How long can cutlets be stored in the refrigerator: raw, steamed, fried and frozen? Everything is accessible and simple

In Soviet times, not a single holiday was complete without cutlets. Now, of course, this is not a holiday dish, but their popularity has not diminished. They are still often on the dinner table. They are simple to prepare and housewives often make semi-finished products for future use, which they immediately freeze or leave in the cold to use the next day.

In order for the product to remain fresh for as long as possible and not spoil ahead of time, you need to know how to properly store semi-finished and ready-made dishes, depending on what ingredients were used in their preparation.

What types of cutlets are there?

All these products are prepared from finely chopped minced meat.

Depending on the type they are:

meat - made from one or more types of meat;
fish - prepared from one or more types of fish;
vegetable - made from vegetables.

Depending on the heat treatment there are:

fried – made using vegetable oil or fat without adding liquid;
steam - made without the use of vegetable oil or fat using steam;
baked – cooked in the oven at high temperatures,

From fish From vegetables From meat

Refrigerated food storage time

The cutlets can stay fresh even when cooked long enough for you to completely eat this dish. At a temperature of +4...+6 ̊С, the meat product is edible for 24 days when a store-bought semi-finished product is thermally processed, and up to two days in the case of high-quality ingredients and home cooking. The shelf life of store-bought fried or steamed semi-finished products is the same for all types of minced meat (24 hours), but the temperature conditions are different:

Store purchased semi-finished fish products in finished form at a temperature of -2...+2 ̊С.
Store-bought meat cutlets fried or otherwise thermally processed, permissible temperature range +2…+6 ̊С.
Heat-treated vegetable cutlets (store-bought semi-finished product) should be kept at a temperature of +2...+6 ̊С.

These expiration dates are prescribed by SanPiN, but in fact, a homemade product made from chicken, beef, pork can remain fresh at a temperature of +2 ̊C for up to three days, but such long-term storage is not recommended.

Advice! If these are homemade semi-finished products, they can be kept refrigerated for up to 48 hours, then the product must undergo heat treatment or be transferred to the freezer for further storage.

How long do cutlets last?

You often hear what is the shelf life of cutlets? As a rule, they are made from vegetables, meat or fish. The shelf life of raw, frozen and finished products will depend on what kind of minced meat is used.

Thus, it is not recommended to freeze fried vegetable cutlets, since during storage the vegetables lose a large amount of moisture and become dry and not tasty.

It is important to consider the following point: fried, frozen and chilled products, regardless of the minced meat used, retain their freshness for approximately the same amount of time.

But the timing after defrosting raw semi-finished products will differ significantly:

vegetable – 24 hours;
meat – 12-24 hours;
poultry – 18 hours;
fish - 6 hours.

After the expiration date, the product should not be eaten, even if it has no obvious signs of spoilage.

Purchased semi-finished products

When you don’t have time to process the cutlet mixture yourself and don’t have time to cook, but you need to cook and eat something, stores that sell semi-finished or ready-made food come to the rescue. It is best to buy products from trusted manufacturers in a retail chain, because the quality of the product, and therefore the health of the buyer, depends on this.

⛔ How to tell if the cutlets have gone bad

To avoid poisoning, you need to be able to identify an unsuitable product.

A spoiled product will have a characteristic unpleasant odor, which is especially noticeable as it defrosts.
The defrosted product should not be slippery and sticky to the touch, or mucous - if such signs occur, it is better not to eat the cutlets.
Interspersed with gray and green colors in the minced meat can also indicate danger.
Look at the production date on the packaging of factory cutlets. If the expiration date is approaching, it is better to discard such a product.

When stored outside the refrigerator, cooled fried cutlets are considered unfit for consumption after 6 hours.

How long can refrigerated products be stored?

Regardless of what minced meat was used to prepare the cutlets, their shelf life in the refrigerator does not exceed 24 hours.

In semi-finished products, due to the lack of heat treatment, pathogenic microorganisms multiply quickly. It is impossible to freeze or fry an already spoiled product, as there is a high risk of subsequently getting food poisoning.

If you decide to set aside a few cutlets in order to fry them the next day, you must adhere to the following conditions:

cooled ones are stored on the top shelf of the refrigerator;
wrapped in film to prevent them from drying out;
The product must be isolated from strong-smelling dishes, otherwise it will quickly absorb foreign odors.

It is important to remember that for good preservation of chilled semi-finished products, the temperature in the refrigerator must be +2 degrees; any fluctuations upward will lead to a reduction in the shelf life of the product.

Factors on which safety depends

The following factors influence the preservation of the nutritional characteristics of cutlets:

Temperature. The product should be kept in the refrigerator or freezer.
Quality and composition of minced meat.
Processing method. Fried ones last a little longer than raw ones.
Availability of flavoring additives. Greens and other additives can speed up the spoilage process. Some spices, on the contrary, prolong it.

Is it possible to freeze ready-made cutlets in the freezer?

Vegetable products are not frozen, since after defrosting they lose a lot of moisture and become unpleasant to the taste.

Fried and raw cutlets made from meat or fish can be stored in the freezer for no more than 3 months.

It is important to properly package food before freezing:

Raw ones are laid out on a cutting board and covered with cling film so that there are no air pockets left. When the cutlets are frozen, they are transferred to containers or bags to save space in the freezer.
Ready ones can be placed in airtight bags or containers designed for deep freezing. It is important to make sure that liquid remaining after frying does not get into the container.

By adhering to the rules described above, you can prepare a large amount of ready-made dishes and semi-finished products for a long time.

Storage of purchased semi-finished products

To determine the correct storage conditions, when purchasing store-bought cutlets, you must first pay attention to the following signs:

Presence of ice in the product package. Unscrupulous manufacturers add water to increase weight. During the cooking process, such cutlets will not be able to fry well. It is recommended to remember the brand and not buy similar products again. Also, the presence of a large amount of ice may indicate repeated defrosting and re-freezing of the semi-finished product. In this case, it may turn out to be of poor quality and damaged.
The presence of information about the release date and expiration date on the original packaging. The composition of the minced meat is also indicated. White inclusions are allowed. This means adding lard to the minced meat.
Consistency of minced meat. It should be homogeneous and dense, without an unpleasant odor.

If all of the above conditions are met, then the cutlets are sent to the refrigerator. To do this, in the storage room:

the temperature regime is set (from +1 to +6°C). You can store semi-finished products at this temperature for up to 36 hours;
suitable containers are used. This includes glass, ceramic, and enamel containers. It is possible to organize the storage of cutlets in plastic bags, food boxes or foil.

If you do not plan to cook store-bought cutlets within the next 36 hours, it is best to place them in the freezer at -18°C.

Shelf life after defrosting

Before cooking, it is advisable to defrost frozen semi-finished products first and then cook them.

The storage time after defrosting becomes shorter than when refrigerated:

minced meat will be fresh in the refrigerator for no more than 1 day;
poultry – 18 hours;
fish – 6 hours;
vegetable – within 1 day.

Do not re-freeze the product!

If frozen semi-finished products are not defrosted before cooking, and this is acceptable, then during cooking they will release a lot of liquid. Those who like cutlets with a crust will have to fry them longer to get a tasty crust.

Signs of corruption

You can determine that the cutlets are spoiled by the following signs:

Unpleasant, rotten smell.
Mold formation on the surface.
The appearance of a slimy coating.
Bitter or sour taste.
Change in color, appearance of gray or green spots.
Drying of the structure.

Missing cutlets cannot be consumed. Rotten meat develops microorganisms that can cause severe poisoning . If the cutlets have not yet spoiled, but have become too dry, they can still be consumed, but the taste will not be the same as originally.

How long do ready-made cutlets last in the refrigerator?

This will depend on what cutlet mass they are made from. Is it possible to freeze minced meat with onions and other vegetables?

What minced meat?	Temperature	Shelf life
freshly prepared	+1°С…+5°С	3…5 days
cooled		3 days
frozen		7 days

Finished products are stored in the refrigerator in a hermetically sealed container. It is best if it is a plastic or glass container with a tight-fitting lid.

In this case, the product will not lose its nutritional and taste qualities.

The main thing is that they are well fried and dry, without residual oil, or fried and steamed in an enamel pan under a lid.

If you ask, is it possible to freeze fried cutlets? We can answer!

To do this, cooled products are placed in food containers or bags of several pieces and frozen in the freezer. The day before consumption, they must be removed from the freezer and placed on a shelf in the refrigerator. By morning they will defrost and all that remains is to heat them up and prepare a side dish for them.

Ready cutlets can be stored in the freezer for no more than 3 months.

How to store it correctly

During storage, it is important to ensure a constant temperature, carefully close the bag or box so that the minced meat does not absorb foreign odors and microorganisms do not penetrate inside. If the cutlets are stored in the freezer, do not allow them to defrost and re-cool.

Semi-finished products

The best friends of working and busy people are ready-made convenience foods from the supermarket. When purchasing, it is important to carefully study the label (not only the day, but also the hour of production) - refrigerated semi-finished products have a very short shelf life. If it is close to completion, the cutlets should be fried immediately; if this is not possible, they should be put in the freezer.

When purchasing a frozen product, along with the date of manufacture, check the integrity of the packaging, the presence of ice, and appearance. If the cutlets are deformed and frozen together, it means they have thawed and you should not buy them.

Important: the shelf life of store-bought semi-finished products is determined by the manufacturer and indicated on the label.

Semi-finished products are stored on the coldest shelf; how long they can be kept before frying depends on the instructions on the label. You should not add another 24 hours of permissible storage in the refrigerator yourself. This rule should not be neglected - pathogenic microorganisms quickly develop in minced meat, which can lead to poisoning. Semi-finished products are kept in the refrigerator in a closed store package, foil or container with a tight lid.

Important: when purchasing semi-finished products, monitor the integrity of the packaging; breaking the film leads to a sharp reduction in shelf life.

The shelf life in the freezer should not exceed that recommended by the manufacturer (no more than 3 months). It is important that the packaging is intact and that defrosting does not occur.

Freezing homemade products

When preparing minced cutlets at home, the housewife must monitor all deadlines. Containers with cutlets are equipped with stickers indicating the cooking time so that the product does not sit longer than required.

Ready dish

Rules for storing prepared dishes:

Fried cutlets should not be stored at room temperature for longer than 6 hours. This time is reduced at high room temperatures and increases slightly at low temperatures.
In the refrigerator at 4-6 ° the finished dish can be stored without spoilage for 24-36 hours.
The product is placed in a container with a lid, placed closer to the freezer, and is not opened or moved.
The finished product can be stored in the freezer for no more than 2 months.

When frozen, ready-made cutlets lose their taste, aroma and juiciness. It is better to store semi-finished products or minced meat. The cooking time after defrosting is comparable to frying a raw dish, and the taste is noticeably worse.

After heat treatment

After the cutlets are fried, they are allowed to cool well and drain off excess fat. You can blot them with a paper towel. Next, the product is laid out on a board in one layer and frozen at a low temperature. Then they are placed in containers or bags, making a note about the date of putting them in the freezer.

How to cook after defrosting:

The product without breading is prepared with sauce (tomato, sour cream). Place in a frying pan, pour in the sauce and boil for 5-7 minutes. During this time, the cutlets will become juicy.
If the fried cutlets are breaded, they are heated under the lid in a frying pan for 7-10 minutes.
Microwave – 3-5 minutes.

How to defrost

The product removed from the freezer is placed in the refrigerator to thaw. It is not necessary to completely defrost semi-finished products or a finished dish - you can wait until only the top layer softens to make the breading.

Shelf life of thawed cutlets:

meat - up to 24 hours;
fish - 12 hours;
from poultry – 18 hours.

Thawed cutlets and meatballs quickly become limp, lose their shape, become slippery and unattractive.

Advantages and disadvantages

Freezing food has a number of advantages:

food in the freezer lasts much longer than in the refrigerator;
products do not lose their beneficial properties;
There is always an option for a quick homemade lunch or dinner at hand.

The disadvantages of freezing semi-finished meat products include only the need for storage under strict temperature conditions - at least -18 degrees. Otherwise, frozen cutlets do not differ in their properties from freshly prepared ones.

Storage period for defrosted cutlets

Proper defrosting of cutlets involves their gradual thawing in the refrigerator compartment. The storage period for semi-finished products after defrosting differs from the periods applicable to a simply chilled dish:

store-bought beef and pork cutlets – up to 12 hours, homemade – 24 hours;
from chicken and other poultry meat - up to 18 hours;
fish - up to 6 hours;
vegetable – up to 24 hours.

Attention! Semi-finished products do not tolerate repeated freezing - their consistency and taste characteristics change for the worse. The dish loses its integrity, the surface darkens (due to contact with oxygen, the top layer oxidizes).