How long can I store Cooked Turkey in Refrig before Freezing? I bought an Organic Turkey early for Thanksgiving and cooked it. It's been in my Refrig for a week and I'd like to trim and freeze parts and also make a soup. Is my timing on this acceptable?
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2 Answers
I'm going to say no.
We chill food in the freezer or refrigerator to slow bacterial growth. In general, the refrigerator will slow the growth enough that cooked meat can be kept safely for 3-5 days, and the freezer enough that cooked meat can be stored for 2-3 months. If you've already kept the meat in the fridge for a week, it is already unsafe to eat. Freezing it now will not reverse that.
In general, if you want to freeze food you should do so ASAP after cooking to maximize the amount of time it will keep in the freezer. After it's already unsafe is too late.
answered Nov 25, 2015 at 20:30
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1I would also add that even if the food managed to stay "safe" and won't make you ill, leftover meat that has been in the refrigerator for a week will have started to grow other spoilage bacteria that will likely produce "off" flavors in anything you cook with it. So even if you're lucky and it doesn't make you sick, the dishes you make out of it could likely taste bad. I'd throw it out. Nov 26, 2015 at 16:09
if it's not bad, it's still good...unless you have it tightly wrapped, turkey meat will dry out before any deterioration will take hold...i've used turkey that's been on the bone in the fridge lightly covered for up to 2 months (you may have to heat it with a few drops of water) on the other hand, if you wrap it in plastic & seal out the air, the moisture will cause it to go bad in less than two weeks..
