How long can you keep meat in the freezer?
Expectedly, bacon and raw sausage last for about a month in freezers, with some staying fresh for even longer than that.
3. Lunch meats and hot dogs
Lunch meats are the go-to when you want to make a quick and yet filling sandwich or salad, so they are essential if you are looking to stock your home in preparation for quarantine.
Alongside hot dogs, lunch meats last two weeks in the fridge when they haven’t been opened at all. If opened, they must be eaten within three to five days. When stored in the freezer, they’ll last one to two months.
4. Raw poultry
Raw poultry includes meats of chicken, turkey, quail, and just about any other you can think of. They generally last just a day or two in the fridge (at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder).
Like the others mentioned above, they last much longer in the freezer (at about 0 degrees Fahrenheit or colder). When cooked, poultry meat can be refrigerated for a few days longer, but they should not be frozen for any longer than two to six months.
5. Ground meats
Last but not least is ground meats. This means any meat (beef, pork, lamb, whichever) that has been finely minced —these last a shorter time than their whole and unprocessed counterparts.
They can be stored in the fridge for one to two days and in the freezer for about three to four months.
Overall, you will observe that no matter what kind, meats generally last longer in the freezer. This partly owes to the fact that refrigerating them is only meant to keep them fresh for a few days or at most weeks.
If you know, you won’t need them anytime soon and want them to stay fresh for as long as possible, keeping them in the freezer is a good option.
