Freezing is a process that can extend the freshness of many products. This way you can store vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, ready meals, fish and even raw meat. Not many people know that However, freezing meat for too long may be harmful to it.
Often seeing a promotion in a store, we decide to buy more meatwhich we later freeze. After some time, it often turns out to be meat it spends a long time in the freezer and is forgotten. We must realize that we should not freeze it indefinitely it’s best to consume them as soon as possible.
How long can you actually freeze meat? The answer is not clear. Each type of meat has a different structure and water content, which means that their shelf life in the freezer will vary. Recommended for maximum freezing:
- ground beef for up to 4 months,
- cut beef for up to 12 months,
- minced pork for up to 3 months,
- cut pork up to 6 months,
- minced poultry meat up to 4 months,
- poultry fillets up to 9 months,
- poultry whole or in larger pieces up to 12 months,
- fatty fish up to 3 months,
- lean fish up to 6 months,
- offal for up to 4 months.
If any of these meats are stored in the freezer longer than recommended, be aware of changes that may occur. Above all Storing in the freezer for too long may reduce the quality of the products. Meat may change its structure after heat treatment may be hard and dry. However, this does not mean that we will be poisoned by it.
You can get poisoning from frozen meat. Contrary to appearances, this will not be caused by storing it in the freezer for too long. You can get poisoning from frozen meat it was already spoiled before the freezing process. Low temperature does not kill bacteria, it only puts them to sleep. As a result, after thawing, the meat will still be spoiled and the pathogens will start to multiply again.
You can also get poisoned by meat that has spoiled during freezing. This most often happens when the freezer is cold inappropriate, too high temperature or the product packaging was not tightly closed. Such conditions become an ideal environment for bacteria to grow, and the meat begins to spoil. Stomach problems may occur after thawing, preparing and consuming it.
To make sure you don’t get poisoned by frozen meat, you need to be able to recognize spoiled meat. First of all, pay attention to him smell after defrosting. If the meat is stale, it will smell unpleasant, even putrid or sour.
Rotten meat will also change color. Instead of the natural pink or pale pink color, there will be shades grays, browns, and even green or black. Such a change may affect the entire piece of meat or its fragments. Regardless of whether the color is completely or only partially changed, the food will be unfit for consumption.
The last feature by which we will notice that frozen meat is not suitable for eating is its consistency. The product will be broken slimy, sticky and soft to the touch. They may appear on its surface holes and unevenness.
If we notice any of these features on our frozen meat, they should be thrown away. Eating spoiled meat may cause digestive problems such as: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting.
Source: Terazgotuje.pl
