There is a piece of meat sitting at the back of the freezer you may have probably forgotten about. Perhaps it was bought in bulk, divided into portions and packed away. It could be a packet of beef bought months ago and pushed behind newer groceries.
Or may be it is that piece of chicken you cannot remember when it was bought.
Is it still safe to eat? Most people would assume that if frozen, it is fine.
Dr Ronald Okindo, Assistant Director at the Directorate of Veterinary Services, says frozen meat can remain safe for long, but texture, taste, appearance and overall quality can deteriorate. Chilling should be at -2 and 2 degrees Celsius.
‘You can keep your product for a month or three months, though it also depends on the product,’ he says.
Freezing takes the temperature much lower. Dr Okindo says products like poultry should first be deep frozen at -18 degrees Celsius and below for at least 24 hours before being moved to chilling.
Choose if beef should be chilled or frozen, depending on when you intend to use it.
‘For deep freezing, the temperature goes deep into the product. The product will stay safe even for a year as long as it is still frozen or in a chiller,’ he says.
The home freezer is not the same as a commercial cold chain. Dr Okindo says the difference is how consistently the temperature is maintained.
‘There is quality assurance on temperature regulations in the food industry. We take records of every temperature every hour. If there is a drop in temperature, adjustments must be made,’ he says.
The process is less controlled at home.
‘There are times someone just opens the freezer. You are not very careful with maintaining temperature. The idea here is maintaining the temperature as low as possible,’ he says.
Every time the freezer door is opened, warm air enters. Placing warm food into the freezer can also affect its temperature.
Whole beef steak can retain good quality for six to 12 months while beef and lamb roasts can stay for four to 12 months. Diced beef and lamb have a shorter quality window of four to six months.
Chicken can retain good quality for up to a year when frozen whole, while chicken pieces can go to about nine months.
Minced meat has a shorter freezer-quality window of three to four months because grinding exposes a much larger surface area to air.
Dr Okindo puts the maximum freezing period for processed meat at about six months, compared with up to two years for some raw meats under appropriate frozen storage.
Does meat become unsafe if it remains frozen for years?
‘When meat is frozen for a long time, the quality will be intact. However, taste may be compromised. In terms of bacterial growth, it will stay safe as long as it is there,’ he says.
Freezing stops bacteria from multiplying as they do at warmer temperatures, but Dr Okindo says it does not magically restore meat to its original condition. Poor packaging, repeated temperature changes and prolonged storage can affect texture, taste and appearance.
Another confusing thing is opening the freezer and finding meat that no longer appears like it did when it was put there. The surface may have turned pale or developed dry whitish areas.
Dr Okindo says this can be freezer burn, which affects appearance and quality but does not mean the meat is contaminated.
‘Freezer burn is when there is an overexposure to very cold temperatures in an organ,’ he says, giving the example of liver.
‘That is, especially, when the exposure is in a chain or crate, for instance. That contact between the crate and the organ sometimes shows the lines of the crate. The meat configures with the crate, sometimes turning whitish,’ he says.
Freezer burn can occur when an organ is exposed directly to freezing conditions without going through chilling.
‘Normally after slaughter, you take the meat to the chiller and then to the freezer and deep freezing,’ he says.
‘If you take it randomly or quickly, it gets that burn. That, however, does not mean it is contaminated or that it is bad meat. It is only not good-looking,’ Dr Okindo says.
Perhaps the bigger risk comes when the meat leaves the freezer. The food expert recommends moving frozen meat into the chiller to thaw gradually.
‘Once you get it from the freezer, it is always good to take it to the chiller,’ he says.
For large quantity, this may take about a day before the meat is thawed completely.
Some people will place frozen meat in water, use hot water or leave it on the kitchen counter.
‘When you thaw and wait for it to be cooked tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, you are activating the bacteria that were asleep and inactive. They will start becoming active then you can easily get food poisoning,’ Dr Okindo says.
He also warns that rapid thawing can affect the quality of the meat.
‘If you want to cook immediately, quick thawing affects the integrity of the structure of the meat. The taste will not be the same,’ he says.
What about freezing it again? Dr Okindo says it can, but repeated thawing and freezing can affect quality and longevity.
‘It can be frozen, but remember, the life of that meat will not be like the other,’ he says.
Once meat has thawed, micro-organisms from the environment can multiply if it is kept at temperatures that allow bacterial growth.
‘It means if you freeze the meat again, you affect its integrity and quality in terms of safety. Longevity will not be the same,’ he says.
The safest approach is to portion meat before freezing so that you only thaw what is to be cooked.
According to Dr Okindo, the freezing period for beef, goat, lamb and poultry can be considerably longer than many households assume.
‘They can be frozen for long. These kinds of meat can be frozen even for two years,’ he says.
Many households wonder if they should wash meat before freezing it. Dr Okindo says this is not necessary, especially if the meat has been handled properly.
‘It is not necessarily. Sometimes the water used on the meat might not be very clean. You could be introducing bacteria to the meat again,’ he says.
He adds that there are established hygiene procedures at regulated slaughterhouses.
‘If you do it properly, you don’t need to clean,’ he says.
He adds that if consumers insist on washing the meat, the water should be potable.
‘Potable water is clean and has no microbials. If you are sure you are using clean water, then that is okay. If if is not clean, then you will be introducing bacteria or microbials to the meat,’ he says.