My girlfriend finally agreed to remove all of her cold bags from the kitchen freezer, and it freed up a lot of space. (Thanks, hon!) Mixed in with all that stuff were two one-pound tubes of hamburger meat.
The expiration date on the meat was late 2020. It has been frozen since we bought it.
Will it be safe to eat? And assuming that it’s not freezer-burned, how will it taste? Have you ever cooked up a batch of old hamburger? Did you have any problems with it?
Pretty sure the USDA is assuming the freezer is set to 0°F (about -18°C), just saying because I know some people who do not set their freezers that low.
If it’s been frozen the whole time it’s almost certainly safe to eat, in my experience. It might even taste okay. I’ve eaten 1-year-old-plus meat from the freezer before, and as long as it wasn’t the centerpiece of the meal it was fine. So for ground beef, I’d try chili or bolognese or something else where the flavor comes from the non-meat ingredients rather than burgers.
Most over the refrigerator type freezers will not get down to 0°F and stay that way. Some under the refrigerator types will but it’s best to check. I would toss it if hasn’t been kept that cold but I’m picky about that. If you must eat it make sure it’s cooked to at least 160°F. Do you have pets? Dogs will eat it, but cook it to the same temperature.
I’ve done it, but there was some freezer burn that impacted the taste. I think it’s probably safe and will taste okay, but I might be concerned if you had a power outage at some point and it partially thawed.
That’s a concern. We use the bag of ice cubes test to identify any power outages while we slept or were gone. (Put a few ice cubes into a zip lock bag. If the power goes out for a significant length of time, the cubes will partially melt.) We haven’t had any long outages in years.
I’m just not sure whether that test ensures the safety of our meat.
I’d thaw it and give it the sniff test. Bad meat is pretty easy to spot. It might be fine for spaghetti sauce or chili. I certainly wouldn’t just toss it based on a date label alone.
One frozen dog food factory told me that their rations were labelled with an official expiration date a year after manufacture, but are really designed to last a year and a half.
I expect it will taste of freezer, but that if you cook it thoroughly it won’t hurt you. The flavor would probably bother me, even in meat sauce. But I’m fussy that way.
Should be quite safe to eat. If not, as soon as it thaws the smell will tell you.
For taste, it will be best if slow cooked in liquid. So slow-simmered in spaghettis sauce, chili, or a crockpot beef stew or beef barley soup should be good.
Freezer burn is of two types: sublimation and enzymatic activity. Since the burger is in the plastic tubes (I’m assuming the kind sealed with the crimped metal wires) sublimation won’t be a problem. The enzymatic kind can still happen, but that usually matters more with fruits and veggies IIRC. The stuff should be fine, particularly for tacos, pasta sauce, etc.
Unlike everyone else in this thread, I’m a big believer in the maxim whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt when it comes to food safety. How much can 2 pounds of ground beef cost? I’d rather spend that money that risk even a 0.1% chance of food poisoning.