Last Year’s Frozen Turkey Is Still Good
Maybe you bought a turkey at a sale after Thanksgiving last year, or maybe you volunteered to cook on Thanksgiving and then ordered takeout instead. Whatever the reason, if you have a one year old turkey taking up freezer space, we have important news: it’s still good.
According to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service , you can freeze your turkey as long as you like and still be safe and healthy to eat. Bacteria won’t grow in a properly chilled freezer, so even if that bad boyfriend chilled in your basement freezer for ten years, he won’t kill you or anything.
But scent is another matter altogether. Food can dry out or burn in the freezer over time (especially if it is not completely sealed – for example, if there are tears in the turkey’s plastic bag). Some chemical reactions can still happen very slowly, so that after a few years in the freezer your turkey hasn’t tasted as good as one that’s only a few months old.
One year old frozen turkey is likely to taste good, according to USDA guidelines, but if it is much older than that, you may prefer to buy a new one.