Shelf life of broths in the refrigerator (meat, chicken, mushroom, fish)

Broth is a meat (vegetable) broth that forms the basis of most soups, borscht and other first courses. Many people have to cook it several times a week so as not to leave their family without the first one. But you can solve this issue differently if you know how to store the broth. This will help save a lot of time and will not affect the quality of the prepared dish.

Types of storage

Storing broth on the balcony or in the cellar for months will not work, like many types of vegetables. It quickly loses its original quality and nutritional value due to bacterial growth.

Storing broths is possible in several ways.

• If it is a meat or vegetable broth, it can be stored in a thermos for 6 hours. It should be poured in while still hot, immediately after cooking.
• Storing the broth in the refrigerator occurs after it has cooled completely. There the product will retain its quality for 3-4 days. Then it can be boiled again and stored for the same amount of time.
• How long frozen broth can be stored depends on its quality and composition. The dish should be cooled as quickly as possible, poured into a container with a lid of a suitable size, placed in the freezer and stored for no more than 6 months.
• The shelf life of broth in the freezer depends on whether it is meat or vegetable, as well as on the storage temperature.
• Bacteria and microorganisms multiply faster in a warm dish. Therefore, in order to preserve it as long as possible, the product must be quickly cooled by all available means. In winter, it can be taken out to the open balcony. And in the summer, put it in a larger container with water, to which ice cubes have been added.

The container in which the broth is to be stored must be sterile. Therefore, it should be boiled first.

What you need to know

There are certain rules that every housewife must take into account. Of course, most of us are not professional chefs, but this does not relieve us of responsibility to family members. During storage it plays a role:

• Temperature inside the refrigerator. It must be constant, this is the most important thing. The optimal mode is considered to be 2-6 degrees, and it is not recommended to change it upward.
• Utensil material. A bad option is aluminum cookware. It is not advisable to keep food in stainless steel pans. And finally, keeping them in plastic containers is also unsafe, since toxic compounds begin to flow from the plastic into the first dishes.

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Therefore, it is not enough to know how long borscht can be stored in the refrigerator; you also need to take into account other nuances. It is especially important to choose the right container. The best option is glass or enamel dishes. In this case, the food does not come into contact with the container material, and therefore remains safe for humans.

Soup base for chicken and other meats

Before storing chicken broth, pour it into a glass container, trying to keep as little air as possible, and cover with a lid. When the decoction interacts with oxygen, oxidative processes occur, which will affect the quality of the product.

• Storage of chicken broth in the refrigerator can last for 2-3 days at a temperature of +4°C -+8°C.
• The maximum shelf life of meat broth in the refrigerator is 7 days. But on the condition that it will be boiled every 2 days.
• Turkey broth can be stored like chicken broth - 2-3 days.

How and how long to store fresh meat without freezing in the refrigerator

To enjoy the aroma and taste of the most tender meat dish, you should store the meat in the freezer. Why? It is under these conditions that all the nutritional properties of the product are preserved for a long time and the shelf life increases.

The temperature in the freezer should be between - 18° C. It is not recommended to store meat products for longer than 10 months. Meat products should have a separate shelf or drawer. Mixing meat with other semi-finished products or fish is not recommended.

With each defrosting, the nutritional properties of a fresh product are reduced, so when storing it is recommended:

1. Cut the carcass into portions. Moreover, it should be remembered that large pieces are stored longer.
2. Rinse the cut pieces under running water to prevent freezing of any remaining blood.
3. Place the chopped meat on a cutting board, cover with a napkin on top, and dry.
4. Divide into portions.
5. Pack in plastic bags, cling film or foil. You should not wrap it tightly; the flesh should “breathe”.
6. Attach a label with the name of the type of meat and the date it was stored. It is advisable to indicate the storage period.

• Beef, pork, and lamb will retain their nutritional value and taste in the freezer for no more than a year.
• The whole bird can be preserved for 10–12 months. Chopped pieces of chicken or duck can be stored for no more than 9 months. If a small bird carcass is boiled and frozen, then it should be eaten within 3 months.

You should not mix different types of meat in one package. Firstly, the taste of the prepared dish may change, and secondly, it is difficult to track the expiration date.

Knowing these simple tips and taking into account the timing and storage conditions of meat products, you can eliminate the possibility of developing various intestinal diseases. You can prepare a delicious dinner very quickly!

Ingredients: cloves, allspice, coriander, ground red pepper, bay leaf, meat, salt, cumin, ground black pepper

Dried meat is prepared at home without any harmful additives. The only preservative is salt, and it does not kill microorganisms, but only stops their development. This means that you can become infected with worms or salmonella that the animal suffered from. Therefore, meat for drying must be taken fresh and 100% from a healthy animal, in stores where it is checked, and not in spontaneous markets.

You can dry chicken and turkey fillets, pork and young beef; veal is not suitable because it has not had time to acquire the desired taste. You need to approach pork with great caution, as it contains the most parasites. There are fewer of them in beef.

We prepare a strong brine from rock salt (by no means extra, the result will not be the same) with the addition of bay leaf, allspice, and cloves. For brine you will need 4 or 4.5 tbsp per 1 liter of water. spoons with a heap of salt. Boil it for 1-2 minutes, then set it aside and cool. The brine should be such that a raw, fresh chicken egg floats (the blunt end with a diameter of 2.5 cm is visible).

Some housewives use only sea salt for salting, citing the fact that it does not dissolve well in water, which means that the meat will absorb less of it than ordinary table salt.

For salting, we use ceramic or glass dishes; iron dishes oxidize, and this is harmful to both health and the quality of corned beef.

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First, we prepare the meat for salting: wash it and dry it, cut off the films and fat layer from pork and beef.

Dip the fresh meat pulp into cold brine.

There should be brine, the more, the better. The meat should float freely in it. We cover the meat with a lid and put it in a cold place for 1-3 days, depending on the size of the pieces of meat; if the pieces are large, then it will take more time for salting. Don't forget to turn it in the pan several times a day.

Spices can be different (black pepper, allspice and chili, coriander, cumin, cloves) at the discretion of the housewife, but among them there must be ground red pepper, which has preservative properties. It is better to take spices whole, not ground, and grind them before use in a special mill or grind them in a mortar, so they will not lose their aroma.

Wrap the meat with spices in clean gauze, parchment or bandage, put it in a bowl, cover with a lid and keep in the refrigerator on the bottom or middle shelf for 1 week.

Then we take the meat out of the pan, remove the gauze in which the meat was, rub it again with spices, wrap it in clean gauze or other material and tie it with thread, making loops by which we hang it in a well-ventilated place.

Such a place could be a cool kitchen in which we hang meat from the ceiling. You can dry it on the balcony, with the window slightly open, if it is late autumn or winter. The ideal option is a cool, dry place with a draft. If there is no ventilated cool room, then you need to keep the meat in a draft for at least a few days, and then keep it in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf for at least 1-2 weeks, maximum a month, turning it constantly.

Jerky chicken and turkey are ready faster - after a few days of drying, but pork and beef will require the entire specified period. It should be noted that the meat will decrease in size and weight during drying: 1.5 kg of fresh meat will yield 800-900 g of dried meat.

You can store this delicious meat preparation for as long as you like in the refrigerator.

Home-made dried meat, moderately spicy and salty, is a real delicacy. We cut it into thin transparent slices and serve it as an appetizer with an aperitif, cognac, dry red wine or beer during a home feast or outdoors.

For storage, it is recommended to use glass or ceramic containers with a loose lid. You can also use the following methods:

1. To ensure that the product is preserved, you can wrap it in gauze soaked in vinegar, lemon juice or saline solution (your choice). Do not cover with a lid. Stores for up to two days.
2. One of the old proven methods is to fill the washed piece to the top with fresh homemade milk.
3. Wrap the product in parchment paper coated with vegetable oil.
4. The surest way is to marinate the product.

The shelf life depends on the humidity and temperature in the refrigerator:

1. -3-0 degrees - 2-3 days;
2. from 0 to 7 to 24 hours;
3. from 5 to 7 to 10 hours.

It is better to cook minced meat or finely chopped meat right away.

The container can be covered with cling film or a piece of foil.

Dishes are used both ceramic or enamel, and ordinary plastic containers for food.

1. It is better to leave boiled meat in the broth in which it was cooked.
2. It is better to consume the stew within 3-4 days, no more.
3. Fried food can be stored in a container that is not tightly closed - so that a little air can pass through, moisture is not retained, and at the same time it does not become chapped.

It is worth noting that, unlike previous types of cooked meat, it is not recommended to store it in the freezer.

How to store chilled lamb, is it necessary to freeze the meat? Chilled meat is meat cooled to temperatures from 4 to 0 ° C, having a drying top layer, an unmoistened surface and elastic muscles.

At a temperature of 2 to - 1 ° C and a relative air humidity of 85%, chilled lamb is stored for 10 days after slaughter (we sell on the 1st - 2nd day after slaughter).

To ensure that the meat does not spoil, has all its nutritional and culinary qualities, and can remain fresh and of good quality for a longer time, it is cooled or frozen.

When meat is cooled to a temperature of 0-4°, the decomposition processes in it slow down. This meat can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

It is recommended, however, to store chilled meat at lower temperatures, namely from 0 to 1°. For better ventilation, the meat is stored in a suspended state. An important condition for storing chilled meat is to constantly maintain the temperature at a constant level. Changes or fluctuations in air temperature lead to deterioration in the quality of meat.

Chilled meat is an excellent food product that has fully retained all its qualities.

To protect meat from spoilage and decomposition for a long time, it is frozen. When freezing, conditions are created that prevent the development of microorganisms.

When stored in the refrigerator, frozen meat remains of good quality for several months.

In order to preserve all the qualities of the meat as much as possible, it is subjected to rapid freezing. This method of freezing is the most rational, since the ice crystals formed from water and meat juice are small and do not deform tissue cells or disrupt its structure. Small crystals are more evenly distributed in the meat.

When freezing slowly, meat juice and water form large ice crystals that damage the tissue structure. When thawed, the deformed cells lose their ability to reabsorb water and meat juice, and the meat becomes flabby and tasteless.

The quality of meat decreases especially sharply if it is subjected to secondary freezing. Repeated freezing of thawed meat has an extremely unfavorable effect not only on its culinary qualities, but also on its nutritional benefits; such meat is tasteless, dry, flabby and nutritious.

No less important for the complete preservation of taste, aroma, nutritional value in meat is the mode of defrosting.

It is convenient to freeze meat and store it in the freezer for at least six months. But there is little information about how to store minced meat in the refrigerator. This is due to the fact that many housewives buy only as much minced meat as is needed to prepare the dish now, and the leftovers are always frozen. But imagine - you came home from the supermarket in the evening after work, bought minced meat and then realized that you don’t want to cook anything. Freezing is inconvenient, because tomorrow you will have to defrost it again.

• The first thing that directly affects the shelf life of chicken broth in the refrigerator is the container. Aluminum is not suitable for these purposes at all, since this metal gradually oxidizes, which significantly spoils the taste of meat broth and dishes based on it.
• Glass or ceramics are ideal. In kitchen utensils made from these materials, the shelf life of chicken broth in the refrigerator is automatically extended, and significantly.
• The second part of the answer to the question of how to store chicken broth is in perfect purity! A well-washed and disinfected inner surface of the pan is a guarantee that infections will not multiply in the product, and it will not lose its beneficial qualities and taste for a long time.
• So that the fresh and rich broth that has just been removed from the fire does not immediately turn sour, it needs to be cooled as quickly as possible. This is very easy to do, regardless of the air temperature in the room. Even in the heat of the day, a pot of broth placed in a bowl of cold water cools down very quickly. And to speed up cooling, we recommend changing the water several times, filling it with cold water again and again.

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Shelf life

Anyone who prepares meat broths should know that a product based on pork or beef will last longer than one based on poultry or fish.

Note! The presence of vegetables and various seasonings in the broth makes its shelf life shorter.

To always remember how long to store chicken broth, you can make a small note in your cookbook:

• warm - 12 - 18 hours;
• cold - 2 - 4 days;
• freezer - 5 - 6 months.

Storing fish broth

You can store fish broth for no more than 2 days on the refrigerator shelf at +4°C -+6°C. Repeated boiling will not extend its shelf life, like meat broth. Therefore, you will need to prepare something from it during these 2 days.

Storing mushroom decoction

While preparing the mushroom broth, such an aroma spreads through the apartment that everyone present wants to quickly try this soup. And this is correct, since mushrooms are a perishable product. Accordingly, mushroom-based soups cannot be stored in the refrigerator for a long time. The shelf life of mushroom soup is limited to 24 hours.

Can mushroom broth be stored in the freezer? Yes, sure. Once defrosted, it can be used to make sauces and first courses. The shelf life in the freezer is about six months.

Brown broth

This broth is not used for making soups. It is the basis of the classic French demi-glace sauce (glaze). The broth is a concentrated decoction obtained by boiling calf marrow bones, previously baked in the oven. It takes about 5 hours to prepare, so the issue of storing the main ingredient of demi-glace is relevant.

The finished concentrate, placed in the refrigerator, is usable for about 2 weeks. You can extend the shelf life of brown sauce by pouring it into a freezer tray with ice cubes. There it will remain for up to 6 months without loss of quality.

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The variety of broths allows you to quickly prepare any soup.

Frozen storage

Freezing the decoction should proceed as follows:

1. The broth needs to be strained.
2. Wait until it cools down and skim off the fat from the surface.
3. The liquid is poured into trays (containers), scalded with boiling water, dried, the bottom of which is covered with film.

Even if you follow these rules and know exactly how long to store frozen broth, there is never a guarantee that it will not spoil in 3 to 4 months.

Can broth be stored in the freezer?

We have repeatedly mentioned above that vegetable, chicken, meat or fish broth is often stored in the freezer. This is really possible if you follow a few simple rules:

• Before freezing, the broth must be strained from the spices using gauze folded several times, and the ingredients from which it was prepared must be removed.
• When the broth has cooled, skim off any fat from the surface before storing it in the freezer.
• It is better to freeze the broth in portioned trays, plastic containers, which are previously covered with cling film or a plastic bag.
• Before storing the broth in the freezer, you should boil or scald the container into which it is to be poured.

Storage tips

• To minimize the possibility of oxidation of the decoction, it is better to choose glass or ceramic containers for storing it.
• To keep the soup base longer, it needs to be cooled very quickly.
• There should be no metal cutlery left in the container with the broth, and part of it should be poured exclusively with a clean, dry ladle.
• The container must close tightly. This will protect the contents from bacteria and foreign odors.
• You can tell that the broth has expired by a sour taste, an unpleasant odor, the formation of dark spots on the surface and cloudy clots at the bottom. It will no longer be possible to use such a product.

How to tell if soup has gone bad

If food is stored properly, it can still spoil earlier than expected. To avoid poisoning, you need to know exactly when food becomes unfit for consumption.

When storing food according to all the rules, they can still spoil earlier

There are signs that indicate food has spoiled:

1. The appearance of a whitish film on the surface. It is not thick, but is immediately noticeable. Bubbles of varying sizes are often present and form foam. The product may not have a bad smell, but it is no longer suitable for food.
2. Darkening of color. Broth always turns dark when spoiled.
3. Change in consistency. When a dish spoils, it becomes slimy when cold. If you eat it, poisoning is guaranteed.
4. Unpleasant smell. The sense of smell allows you to immediately identify a spoiled product. The smell of a dish changes when it spoils. He becomes unpleasant.

If even one sign is detected, you cannot eat the first one.