How long does beef last

Keep a raw steak, chop, or roast on the bottom shelf, in a sealed box or the shop tray, at 4°C (40°F), so the juice cannot drip onto salad. The USDA cold chart groups beef, veal, lamb, and pork steaks, chops, and roasts at 3–5 days in the fridge and 4–12 months in the freezer. The ministry’s freezer list gives raw red meat the same 4–12 months. Those two agree. The Bayburt note prints 6–12 months in the freezer, which starts later. The bold number keeps the short end of 4–12 months. A use-by date that arrives sooner wins.

A cooked piece is a leftover. Cool it in a shallow box. The UK FSA says eat leftovers within 2 days. FoodSafety.gov lists cooked meat leftovers at 3–4 days. The bold number is two days. Ground meat, meat cut so small that the surface has multiplied, and offal are outside this row. The cooking figure for a whole piece is 63°C (145°F) and rest 3 minutes. Ground meat needs 71°C (160°F), and that is the other page.

Get perishable food into the fridge within 2 hours of cooking it or bringing it home, and within 1 hour if the kitchen is above 32°C (90°F). USDA FSIS and Turkey’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry both publish that cutoff. A closed deep pot stays warm; a shallow box cools.

A chart is a window, not a verdict on the container in your hand. A sour smell, a slimy surface, or mould means it is finished, even on day one. This page is not medical advice.

• A sour, sweet, or ammonia smell. Do not confuse it with the faint smell of cold meat.
• A sticky or slimy surface. Do not rinse raw meat to check.
• A browning outside can be ordinary on meat that has met air. With slime and a smell, it is finished.
• Cooked meat that smells sharp, a sauce that has bubbled, or mould.

If you will not cook the raw piece inside 3–4 days, portion it and freeze it. FoodSafety.gov’s quality window is 4–12 months. Bayburt prints 6–12 months. Cooked red meat is 2–3 months on the ministry list. FoodSafety.gov gives cooked meat leftovers a wider quality band, 2–6 months. The bold number is the shorter one, 2–3 months.

Do not thaw on the counter. The ministry says not to refreeze once it has thawed. Thaw in the fridge and cook it that day or the next.

Thaw in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Do not refreeze a portion that has thawed. The ministry states the same rule: thaw frozen food in the fridge and take out only what you will eat.

• A steak keeps as short a time as ground beef. Ground beef is shorter. The raw piece on this page starts at 3–4 days. Ground beef has its own page.
• Five days in the fridge is on every chart. FoodSafety.gov lists 3–5 days. Bayburt’s shorter ceiling is 3–4 days. That is the bold number.
• A cooked roast lasts a week. The FSA leftover line is 2 days. The USDA leftover line is 3–4 days.

The windows assume a generally healthy household. Pregnancy, young children, older age, or a weakened immune system are reasons to keep the shorter figure, to skip raw or undercooked food, and to reheat leftovers until the centre is steaming. USDA’s figure for reheating leftovers is 74°C (165°F).

Cook a whole muscle piece to 63°C (145°F) and rest 3 minutes. Ground meat, a raw marinade, and a rare centre are outside that figure. In pregnancy, for young children, in older age, or with a weakened immune system, do not eat rare steak, and reheat leftovers to 74°C (165°F). Wash the board that caught the juice with hot soapy water.