In my freezer I have some pre-cooked italian-style meatballs I put in there about 15 months ago. Would it be unsafe for me to eat them?
I’d eat em, if they don’t look too freezer burned.
Heck, enough good sauce will cover up that freezer burn!
Safetywise, as long as they have not be defrosted and refrozen in that time, they should be fine. As others have said, they’ll probably be a bit freezer burnt, but that affects the taste not the safety.
band name
i most often hear a 1 year limit to frozen meat. freezing only slows down spoilage.
though if the temp has stayed well below 0F, i wouldn’t worry about that time frame because i like meatballs.
Nothing covers up freezer burn, in my experience. That flavor, whatever it is, is all-pervasive.
I think it’s mostly lipid oxidation and the Maillard browning reaction:
If they there kept well frozen throughout that time, they did not undergo bacterial spoilage. However, chemical reactions like lipid oxidation will go on in the freezer, though around 20 times more slowly.
So your probably won’t be unsafe, but they may taste somewhat rancid.