Storing meat properly: fridge, freezer and shelf life

Meat forgives little. Between flawless and borderline there are often only a few degrees and a few hours. Knowing how to store meat properly gets more out of every cut and means throwing considerably less away.

Chill first, everything else after

When the delivery arrives, the meat goes into the fridge first. Not onto the worktop and not once the rest of the shopping is unpacked. The packaging stays closed until you cook the meat. It protects against air, foreign odours and bacteria from the fridge. If you still want to repack, use a sealable container and position it so no meat juice can drip onto other food.

The right place in the fridge

Raw meat belongs in the coldest spot. In most appliances that is the bottom shelf directly above the vegetable drawer. Temperatures there come closest to the recommended zero to four degrees. The door is the warmest place in the fridge and therefore the wrong spot for steaks, mince or poultry. A simple fridge thermometer brings clarity, because many appliances run warmer than the display suggests.

How long each type of meat keeps

The larger the surface, the faster meat spoils. A whole cut therefore keeps longer than sliced or minced meat. As rough guidance in the fridge:

• Mince and offal are best cooked on the day of delivery
• Poultry within one to two days
• Beef, veal and lamb as a whole cut three to four days
• Sausage and cold cuts should be used up promptly once opened

The printed use by date always takes precedence. It applies to unopened goods that have been chilled throughout.

Freezing without losing quality

Whatever you do not need in the next few days is better frozen straight away than shortly before the date runs out. Fresh meat takes freezing well, meat already past its best does not. Portion it the way you will cook later, press the air out of the bag and freeze flat. Flat packs chill through faster and defrost more gently later. A label with contents and date saves guesswork. At minus 18 degrees, rough guide values are around eight to twelve months for beef, veal and lamb, roughly six to nine months for poultry and about three months for mince. Meat that has been defrosted once is not refrozen but cooked.

Why the delivery day sets the plan

With us the goods are produced to demand. We accept orders until Sunday 23:59. Monday we place the order, Tuesday slaughter and processing take place, Wednesday we pack and send off chilled, Thursday delivery is scheduled. This rhythm has a practical advantage: you know in advance when the meat will reach you. Put the delivery away straight away and decide as you do what will be on the table in the next few days and what goes into the freezer. That one minute saves you the later question of whether the pack right at the back is still fine.

Small mistakes with a large effect

Do not defrost meat at room temperature but overnight in the fridge, ideally in a dish that catches escaping juice. Never handle raw meat and cooked food with the same board and the same knife. And do not fill the fridge to the ceiling, because without air circulation it cools unevenly.

Anyone who buys meat deliberately and stores it cleanly still has on the plate the quality they paid for. The full range, entirely halal and from Austria, is in the Reinweide shop. If you are stocking up, it is best to portion beef mince right after delivery and freeze whatever you do not need at once.