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There are many questions on here about how long you can store cooked food, and I have been using StillTasty for more specific answers following some of the comments.

However I notice that StillTasty has information listed for many foods for "Fresh, Cooked", "Fresh, Raw" and "Commercially Frozen". Is there a difference in storage of "Fresh, Cooked" food and food that was frozen and thawed before cooking? Or is this just an oddity of their descriptions?

Edit: Assuming the thawing and cooking has been done thoroughly to "safe temperatures".

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    Can you clarify your question...a difference in what regard? Those distinctions make sense to me. Is your question about the quality of a once frozen raw product, which was cooked and then frozen after cooking?
    – moscafj
    Aug 16, 2018 at 20:45
  • A difference in how to store something that was frozen that has been cooked versus how to store something that was fresh and has been cooked. Do these same rules apply for all cooked food, whether it was fresh or not?
    – Dragonel
    Aug 16, 2018 at 20:49
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    @Dragonel...fair enough...can you edit your question to make that clear?
    – moscafj
    Aug 16, 2018 at 20:55

2 Answers 2

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If I'm understanding your question correctly, there is no difference in storage time. Regardless of whether the food was fresh or frozen & thawed, once cooked, storage time is the same.

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It depends on your definition of "cooking":

  • Frozen food

    • Thawing in the fridge and cooking a previously frozen Dinosaur T-Bone steak until rare, can be kept in the fridge and still be eaten one day later. ;-)
    • Cooking same steak until burnt to a crisp well done can be re-frozen safely. :-)

    In-between those two extremes lie the dangerous parts, so the general rule of thumb should be:

    • If you plan on refreezing thawed food, cook it through-and-trough and freeze ASAP, if possible in the fast-freeze section of your freezer.
  • Fresh food:

    • Can be cooked any style and safely frozen as long as you don't leave it out of the freezer for too long at too high temperatures (Rule of thumb on freezing ASAP still applies)
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  • So the "Fresh, Cooked" guidelines they give are not for "Frozen, Cooked"? I appreciate the rule of thumb but is there another site that is more specific on food to food differences?
    – Dragonel
    Aug 16, 2018 at 20:55
  • Sorry for the confusion. Answer edited. @Dragonel
    – Fabby
    Aug 16, 2018 at 21:02

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