How long can you keep each type of meat in the freezer?

A question we all asked ourselves at least once: After how many days, weeks or months, is a food still edible when it is frozen? Is the ice on the packaging a bad sign? Meat in particular stresses many people. And when in doubt, many of us turn to the compost bin ...

Yet many of the discarded foods are still edible. How do you know exactly for how long?

If you are undecided in this area, take the time to take a look at the list of storage times recommended by Health Canada.

Before freezing meat, we strongly suggest that you wrap it and write the freezing date on it. So you won't have to rack your brains the next time you want to prepare one of the meats lying dormant in the freezer.

Good to know: some meats can sleep in the freezer for more than a year!

Here are the deadlines to respect for each type of meat and other proteins...

Chicken / Turkey:

• Whole raw poultry: 10-12 months
• Raw chopped poultry: 6-9 months
• Cooked poultry without sauce: 1-3 months
• Cooked poultry with sauce: 6 months

Other meats:

• Beef (steaks, roasts): 6-12 months
• Pork: 8-12 months
• Minced, cubed or thinly sliced meat: 3-4 months
• Lamb: 8-12 months 
• Calf: 8-12 months
• Bacon: 1-2 months
• Cooked ham: 1-2 months
• Smoked meat, cold cuts: 1-2 months
• Fresh sausages: 2-3 months
• Hot dog sausages: 1-2 months
• Whole dry sausages: do not freeze
• Meat sauces: 4-6 months
• Meat cooked with sauce: 4 months
• Meat cooked without sauce: 2-3 months
• Cooked meat sliced under vacuum: 1 month
• Offal (liver, heart, etc.): 3-4 months

Eggs:

• Raw egg white: 9 months
• Raw egg yolk: 4 months
•  Whole with the shell: does not freeze.

Fish and seafood:

• Cooked crab: 1 month
• Shrimps: 2-4 months
• Fatty fish (salmon, trout, etc.): 2 months
• Lean fish (sole, tilapia, etc.): 6 months
• Scallops: 3 months
• Oysters without scales: 2-4 months
• Mussels without scales: 3 months
• Scaleless clams: 3 months
• Cold smoked fish: 2 months
• Oysters + mussels + clams in their scales: do not freeze! It is recommended to store them in a ventilated container.

Tofu:

1-2 months

After how long do you still feel comfortable eating frozen food?