• Depending on the cut, uncooked meat can be stored up to 6 months in the freezer. Larger cuts, like  roasts, can be safely stored for up to 6 months. Smaller cuts, such as beef steaks, should not be frozen for more than 4 months, and minced meat should not be frozen for more than 3 months.
  • Meat stored in the freezer should be kept at 0† F (-18°C).
  • Freezer storage times for cooked meats are shorter than raw meat due to what's known as flavour taint. Certain flavours oxidise in the freezer after a period of time. Have you ever seen how half an apple looks when it is left out? This is the same process when cooked meat is frozen for too long.
  • If frozen meat has defrosted, refreezing is not recommended unless it is cooked first, for a number of reasons:
  • The quality suffers each time frozen meat is defrosted and refrozen. Freezing creates ice crystals within the structure of the meat (as meat contains a high percentage of water). These ice crystals rupture the fibre which causes the meat to bleed when defrosted. If repeated, the texture of the meat will be very dry.
  • Never refreeze meat which has been thawed and held at room temperature.