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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to serve out of date frozen food?

28 replies

KrayKray00 · 09/05/2017 12:42

I have some steak in the freezer. I think I brought it frozen as it says on the label defrost before cooking. The best before is SEPT 2016.

I don't usually think to much about frozen food as I think once it has been lost into the abyss of the freezer it shall stay fresh forever and a day. I know the quality won't be as good as a fresh one and the texture might be a bit squeaky but honestly, I'm broke! And I am a freezer horder. I do a "big" food shop once a month and don't use what I already have.

I am not serving it to the children. Just me. My OH is having gammon which is also being defrosted but that is still in date.

So not really a AIBU or more of a what do you do? Or do you have any freezer rules I can abide by to stop me holding onto these ancient frozen artefacts?

Might serve it with the baked beans in the cupboard that went out of date in 2013,
And sprinkle with some mixed herbs I also found in the cupboard that are older than Gods dog. Grin

OP posts:
EJREsMum · 09/05/2017 12:47

Does freezer food even go out of date ? Grin

MadameSimoneSartre · 09/05/2017 12:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

justkeepswimmingg · 09/05/2017 12:49

I'd say no to eating it.. but I'm very precious about best before dates. So maybe I'm BU?! Blush

HarrietKettleWasHere · 09/05/2017 12:50

I thought once food was frozen...it was, well, frozen.

Had a lovely pie out of the Christmas Turkey bits the other day.

Pardonwhat · 09/05/2017 12:51

I'd say 50% of the food served in my house is frozen food which is now out of date.. Blush
I always thought that was the purpose of putting something in the freezer rather than the fridge?

Original poster
KrayKray00 · 09/05/2017 12:53

I am so glad to see I am not the only one who believes frozen food never goes out of date 😂
I didn't think of slow cooking it I might give that a go!

OP posts:
HarrietKettleWasHere · 09/05/2017 12:55

My DP says you are only supposed to freeze food for three months. But what exactly happens after three months?! It's still in the same state surely...because you've frozen it Confused

Luckily I am in charge of the food in our relationship Grin

Original poster
KrayKray00 · 09/05/2017 12:55

Pardon well I am usually not that bothered. But with it being meat and it was brought frozen the Best Before is 2016 so I didn't know if that means in frozen years or in terms of texture.
I refuse to throw it away, it looks like a lovely bit of steak.

OP posts:
KinkyAfro · 09/05/2017 12:57

It's not really out of date though if it's been frozen is it? We bought a shoulder of pork that had one day left, froze it straight away and ate it 2 months later, on sunday. Was perfectly fine

littlemissneela · 09/05/2017 13:05

I had this debate with my dh as he thought you still had to eat the food in date. The whole idea of freezing is preserving it for a longer time. After the 3 month supposed use by freeze date, the item doesn't go off; it just starts to degenerate a bit more due to the ice crystals that formed in the moisture and getting larger. It just changes the texture. You can notice the food will also dry out if not wrapped properly as it gets freezer burn, which is just exposure.

Eatingcheeseontoast · 09/05/2017 13:07

I think the texture may change - but defrost slowly and have a look at it before you cook it. I think it'll be fine. It's best before not use by.

I've eaten meat out of the freezer that was 2 years past its date. It was fine.

Pardonwhatnow · 09/05/2017 13:07

The clue is in the phrase "best before" not "use by"

Also, it's frozen. As long as it has always been frozen the safety of the food won't be any different after a month, six, or five years.

The eatin experience might deteriorate over time though, hence "best before"

DontPullThatTubeOut · 09/05/2017 18:56

I read on a box of butcher stuff I bought from Asda, that if we freeze the fresh meat it has to be used within a month. Don't know why but I stick to it as I get worried about dates on food.
Probably due to growing up with a nan who either didn't care or didn't check dates and even if she did she always said it was fine. I can't even smell fresh milk without being convinced it's off due to being made cereal with out of date milk so often. When her food was in date though she made some of my still to this day favourite dinners. I'm sure I've eaten frozen for a year meats and I'm alive so it should be ok.

sum1killthepawpatrollers · 09/05/2017 19:05

so whats your thoughts on lamb steaks bought and frozen fresh in march 2015? feed to dh or bin?
im thinking save for when hes really pissed me off sure it wont kill him but a bout of the squits may be good

DontPullThatTubeOut · 09/05/2017 19:28

Oh definitely chuck, I just re tasted my dinner reading that lol

VerySadInside · 09/05/2017 19:31

I'd eat it. But how come you're cooking three different things?

AntiGrinch · 09/05/2017 19:40

I'd eat it. But I would defrost it first. when it is a thawed bit of raw meat you can have a good look at it and assess the quality and decide how to cook it.

kali110 · 09/05/2017 19:44

I'm assuming to mean use by date and not best before?
I'd eat it. It's been frozen.

Quartz2208 · 09/05/2017 19:46

Steak can last up to a year in the freezer according to the USDA so it should be fine with that date, it just might not taste as nice.

And a best before date is as a PP said just that, it will taste better before that date but will be fine after, the quality will just degrade. So there is no need to be precious about this.

Its Use By you should not go beyond (unless its a dairy product where it very easy to see if it has gone off)

PeaFaceMcgee · 09/05/2017 19:50

What sort of freezer? Ice box? Deep freeze? How many stars?

A friend was admitted to hospital for rehydration after eating a veggie burger that had expired it's freezer use by date.

Wouldn't risk it. Have a couple of eggs.

PeaFaceMcgee · 09/05/2017 19:52

Ha, rehydration after food poisoning I mean - not because it was horribly dry (tho probably that too!)

Bantanddec · 09/05/2017 19:56

A couple of years ago I cook a crispy pancake i found in my nans chest freezer that's sell by date was 1997, the filling had completely disappeared/disintegrated but on the surface it looked like an average crispy pancake.
Sorry Op that useless info is not going to help you what so ever, but I would think the steak will be ok.

WhiskyIrnBru · 09/05/2017 20:21

Isn't freezing it just like suspended animation? It'll be good for another decade, surely ?

PeaFaceMcgee · 09/05/2017 20:33

Not at domestic freezer temperatures, Whiskey. All freezers slow rather than stop decay / bacterial growth.

livelyredjellybean · 10/05/2017 05:57

A friend of my DP's is still eating beef he put in there 19 years ago!!!!! Envy (not a jealous face!)