How long can minced meat be stored in the refrigerator and freezer?

How long minced meat can be stored in the refrigerator and freezer depends on the temperature, container, raw materials, freshness of the product and other conditions. The semi-finished product can be frozen for a long period of time, up to several months, or kept in the cold for no more than half a day - it depends on how quickly you plan to prepare it. It is not recommended to send the finished mass for storage if it contains onions, bread and other additional ingredients. It is better to add them immediately before cooking.

Special requirements are also imposed on the containers in which the products will be stored. However, all recommendations may be useless if a low-quality product was initially chosen from an unscrupulous one class=”aligncenter” width=”800″ height=”533″[/img]

What affects shelf life

The shelf life of minced meat and its quality depends on:

temperature conditions;
the packaging in which it is contained;
presence of additional ingredients.

Conditions

Compliance with temperature limits is an important part of the conservation process. Depending on the type, the shelf life of minced meat in the refrigerator at a temperature of 0-6 °C is as follows:

meat (pork, beef, lamb, horse meat) – 24 hours;
chicken and fish – 12 hours;
vegetable – up to 6 hours;
mushroom - do not store (changes color, smell, consistency).

In a freezer at minus 12-18 °C, minced meat (including poultry) can be stored for 3 months.

Package

In production, parchment, foil, plastic film, sausage casing, polymer and combined materials are used as packaging. The shelf life of a product in such a container depends not so much on its origin as on the packaging technology: with or without the use of a modified atmosphere (vacuum).

Practical packaging for purchased minced meat - trays made of polymer materials or laminated cardboard, covered with stretch film

For homemade minced meat, the main thing is to limit air access to the product. Suitable for this purpose:

plastic container with vacuum lid;
zip bag with a clasp;
tightly closing glass container.

The recommended container will not spoil the smell and taste of the product and will not react with the ingredients of the semi-finished product.

Compound

The components in the minced meat directly affect the duration of its shelf life. So, meat stays in the refrigerator longer than fish or vegetable.

In production, shelf life is increased with the help of acidity regulators. Housewives limit themselves to storing pure meat products without additives. The presence of spices, garlic, onions and eggs in the composition reduces the shelf life of the semi-finished product. All these ingredients are added immediately before cooking. Excessive water also speeds up spoilage.

We answer the question: how long can minced meat and onions be stored in the refrigerator?
You can keep the product with onions in the refrigerator for up to 6 hours. For long-term preservation, it needs to be frozen. But keep in mind that the taste and appearance will not change for the better.

Selection of semi-finished product

To buy good minced meat, you must follow the following recommendations:

Look carefully at the packaging, which displays the expiration date and its type.

Minced pork by weight has a light pink tint, beef mince is reddish, and poultry mince is light.

If the mass contains dense fibers, it means that it contains not only meat, but also veins and films.

There should be no foreign odors. There should be a smell of fresh meat.

It is better not to buy frozen minced meat.

Weathered minced meat with a dark crust.

Transparent, reddish liquid on the trays indicates good quality, dark - it is stale.

A product without liquid indicates the addition of gelatin or starch.

Ground chicken and turkey that are runny and whitish in color indicate that there is little meat in them, and the minced meat mainly consists of skins, tails and fat.

Expiration dates according to GOST

The storage time of minced meat under various conditions is regulated by GOST R 55365-2012 “Mind meat. Technical specifications" (see table).

How does the shelf life of minced meat depend on storage conditions, packaging and the presence of acidity regulators?

The storage of minced fish is regulated by GOST R 55505-2013 “Frozen minced fish food”. It follows from it that the fish mass should be stored at a temperature no higher than -18 ° C for 4 to 18 months, depending on the raw materials used.

We recommend reading: How long can raw and cooked cutlets be stored in the refrigerator?

How to store in the refrigerator

Purchased. Tips for choosing

The length of time a product retains its freshness and taste depends on compliance with the rules of its selection and storage conditions. Pay attention to the following characteristics when purchasing:

Color. It should be bright (red or pink). The gray tint of the meat pulp indicates the initial stage of deterioration of the product.
Consistency. The presence of hard pieces indicates the presence of cartilage in the mass. This will reduce the shelf life and taste of the dish.
Juice. Should be bright red. If it is missing, then there is a high risk of bread crumbs and tendons in the product. Dark juice indicates that the product has lost its freshness.
Smell. The spicy aroma of fresh meat indicates the good quality of the product. The presence of notes of herbs and spices indicates the seller’s desire to hide the time of its manufacture. A sour smell is a clear sign of spoilage.

To maintain the freshness of the refrigerated product, it is recommended not to open the original packaging. In this form, it will not lose its taste within 24 hours. The storage period for minced meat twisted directly in a store or catering outlet is reduced to 12 hours, so you will have to cook it on the day of purchase.

Tip of the day
If the mass is in a plastic bag, then it is better to place it on the bottom shelf so that the flowing water does not fall on the food. You can leave the chopped meat or fish pulp in an enamel or glass container.

Home. Cooking secrets

Cooking is often delayed for some time, so raw meat and fish mass is placed in the refrigerator for a maximum of 12 hours, vegetable mass for 6 hours.

At room temperature, the minced meat will last no more than 2-3 hours. After this time, an unpleasant odor will begin to emanate from it, indicating the growth of bacteria

The following rules should also be observed to prevent the product from spoiling:

Products obtained from different types of meat should not be mixed in one container.
There is no need to add various food additives when preparing semi-finished products yourself.
During storage, the chopped meat pulp should be in a clean container, which is covered with cling film or in a separate bag. This will protect it from weathering and absorbing foreign odors.

If the minced meat turns out tough or watery, use the following tips:

To make the minced meat softer, first sharpen the knives in a meat grinder. The consistency should be uniform, so if necessary, perform a secondary swirl of the resulting mass.
You can add juiciness to the minced meat by adding chopped onions, milk or egg white if you are going to cook the dish right away.
Add the onion just before cooking. This will prevent the product from turning brown.
If the consistency of the minced meat is too liquid, mix it with flour or bread, if the recipe allows it.
When making ground poultry, remove the skin first.

Note to the hostess
You can keep the minced meat in the cellar by wrapping it in cling film and placing it in a non-metallic container, but no more than 12 hours.

How long can cutlets be stored?

Product safety is a variable value. Many factors influence shelf life. For example, the type and quality of meat and other raw materials. Secondly, temperature is important - whether you prefer to keep food in the refrigerator or freezer. It also depends on the degree of readiness. Semi-finished or ready-to-eat products require different conditions.

Cutlets contain not only meat, but also salt and spices, which also increases shelf life. However, added herbs or onions, on the contrary, will shorten the time. Therefore, when planning to put the product in the refrigerator, you need to pay attention to this.

Storing the product longer than recommended is not allowed. Even if all other conditions are met. Because harmful bacteria multiply in the meat and spoilage begins. Therefore, it is advisable to use the product within a certain time.

Principles for storing various cutlets:

Purchased. It is important to purchase only from trusted stores. Pay attention to the expiration dates on the packaging, because further time reporting will begin from this date. After purchase, the product is transferred to a container and wrapped in a food bag or foil.
Homemade. It is advisable that there is no more food in the freezer, and other food in the refrigerator is on another shelf. Homemade cutlets cannot be stored for long periods of time.
Ready cutlets . They are packed tightly before being sent to the refrigerator. Special food containers, film or foil will do.

Before putting the product in the refrigerator, it is advisable to write on the sticker when it was made.

Shelf life in the freezer

Freezing the product prolongs storage. However, you shouldn’t count on this too much. The process of meat spoilage does not stop, but only slows down. Meat and fish cutlets are stored at -18°C for three months. It is not recommended to freeze vegetables because once defrosted they will lose a lot of water and become unattractive and tasteless.

Before putting the product in the freezer, it must be packaged. As a rule, a special container is used for this or wrapped in cling film or foil. You should not store other products nearby, especially those with a strong smell. It is advisable to dedicate the entire shelf in the freezer to one product.

If the cutlets are homemade and not store-bought, then they must first be frozen, giving them the required shape, and then transferred according to all the rules into a container or wrapped in cling film and stored.

Important. You should not move the cutlets in the refrigerator, as this may cause them to spoil faster. Temperature changes are extremely undesirable, so do not open the refrigerator again.

To defrost, the products are moved from the freezer to the upper compartment of the refrigerator. In this case, the shelf life will be significantly shorter:

fish - 6 hours;
meat - 12 hours;
chicken - 18 hours

To freeze or not?

Minced vegetables are stored only in the refrigerator. After freezing, it loses its nutrients and becomes excessively moist. When using such a semi-finished product, the taste and consistency of the dish will greatly deteriorate.

It is recommended to store freshly prepared chopped fish and meat pulp in the freezer. Therefore, chilled minced meat purchased in a store is not frozen, but used within 24 hours. Store-bought frozen food can be placed in the freezer if it did not have time to thaw on the way home.

How to freeze excess homemade minced meat? There are several ways:

In packages. Divide the product into portions and place in plastic or ziplock bags. The minced meat can be rolled into balls, but in this form defrosting will take longer.
In plastic containers. Place the mixture in a clean container and close the lid tightly to prevent air from entering inside.

Portion-wise method of freezing minced meat: put in a bag, roll out with a rolling pin, mark grooves (cut lines)

At a temperature of -18 °C the product will last for 3 months, at a temperature of -12 °C - only one.

Do you know that…
Minced meat after defrosting is not intended for baby food.

Product varieties

meat - finely minced meat of artiodactyl animals, a classic version of minced meat, used to prepare many dishes;
fish – fish pulp minced through a meat grinder, used for preparing dietary dishes;
from poultry – chopped fillet of poultry carcass;
sausage or sausage - a mixture of chopped meat ingredients that is used to prepare sausage products;
vegetable – chopped vegetables;
from mushrooms - chopped mushrooms, scrolled through a meat grinder or food processor.

Defrosting and storage after

You can defrost the product in 4 ways:

Leave the minced meat in the refrigerator.
Place in cold water.
Place the product, after removing the packaging, on a plate in the microwave. Set to defrost mode.
Cut into small pieces and leave in a cool place for 30 minutes.

Do not defrost minced meat in the sun, hot water or a warm place. Above-zero temperatures will promote the growth of harmful bacteria.

After the minced meat has thawed, you need to drain the water. In this form, the meat product quickly deteriorates even in the refrigerator, so you need to start preparing the dish immediately after defrosting.

It is important to know!
Thawed minced meat cannot be re-frozen.

conclusions

Minced meat is a perishable product that even in the refrigerator lasts no more than a day, and in modern freezers no more than 3 months.
On sale you can find chilled, frozen and frozen semi-finished products from pork, beef, lamb, horse meat and poultry. Fish is found only in frozen form.
If you are going to cook right away, you can buy minced meat in any thermal condition. Are you going to store the product? Buy frozen if you can quickly get it into your home freezer.
Buy the product in factory packaging with a label indicating: manufacturer, production date, shelf life. Meat mass produced directly at the point of sale may look more appetizing, but there is no guarantee that it is produced under proper conditions from high-quality raw materials.
You can only store pure minced meat without additional ingredients, obtained from one type of meat. All other variations immediately go into cooking.
You can only freeze homemade products and only once. Repeated freezing and defrosting is unacceptable due to the proliferation of microflora in the product, which is not destroyed by low temperatures.
For cooking, it is better to use freshly ground minced meat that has not been in the refrigerator or frozen. The taste, smell and appearance of ready-made dishes will only benefit from this.

Store correctly and be healthy!

Features of self-cooking

How to cook minced meat at home yourself:

To make minced meat, you need to choose only high-quality raw materials, the quality of the final product depends on this
Before grinding, it is necessary to remove veins, films, and fatty tissue from a piece of meat.
It is better to cut the pulp into medium-sized cubes, no larger than the feed hole of the meat grinder.
When grinding meat, you don’t need to fill the meat grinder to capacity with it: if the raw material accumulates in the area of the screw and knife, it will be ground to an emulsion state and the product will lose its taste.
The finished minced meat should be cooked immediately or covered with film so that it does not dry out.
The internal parts of the meat grinder must be washed before and after preparing minced meat, otherwise bacteria may enter the product, which will greatly reduce shelf life.