How Long Can Ground Beef Last in the Fridge Once Purchased
Sometimes you're too busy to cook our beef the second you become home from the store, or y'all change your listen about dinner and the meat sits for another day in the fridge. But since raw and cooked footing beef doesn't concluding all that long in the fridge, your best bet would exist to freeze it. And although ground beefiness stays expert in the freezer for a long time, its flavor does degrade over fourth dimension. And so here'due south the ultimate guide to freezing your extra ground beef, from how long frozen beef is skilful for to how to properly defrost it. Adhere to these rules and y'all'll never accept to worry about spoiled meat again.
How Long Is Basis Beef Practiced In the Fridge?
According to the Food Network, raw ground beef should exist kept in the refrigerator for one to two days, at which point information technology should either be frozen or cooked. When information technology comes to storing, Butcher Cara Nicoletti told Food52 that meat should be kept on the lesser shelf of the refrigerator where information technology's the coolest and also where juices can't baste down and contaminate other foods.
Cooked ground beef is good in the fridge for three to four days, according to the U.S. Section of Agriculture (USDA), considering while the refrigerator keeps bacteria from growing speedily, it doesn't forbid information technology entirely. That'due south why the freezer is the best choice for long term storage.
How To Tell If Basis Beefiness Is Good
Raw or thawed ground beef should never exist slimy to the touch, co-ordinate to the Food Network. Additionally, you should toss the beef if information technology'south acquired a smell. Butcher Cara Nicoletti told Food52 that "fresh beef has a subtle make clean, irony smell." So if yours smells fishy, similar ammonia or sulfur, or just smells strong in general, it's probably not good to eat any longer.
Color can be an indicator on freshness, but not always. Nicoletti said meat that has been frozen can sometimes change color from red to brown-grey due to a lack of oxygen or introduction of oxygen in the freezer, but it can still exist fine to eat. But if the meat has simply ever been in your refrigerator and it turns brown, it'southward probably not good anymore, and the smell and slimy touch would farther confirm that.
Frozen meat is generally good for a while, merely The Kitchn reported that a gathering of water ice crystals inside the parcel may indicate that information technology's lost moisture. It would still be rubber to eat, only maybe not quite as delicious.
How Long Is Ground Beefiness Good In the Freezer?
Loss of moisture is a big reason why frozen footing beef loses flavor over long periods of time, co-ordinate to the USDA's freezing and food safety guide. So while meat could technically last forever in a properly cooled freezer (that remains at 0°F), information technology besides has a "best by" shelf life. Cooked ground beef lasts two to three months in the freezer, because some wet is lost through the cooking process. Raw beef can final three to 4 months in the freezer, per the USDA.
How To Properly Store Ground Beef In The Freezer
Ground beef can be frozen in its original store packaging for upwardly to two weeks, according to the Food Network. If y'all plan to keep it for longer than that, y'all tin can wrap over the original packaging with foil or a freezer bag to keep air from getting in. Be sure to label the meat with the appointment you froze it so there's no guessing how long it's been in there.
As well, the USDA says that the before you lot freeze the beef, the meliorate. If you put it in the freezer every bit shortly as you get domicile from the grocery store, it volition be fresher when you defrost it than if you lot froze it closer to its expiration engagement or if you froze it already cooked.
Cooked beefiness should exist refrozen within three to four days as long as it was never left out of the fridge for longer than two hours, according to the USDA. Raw meat that was frozen and thawed in the fridge can be refrozen one to two days after it's been removed from the freezer if you lot don't plan to cook it right abroad. But Nicoletti warned that it will lose wet in the thawing process and won't be equally tasty when refrozen and thawed again. Only raw meat that has stayed in the refrigerator or cooked meat has only been left out for a couple of hours can safely be refrozen.
How To Properly Defrost Basis Beef
There are several ways to properly defrost beef, but y'all should never defrost it out on the kitchen counter considering that exposes the meat to harmful bacteria over a long period of fourth dimension. Instead, Nicoletti told Food52 that people should put the frozen beef in the refrigerator overnight to gradually thaw (on the bottom shelf to prevent juices leaking onto other foods). It'south safe to keep in the fridge for two days in one case you pull it from the freezer.
If you lot need to thaw it faster, y'all can put it in a zippered plastic pocketbook and submerge it in cold water for one to three hours or until thawed. Nicoletti said to modify the water out every thirty minutes to ensure it stays common cold. According to the USDA, you can besides defrost in the microwave. Beef defrosted in h2o or in the microwave needs to be cooked immediately after thawing.
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Source: https://www.womansday.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips/a32390491/how-long-is-frozen-ground-beef-good/