How Long Can Beef Be in the Refrigerator

Meat is more than expensive these days, and information technology is an unnecessary waste material if information technology spoils in the fridge. So it is of import to know how long meat lasts in the fridge before eating it or freezing it. In this article, I'll draw how long different types of meat can last in the fridge so that it will never get to waste matter.

How long tin meat stay in the fridge? Below is a quick guide to determine how long you can keep unlike types of meat – whether raw or cooked – in your fridge:

Poultry (whole chicken and turkey, raw) – i to 2 days
Poultry (in cuts or pieces) – ane to 2 days
Poultry (cooked) – 3 to 4 days
Beefiness, pork, lamb, veal (raw) – 3 to 5 days
Beef, pork, lamb, veal (cooked) – iii to 5 days
Ham (canned, unopened) – 6 to 9 months
Ham (cooked) – 7 days

Read on to larn more than nearly how long meat lasts in the fridge, including important storage and handling tips.

How Long Does Meat Last in the Fridge? Raw and Cooked

There are at to the lowest degree three general classes of meat: poultry, pork, and beefiness (cherry-red meat). Each type of meat has different storage times inside the fridge. Ground meat, sausage, and salary accept different lengths of fourth dimension they tin can stay in the fridge. Let us discuss them one by i.

1. Poultry

Chicken and turkey meat fall under the poultry category. You tin store raw poultry in your fridge for one to 2 days. Your fridge must exist kept constantly running at twoscore°F or colder. If you store it inside the freezer, it could last up to one year. The freezer temperature must be fix at 0°F or colder.

You tin keep cooked poultry in your refrigerator a fleck longer. If you want to freeze information technology, be sure that information technology won't stay in the freezer for more six months. You lot can all the same eat information technology afterward six months, but its quality will non be the same.

2. Pork and Carmine Meat

How long is meat good for in the fridge? Kept in the refrigerator, raw pork and red meat will remain proficient for iii to v days. If you freeze red meat or pork, it can last for iv months to ane year. Leftover cooked pork and red meat can terminal 3 to v days in the refrigerator. If you place it inside the freezer, information technology can terminal for 2 to 6 months.

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How Tin can Yous Tell If Pork Is Spoiled?

three. Ground Meat

Basis beef, pork, veal, and poultry will last for one to ii days if stored in the refrigerator. If frozen, it will last for iii to four months.

iv. Sausage and Salary

If stored in the fridge, sausage and salary will terminal for one week. Information technology would be better if you cooked raw sausage and consumed it inside two days. You tin store bacon and sausage within the freezer to extend their shelf life for one month. Some sausages can fifty-fifty final for two months if stored in the freezer.

How Tin can You Tell If Cooked Sausage Is Bad?

5. Hot Dogs and Lunch Meats

Inside the fridge, hot dogs and lunch meats will last for two weeks, as long as their packages are unopened. In one case the package of meat is opened, y'all should eat it within 3 to v days. Hot dogs can concluding a bit longer. If you freeze hot dogs, they tin last for 1 to 2 months.

Below is a table to requite you an overview of how long different kinds of meat can terminal within the fridge.

So we've answered 'how long is meat good for in the fridge'; next, allow's look at how to tell if meat is spoiled.

How to Tell If Meat Is Spoiled – Subsequently Beingness Left in the Fridge for Likewise Long

Eating spoiled meat is dangerous to your health. Before cooking whatever type of meat, y'all should check if information technology is still edible. Below are some things you need to check, so you lot will know if the meat in your fridge is still proficient.

1. Raw Chicken

Bank check Its Color

If the colour of the meat is pinkish, information technology is still OK. Only if the colour turns gray, it means that information technology's starting to spoil. The skin will as well look wearisome before it spoils. Eating this kind of meat is dangerous, even if you lot melt it.

Aroma It

Is the meat emitting a foul odor? If it is, it is already spoiled. Its odor could be like the smell of rotten eggs, sulfur, or ammonia. Throw the meat away because it is no longer prophylactic to eat.

Check Its Texture

Bear upon the skin of the craven meat. Does it feel slimy to the touch? If it does, it is already spoiled. Try rinsing it with h2o. If the skin still feels slimy, information technology has really gone bad.

two. Raw Pork

Here are the telltale signs that pork meat has gone bad.

It Sticks to Your Fingers

Fresh pork meat does not stick to your fingers. When you touch it, information technology shouldn't experience slimy. One time bacteria have washed their work, slime will form on the meat. It ways the meat has already gone bad.

There's a Foul Smell

If the meat is emitting a foul olfactory property similar to the smell of ammonia, sulfur, or rotten egg, it is already spoiled. Bacteria accept already multiplied in the meat, making it no longer safe to eat.

It Changes its Color

If the colour of the meat looks gray or brown-gray, information technology is already spoiled. Fresh pork meat always appears pinkish. But when bacteria attack the meat, its original colour becomes dull and turns gray or brown.

how long can meat last inside the fridge

3. Raw Beefiness

How to tell if beef is bad? How long will raw beef last in the fridge? Bank check if beef has already gone bad with the following things below:

Check the Original Bundle

Always audit the 'use-by' date indicated on the beef meat package. The shelf life of raw beef is only for 1 to 3 days. If it is cooked, information technology is good for 7 to 10 days. Just if the meat has already passed its shelf life, throw it away.

Check the Texture of the Beef

When in that location's bacterial growth in the meat, its texture will exist slimy. Then, when you affect the meat, it volition stick to your fingers. This kind of meat is dangerous to eat.

Smell It

If the meat is already spoiled, it will smell bad. It will emit a rancid odor or smells like a rotten egg, ammonia, or sulfur. In other words, it volition accept a pungent, offensive smell. If the meat smells this manner, throw it away.

Cheque Its Color

The original colour of beefiness is red. That is why information technology is called carmine meat. Nonetheless, it can turn into chocolate-brown, grey, or light-green color in the presence of leaner. If the meat has already turned greenish-chocolate-brown and has lost its original red color, throw it away. It is no longer rubber to consume.

Tips for Using Meat in a Recipe/Dish Before It Spoils

What if the meat is nearing its 'use-by' date? Beef is very expensive, and it would be a waste to throw it abroad. The aforementioned is truthful with other types of meat. You accept 2 options if the meat's death date is fast approaching:

Put the meat inside an airtight plastic bag or container and freeze it. Exist sure to bespeak the appointment on the pocketbook.
Melt the meat as soon equally you tin.

There are simple dishes that you can cook where you lot can use nearly spoiled meat. Hither are some sample dishes:

Dish 1 – Beef or Pork

Prepare lycopersicon esculentum juice, beans, onion, and chili powder.
Brown the meat on your stovetop.
Throw the meat and the ingredients in a crockpot. Add enough amount of water.
Bring everything to boil until every ingredient in the pot is cooked.
Enjoy your chili dish.

Dish 2 – Chicken

Put the chicken cuts, breasts, drumsticks, etc. in the crockpot.
Add some chicken broth to proceed the meat moist.
Melt on depression heat for eight hours.
Let the meat absurd down.
Shred the meat past mitt or by a hand mixer.
You tin can utilize these shredded chicken meat as toppings in vegetable salads.

Every bit an alternative to salads, you lot can also use it together with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and tortillas to make yummy chicken tacos.

How to Properly Refrigerate Meat

The shelf life of meat oftentimes depends on how you store and refrigerate it. If yous want any meat to stay fresh, follow the guidelines below:

Keep meat in its original packaging until you decide to cook it. Opening the package will allow bacteria to enter and start contaminating the meat.

Put meat on a rimmed blistering sheet or a suitable plate. The rimmed plate will foreclose contagion of other food items if drips or spills from meat juices occur.

Store meat in the fridge on the lowest shelf. This department has the coldest temperature in the fridge. If there is a defended shelf in the fridge for meat, store information technology in that location. The drawer is designed to maintain even temperature, which is proficient for storing meat.

Raw meat presents the greatest take a chance within the refrigerator. Therefore, you should identify any meat in sealable, and if possible, closed containers.

Follow the storage instructions indicated in the meat packaging.

Carve up the storage areas of raw meat and cooked meat.

Keep tabs on the 'utilise-by' dates of the different types of meat stored in your refrigerator.

If raw meat is non used or cooked within a few days, yous should identify it in a freezer purse. Remove as much air in the bag and so place it in the freezer. Write the freezing engagement on the pocketbook.

Cooked meat should exist cooled down get-go before it is placed in the fridge. Allow cooked meat to absurd downwardly for about ii hours at room temperature. If possible, slice, cut, debone, or shred the meat. Secure it in an airtight container before placing information technology in the fridge.

Place leftover meat on the height shelves of the fridge. This area tends to take an fifty-fifty temperature and helps reduce the chances of food spoilage.

Conclusion – How Long Can Meat Stay in the Fridge?

So, to recap, how long does meat last in the fridge? Here is a guide to know how long you lot can proceed all types of meat – raw and cooked – in your fridge:

Poultry (whole chicken and turkey, raw) – i to 2 days
Poultry (in cuts or pieces) – ane to 2 days
Poultry (cooked) – 3 to iv days
Beef, pork, lamb, veal (raw) – 3 to 5 days
Beef, pork, lamb, veal (cooked) – three to five days
Ham (canned, unopened) – half-dozen to 9 months
Ham (cooked) – 7 days

How long can meat last in the fridge depends a lot on your refrigeration method? If you lot follow the correct way of refrigerating meat, you will surely extend its shelf life.