23 October 2026

How long does food last in the freezer

A freezer at 0°F (−18°C) pauses bacteria. It does not reset taste, and it does not erase a warm afternoon. The months on a chart are about quality. How you thaw decides whether the pack is still dinner.

Written by Oğuzhan Arslan · 2026-10-23 · Disclaimer

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Short answer. Food held at 0°F (−18°C) stays safe indefinitely. Chart months are quality. Thaw in the fridge, in cold water changed every 30 minutes, or in the microwave — never on the counter. Fridge-thawed food may be refrozen. Cold-water or microwave thawing must be cooked first. Freezer burn is dryness, not a hazard. Door shut in a power cut: a full freezer holds about 48 hours, a half-full one about 24.

Shelf order lives in how to organize a fridge. The fridge clock for a cooked dish is in how long leftovers last. Use-by and best-before are different dates: use-by versus best-before. Freeze on or before the use-by day. The UK Food Standards Agency allows freezing until midnight on that date.

Safe for as long as it stays at 0°F

USDA FSIS says food stored constantly at 0°F will always be safe. Only quality suffers. Freezing inactivates bacteria, yeasts, and molds. It does not kill them. After thawing they can grow about as fast as on fresh food, so the pack is perishable again. FoodSafety.gov says the same: times are quality, and food held at 0°F (−18°C) or below keeps indefinitely. The FSA calls the freezer a pause button. EFSA says the safest defrost is the fridge, and cooked food should not sit out more than 2 hours. WHO treats time and temperature as a basic control. None of that covers a bag whose cabinet warmed up.

Home freezing does not kill parasites. USDA says Trichinella needs strict supervised conditions; thorough cooking destroys it. Hold 0°F (−18°C) or below. The FSA says around −18°C. A compartment that cannot hold that is short-term only. Read a thermometer between packs, not the dial.

How long chicken, meat, and fish keep their quality

These are quality windows at 0°F, from the FSIS freezing chart and the FoodSafety.gov cold-storage chart. They are not safety expiries. Where a second official window is shorter, the food page on this site prints the short end. Open it before you trust one cell. “How long can you freeze chicken?” starts on the first row.

Food at 0°F	Best quality	Note
Whole raw chicken or turkey	1 year	USDA. Ministry band here is 9–12 months; short end is 9.
Raw poultry pieces	9 months	USDA. Giblets: 3–4 months.
Cooked poultry	4 months	USDA freezing chart.
Ground meat or poultry	3–4 months	USDA. Fridge life before freezing is 1–2 days.
Steaks, chops, roasts	4–12 months	FoodSafety.gov. A chop sits at the short end.
Cooked meat	2–3 months	USDA chart. Leftovers row says 2–6. Use 2–3.
Bacon	1 month	Sausage, hot dogs, lunch meat: 1–2 months.
Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna)	2–3 months	FoodSafety.gov.
Lean fish (cod, haddock, halibut)	6–8 months	Pollock, rockfish, sea trout: 4–8 months.
Shrimp and crayfish, raw	6–18 months	Quality is kinder near 6 months.
Soups, stews, gravy, casseroles	2–3 months	USDA. Pizza leftovers: 1–2 months.
Egg whites	12 months	Do not freeze shell eggs or hard-cooked eggs.

The FSA’s quality note is shorter: meats usually within 2–3 months, baked goods, fruit, and vegetables within 3–4. Follow that local line. It is not a safety limit at a steady −18°C. Raw meat keeps quality longer than cooked meat. Freeze at peak quality. A warm day in the fridge is not undone by a bag.

Bread, dairy, rice, and produce

These shorter windows come from USDA FoodKeeper, the FSIS dairy note, and the Turkish ministry freezer list. When two published windows disagree, the short end leads.

Food	Shorter quality window	Other published window
Bread	About 3 months	FoodKeeper 3 to 5 months. The fridge dries a loaf.
Butter	About 3 months	FoodKeeper 6 to 9 months. The ministry figure is the short end.
Pasteurized milk	About 1 month	FSIS dairy page: 3 months. Texture changes. Shake after thawing.
Hard cheese	6 months	FSIS dairy. Soft cheese does not freeze well.
Yogurt	1 to 2 months	FSIS dairy. The pot may weep.
Cooked rice	1 to 2 months	Ministry 2 to 4; one FoodKeeper note says 6. Freeze inside the fridge window, often one day.
Strawberries	About 6 months	FoodKeeper 8 to 12, for fruit prepared to freeze.
Bananas, peeled	2 to 3 months	FoodKeeper. The ministry list runs longer; use the short end.
Apples prepared to freeze	About 6 months	FoodKeeper 8 months. Not the counter life of a raw apple.
Cooked potato	1 to 2 months	FoodKeeper. Mashed potato there is 10 to 12 months. Do not freeze a raw whole potato.

Cool leftovers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). That is USDA, FDA, and EFSA. The UK fridge line is often 2 days and stays in the leftovers article. Do not freeze a stew that sat out overnight.

Pack it so the cold is not also the air

Freezer burn is air on the surface. USDA describes grayish-brown leathery spots. The food is safe and dry there. Cut the spots off, or discard heavy burn for quality. The FSA says ice crystals and dehydration are quality, and tight wrapping prevents them.

Shop film is safe to freeze and permeable. Overwrap packs you will keep for months. Leave vacuum packs sealed. A torn pack is still safe; rewrap it. Press air out. Label the name and the date. A pack about 2 inches thick should freeze solid in about 2 hours. Slow freezing grows large crystals, then drip and drier meat. Spread packs until solid, then stack. Do not set warm boxes on food already frozen.

Most vegetables need blanching. Freezing slows enzymes; in low-acid vegetables it does not stop them. A short boil or steam, an ice-water chill, a drain, then the pack. The minute depends on the vegetable and the cut. USDA says look that time up. This page will not invent one.

Some foods disappoint even when they stay safe. USDA names mayonnaise, cream sauce, and lettuce. Mayo-style salads freeze poorly, and custard pies should not be frozen. Do not freeze eggs in the shell. A cracked frozen shell is a discard. An intact one can thaw in the fridge, but the yolk turns thick. Hard-cooked eggs do not freeze. Food out of a can may be frozen; the can is a poor container. Soft cheese weeps. Fried coatings go soggy. Freeze potatoes after cooking, not as raw whole tubers.

Three ways to thaw, and when you may refreeze

USDA allows the refrigerator, cold water, and the microwave. It forbids the counter, porch, garage, a hot car, and hot water. EFSA names the fridge, allows the microwave when you cook next, and forbids the counter. The FSA wants the fridge, or a microwave defrost straight before cooking, with the center fully thawed.

Small packs may thaw overnight in the fridge. Most food needs a day or two. A turkey needs about one day per 5 pounds, on a plate on the bottom shelf. USDA says fridge-thawed food may be refrozen without cooking, with some quality loss. You may also cook it and freeze the cooked dish. Freeze leftovers within 3 to 4 days. The FSA is stricter: eat fully defrosted food within 24 hours, freeze again only after cooking, and reheat that cooked portion only once. Follow the shorter rule where it is official.

For cold water, use a leak-proof bag in cold tap water and change the water every 30 minutes. A leak lets bacteria in and lets the food soak. Cook immediately, and do not refreeze it raw. Microwave thawing cooks the edges while the center is icy, so cook immediately, then freeze only the cooked food. Do not refreeze anything left out longer than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C). Heat does not rescue a night on the counter. When unsure, throw it out. Do not taste it.

Raw meat can be cooked from frozen in about one and a half times the usual time. Remove pads and wrap. Take giblets out of a whole bird as soon as they loosen. Pre-stuffed USDA-inspected poultry must be cooked from frozen. The thaw timer follows the fridge pace. It does not approve a counter thaw. Then measure the center: 165°F (74°C) for poultry and reheated leftovers, 160°F (71°C) for ground meat, 145°F (63°C) plus 3 minutes for whole cuts and fish. EFSA’s household line for soups and stews is 70°C. Use a thermometer.

The bag you actually found

Chicken thawed on the counter overnight. Throw it out. The surface spent the night above fridge temperature, past the 2-hour line. Do not cook it or taste it. The ministry thawing note and EFSA both put a thaw in the fridge.

Six hours without power, door shut. A full freezer usually holds about 48 hours, a half-full one about 24, if the door stays closed. Six hours is inside both. It does not, alone, finish the food. Ice crystals, or a temperature still at or below 40°F (4°C), may be refrozen or cooked. Raw food need not be cooked first in this case. Discard food warmer than 40°F for more than 2 hours, and anything raw juice touched. Group packs so they chill each other, meat away from fruit. Checking by opening the door is how six safe hours turn into a problem.

Ice crystals on the ice cream. Crystals on a tub that stayed hard are quality, from temperature swings. USDA says to discard soft or melted ice cream for quality. Firm ice cream can stay. Melted ice cream goes out.

A steak frozen two years ago. If the cabinet never left 0°F, it is safe. Two years is quality: dryness, a darker color from less oxygen, maybe leathery patches. That color is not a spoilage verdict. Young poultry bones can darken nearby meat the same way. Trim heavy burn. A rancid smell after thawing means discard for quality. Cook to the temperature for that cut. Home freezing did not kill parasites.

No date on the bag. Safety follows the thermometer, not your memory. If you cannot name the food or the month, put it in the doubt pile.

Myths, and the fact under them

The chart month is a safety expiry. It is quality. At a steady 0°F the food stays safe.
Freezer burn means unsafe. Air dried the surface. Trim it, or discard for quality if the damage is deep.
Thaw on the counter if you will cook it after. Bacteria wake on the outside while the center is ice. Overnight is a discard.
Refreezing is always unsafe. Fridge-thawed food may be refrozen. Cold water and microwave need cooking first. Food out past 2 hours is not refrozen. The FSA prefers cooking before any second freeze.
Freezing sterilizes food. It pauses microbes. Thawed food is perishable again. It does not replace cooking for parasites.
Half empty rides out a cut like full. About 48 hours full, about 24 half full, door closed.
Brown frozen beef is spoiled. Color shifts with oxygen and time. Temperature decides safety.

Before you shut the door

Thermometer at 0°F (−18°C) or colder. A warmer compartment is short-term only.
Freeze on or before the use-by date. A best-before on frozen vegetables is quality. See the dates guide.
Cool cooked food in shallow packs within 2 hours, then freeze.
Overwrap long-stay trays. Press out air. Name and date every pack.
Spread packs until solid. Blanch from a tested time, not a guess.
Thaw in the fridge, in cold water changed every 30 minutes, or in the microwave. Cook at once after the last two.
Refreeze fridge-thawed food only if your local rule allows. Otherwise cook, then freeze.
Power cut: door shut. Crystals, or 40°F and below, may go back. Soft ice cream goes out. Do not taste-test.

Write the freeze date where you will see it before you buy the same thing again. The storage chart and the still-safe check use these published windows. They do not sniff the bag. Eating what you already froze is the practical half of wasting less food.

Questions people ask with the door open

How long can you freeze chicken?

For quality, USDA lists a whole raw bird at about 1 year, pieces at 9 months, cooked poultry at 4 months, and ground chicken at 3 to 4 months. This site’s chicken page uses a ministry band of 9 to 12 months, so the short end is 9. The FSA’s general meat note is about 2 to 3 months. Safety holds while it stays at 0°F.

How long does food last in the freezer?

Kept continuously at 0°F (−18°C) or below, it stays safe indefinitely. The months in the tables are quality. A cabinet that warmed, or a pack that thawed, has left that clock.

Is freezer burn safe to eat?

Yes. USDA says it does not make food unsafe. Cut away the dry spots. Discard heavy burn because it will eat poorly, not because it is hazardous.

Can you refreeze thawed meat?

Fridge-thawed meat that stayed cold may be refrozen, with some quality loss. Cold-water or microwave thawing must be cooked first. The FSA says to use fully defrosted food within 24 hours and to freeze again only after cooking. Do not refreeze meat left out over 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (32°C).

How do you thaw meat safely?

On a plate in the fridge, or in a leak-proof bag in cold water changed every 30 minutes, or in the microwave. Cook at once after cold water or microwave. Never on the counter. A turkey needs about a day in the fridge per 5 pounds.

What if the power was out and the door stayed closed?

A full freezer holds about 48 hours, a half-full one about 24. Ice crystals, or 40°F (4°C) or below, may be refrozen or cooked. Discard food warmer than 40°F for more than 2 hours, and discard soft or melted ice cream for quality. Do not taste to decide.

Is meat frozen for two years still safe?

If it stayed at 0°F, yes. Quality is separate. Trim freezer burn, discard a rancid smell, and cook to the safe internal temperature. Home freezing does not kill parasites.

What should you not freeze?

Eggs in the shell, hard-cooked eggs, mayonnaise, cream sauce, lettuce, mayo-style salads, and custard pies. Cans and ordinary glass are poor containers. Soft cheese and raw whole potatoes freeze badly. Safe and pleasant are not the same result.