Some questions about home-frozen foods

[Rikki Jean]

-How long do you keep frozen things in the freezer? Raw meats? Cooked meats? Fruits and veggies? Homemade broths? Bones? Do you have a cut-off time for when you will no longer use things? Is it based on health worries, or flavor?

-What are your feelings about freezer burn? Will you throw things away that have it, or just suck it up and cook/use/eat them anyway?

-What's the deal with thawing and re-freezing? My friend just gave me a ton of bones for broth, and some meats, all from her freezer (she's moving, and can't take them with). At some point, her freezer was accidentally left open overnight, and a lot of the things partially thawed. I don't have a problem using the bones, since I'm going to cook them for 24+ hours (I'm making broth with them), but I'm trying to decide how I feel about the meat.



I'm a fairly live-on-the-edge mama when it comes to expiration dates, leaving stuff out for longer than you're "supposed to", etc, but I want some input on this stuff, because sometimes I wonder if I'm just too laid back.

[zinemama]

I freeze almost everything in the summer and fall: the u-pick berries, roasted peppers, applesauce, pesto, diced tomatoes.

We tend to use stuff up during the year, but I really try to make sure it's all gone before the new crop of strawberries (the first thing I put up) is ready to go in the freezer in June.