How Long Do You Keep Your Cooked Meat For? page 2

[Primal Toad]

Is there a reason you wouldn't divide into portions and just freeze them and take out as you need them? Either the raw or the cooked. I always freeze things in single serve packets, especially cooked sauces, leftover chile, raw ground meat in hamburger size portions. If I want to make meatloaf I just take out a few.

Isn't it best to not refreeze something that you thawed out before? This is what I had always thought...

[Noctiluca]

I just go by the look, smell, taste method. I look at it and if it looks gross (mold, slime, etc) out it goes. Then I smell it. Meat smells BAD when it goes south. Finally if it passes both the above then I taste a little. If it tastes fine I treat it as fine. Works for everything except tilapia fish. They smell/taste slightly mouldy to me even when fresh cooked!

Also if you realize you aren't getting around to using something up there are two options to extend it's life. Wrap it up and throw it in the freezer (yeah this might effect the texture but thats the only 'bad' thing about refreezing something) or reheat it. Heating kills off the bad bugs and kinda resets the clock on how long it will stay safe.

[ennasirk]

Isn't it best to not refreeze something that you thawed out before? This is what I had always thought...

If it started out frozen, then yes, you really want to cook it all up without re-freezing it. But there's nothing wrong with freezing food after it's been cooked (even if it was previously frozen in its uncooked state).

I have occasionally thawed and refrozen precooked, processed meat (like sausage) but I don't like to do that since I think it leads to a degradation in quality though it's probably still healthy.

Raw meat - if I'm not going to use it in a couple days, it gets put in the freezer. Cooked food 3-4 days; I'm a little more picky about pork since the two food poisoning experiences that have been from self-cooked meals were from pork that had been in the fridge too long. There may not be anything scientific to it, but my gut instinct tells me old pork = bad.

[prairiedog]

Isn't it best to not refreeze something that you thawed out before? This is what I had always thought...

The only reason to avoid refreezing previously thawed meat is to avoid a degradation in the meat quality - the structure is damaged by ice crystals forming, thawing and reforming. However, it won't affect the safety of the meat itself.

I always just go by smell or sight. If it looks nasty I throw it out. I have eaten meat that has been in my fridge for a week or so. If it is no good you will know. However if the meat is cooked it should last decently long. We do have a pretty powerful digestive system to breakdown most pathogens.

[federkeil]

Raw meat, 1 to 2 days in the fridge.

Cooked food, a full week, maybe a bit more but only if i can remember when it was made (i used to spend my sundays cooking food for the whole week and would pull food out as need be)

For the re-freeze thing, if you thaw something and cook it then it is ok to freeze again

[Mog]

What about processed meat like shaved ham and turkey from Deli. Is that like cooked meat? I chuck it out after a few days but I might not need to

[Cavebot 3.0]

Maybe I'm weird but I've been eating off this ham I bought for like 2 weeks now (on sale). Just look at it. Is it green? Toss it! Does it look and smell and taste like something you want to eat? Eat it! If its uncooked, cook it. If it is cooked, reheat it enough that if there was bacteria on it, its dead. No big deal, yeah?

Grok wouldn't care. Burn that shit on a fire a while, it's all cool.

[Mog]

haha. but I think all meat smells funny if you really smell it.

[emmie]

I cook in advance, store in serving-size containers, and FREEZE until I need it. Meat and fish is too expensive to lose to spoilage.

Since most of the stuff I buy has probably been previously frozen, I plan my purchases for when I have time to cook what I buy and prepare for the freezer. The bison I buy online arrives frozen, but fortunately, except for roasts, it's already packaged in serving sizes, so I just pop it all in the freezer.

[Melantha]

I'll cook meat on Sunday or Monday and keep it around till Friday, but I make sure it's something that I'll heat thoroughly before eating. So, for example, I made a pot roast last night and I'll keep eating it until at least Thursday or Friday, but every time I want to eat it, I'll simmer it in its broth until it's heated through. I probably wouldn't cook a steak and eat cold slices of it for more than a few days.