking a boneless joint of ham and my turkey crown for xmas lunch ....on xmas eve, just to save hassle on the day....does anyone know how long its safe to keep ham/turkey ( in the fridge ) after its been cooked ?as i intend using it for a few days after for sandwiches and with mash/chips/pickles ect also do you leave it to cool first before putting it inthe fridge ?

Bambam

Firstly, always cool anything down before storing in the fridge/freezer. You should be able to use your cooked meats for about 3 days after cooking if stored in the fridge. You can, however, freeze slices of turkey and ham if you want them on new years eve, for example.

poppycracker

Always cool meat down before putting it in the fridge as it will raise the temp of the fridge otherwise. Cover it and put it somewhere very cold so that it cools quickly.

And if its not a joint, why not slice the meat up and put enough for Christmas dinner in the fridge then the rest in the freezer to bring out when necessary. Thats the safest way in my opinion. You can heat up the slices as you need them, but only once.

hehe crossed posts with Bambam... great minds and all that!

Alikay

I slice all the meat off the bird/joint the same day as cooking it, then wrap it in foil and keep it in the fridge (it's cold by then!)
I just keep it in the fridge if we're going to eat it within 2 or 3 days (ie on 26th/27th Dec) but I'd just pop some foil-wrapped parcels of the meat in the freezer if it was for any later.
My mum keeps meat a day or so longer and has always been fine, but our fridge is always jam-packed with stuff over christmas, so probably not as efficient ..plus I don't have room for too much turkey in it!

CFC

It's in the fridge for 4 days for me, anything not eaten then gets slung out. Agree with other posters, it's important to cool it down as soon as you can.

tootsie215

I asked an assistant in Iceland how long a turkey would keep for in one of their freezers. He told me 3 months but I checked the following day and it was dead!!!

poppycracker

tootsie215 wrote:

I asked an assistant in Iceland how long a turkey would keep for in one of their freezers. He told me 3 months but I checked the following day and it was dead!!!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: brilliant! Perfect for Monday morning