Kitchen School Lesson 11 of 11
Leftovers, freezing and storage times
Good cooks waste little. Most cooked food keeps for a few days in the fridge and months in the freezer, if it's cooled quickly and stored well.
Rules for the fridge
- Keep it at 4°C (39°F) or below. A cheap fridge thermometer tells you if it is.
- Cool cooked food quickly and refrigerate within 2 hours (see "Food safety").
- Store in shallow, covered containers. Label with what it is and the date.
- Raw meat and fish on the bottom shelf; ready-to-eat food above.
Rules for the freezer
- Keep it at −18°C (0°F) or below.
- Cool food completely before freezing. Freeze in portions you'll actually use.
- Squeeze air out of bags and lay them flat to freeze; they stack like files and thaw quickly.
- Leave 2 cm headspace in containers for liquids, which expand as they freeze.
- Frozen food stays safe indefinitely at −18°C, but quality declines: the times below are for best quality. Freezer burn (dry, grayish patches) is harmless but tastes stale.
- Don't refreeze raw food that has been thawed, unless you cook it first.
Storage times
| Food | Fridge (4°C) | Freezer (−18°C) |
|---|---|---|
| Raw ground meat, sausages | 1–2 days | 3–4 months |
| Raw poultry | 1–2 days | 9 months (pieces), 12 months (whole) |
| Raw steaks, chops, roasts | 3–5 days | 6–12 months |
| Raw fish (lean, e.g. cod) | 1–2 days | 6 months |
| Raw fish (oily, e.g. salmon, mackerel) | 1–2 days | 2–3 months |
| Cooked meat and poultry | 3–4 days | 2–3 months |
| Cooked fish | 2–3 days | 1–2 months |
| Soups and stews | 3–4 days | 3–6 months |
| Stock | 4 days | 6 months |
| Cooked rice | 1 day | 1 month |
| Cooked pasta and grains | 3–5 days | 2–3 months |
| Cooked beans and lentils | 4–5 days | 6 months |
| Tomato sauce | 5 days | 6 months |
| Pesto | 3 days | 3 months |
| Hard-boiled eggs, in shell | 1 week | not recommended |
| Raw eggs, in shell | 3–5 weeks | (beat and freeze, 6 months) |
| Homemade mayonnaise | 4 days | not recommended |
| Butter | 1 month+ | 9–12 months |
| Hard cheese, opened | 3–4 weeks | 6 months (grated) |
| Bread | 2–3 days at room temp | 3 months |
| Cookie dough, unbaked | 3 days | 3 months |
| Cakes, unfrosted | 3 days at room temp | 3 months |
| Pastry dough, raw | 3 days | 3 months |
What freezes well: stocks, soups, stews, braises, curries, tomato sauce, cooked beans, meatballs, unbaked cookie dough, pastry, bread, pancakes and waffles, grated cheese, herbs chopped in oil, ripe bananas, berries, fresh ginger, cooked grains.
What doesn't: salad greens, raw cucumber and tomatoes, potatoes in soups or stews (they turn grainy), cream sauces and custards (they split), mayonnaise, hard-boiled egg whites (rubbery), fried food (soggy, though some re-crisp in the oven).
Thawing and reheating. Thaw overnight in the fridge. Soups and stews can be reheated from frozen over low heat with a splash of water. Reheat until steaming hot throughout, 74°C (165°F). Reheat leftovers only once.