Proper refrigeration and freezing of food are a critical steps in food safety to ensure that you minimize the risk of food bourn illness. Cold food storage is also important in managing expenses and inventory. Storing food incorrectly can cause spoilage and waste causing you to throw money away as well as causing an unplanned menu change that may cause mis-steps in your operation. The guide below can help you to plan ahead with your food inventory, reducing waste and maintaining food safety. Be sure that your refrigerator holds food at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit and your freezers hold food at a maximum temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit. These are some common foods kept in refrigerated storage:
REFRIGERATED STORAGE
Reach-In Refrigerators, Walk-In Coolers, Refrigerated Chef Bases, Sandwich/Salad Prep Tables, Pizza Prep Tables, Undercounter Refrigerators and Coolers, Refrigerated Merchandisers
DAIRY PRODUCTS - Maximum Storage Period
Milk (fluid): 3 days
Butter: 2 weeks in waxed cartons
Cheese (hard): 6 months, tightly covered
Cheese (soft): 7 days in tightly covered container
Eggs (fresh in shell): 3 – 5 weeks
Eggs (hard cooked): 7 days
Salad (egg, chicken, ham, tuna, macaroni): 3 – 4 days
FISH
Salad (egg, chicken, ham, tuna, macaroni): 3 – 4 days
Fresh: 2 days, loosely wrapped
Shellfish: 1 – 2 days in a covered container
POULTRY: 1 – 2 days
MEAT
Ground: 2 days
Fresh Beef, Veal, Lamb or Pork: 3 – 5 days
Liver and Variety Meat: 2 days
Cold Cuts (sliced): 6 days
Cured Bacon: 1 week
Ham (tender cured): 1 – 6 weeks
Ham (canned): 6 weeks, original container
Hot Dogs (opened): 1 week
Hot Dogs (unopened): 2 weeks
FREEZER STORAGE
Reach-In Freezers, Walk-In Freezes, Chest Freezers, Glassdoor Freezer Merchandisers, Convertible Refrigeration Systems, Undercounter Freezers and Worktop Freezers
Eggs: 6 – 12 months
French-Fried Potatoes: 2 – 6 months
MEATS
Hot Dogs: 1 – 2 months
Beef: 6 – 12 months
Lamb and Veal: 6 – 9 months
Pork: 3 – 6 months
Cooked Meat: 1 month
Meat Sandwiches: 1 month
POULTRY
Chicken: 6 – 12 months
Turkey: 3 – 6 months
Giblets: 3 months
Chicken Nuggets or Patties: 1 – 3 months
Cooked Poultry Dishes: 3 – 6 months
When following the guidelines above, keep in mind that the time limits on refrigerated foods are to keep them spoiling and becoming a danger to eat. The times listed as recommendations for freezer storage are for quality only. Frozen foods stored at proper temperatures of 0 degrees Fahrenheit or below continuously, can be kept indefinitely.
