Can you eat freezer burnt meat?

Don’t you hate it when you open a piece of meat that you had in the freezer and it’s burned?

It’s always so disappointing when you notice that chunk of ice in your food or discoloration, especially if you were planning a meal and don’t have a reservation option.

Let’s not even talk about how carefully you packed that food when you put it in the freezer because you wanted to avoid freezer burn. Sometimes it is very difficult to avoid freezer burn, and it can seem that whatever you do, you are going to fight this problem.

Can you eat freezer burnt meat?  Fortunately, freezer burnt foods are still safe to eat. It can affect the quality, but not the safety, of your food. Freezer burn isn’t necessarily an indication that the food is spoiled, but rather an indication of the quality of the packaging and perhaps even your freezer temperatures and process. 

In this guide, we’ll explain what to expect when it comes to freezer burn. We will share with you when it is and is not safe to eat meat that has freezer burn. We also have some tips for potentially avoiding freezer burn.

Read on for everything you need to know about freezer burnt meat.

What is freezer burn?

When food is put in the freezer, there is a very fine line to protect it from the extreme cold and ice that the freezer offers. The freezer is a great way to preserve food for long periods of time, but freezer burn is always a risk.

Freezer burn occurs when food dehydrates or oxidizes in the freezer. Most of the time, freezer burn occurs because the container is not 100% airtight or some type of non-freezer-safe container was used to store the meat in the freezer.

You may think your food is airtight, but the question is: was it really? If even the slightest amount of air gets into the packaging, you could get freezer burn.

Freezer burn is quite noticeable when you take the meat out of the freezer. It can even make you wonder if the food is safe or not.

Freezer burn spots tend to discolor. In the case of beef or even chicken, they can be greyish-brown spots that are often tougher as well.

Those spots form where air met the surface of the food and actually dried out the meat while it was in the freezer. These discolorations are not necessarily a sign that your food has gone bad, but rather that the air has negatively affected the color and texture of the food.

However, all freezer burnt food is still safe, unless something else has caused it to spoil. Even so, your food may not be so good anymore. You’ll find that the flavor and texture of freezer burn spots aren’t always flavorful and enjoyable.

So while you can probably eat your freezer burnt food, the question really will be: do you want to? Depending on how bad the freezer burnt food is and what you want to use it for, you may decide to throw the food away anyway, or put it to a new use.

How to Identify Freezer Burned Meat: Is It Safe?

Before you start delving into how freezer burn can affect each meat, take a look at this reference chart. This is a simple guide that shares various types of meat and what to look for.

What you will notice is that the signs of freezer burn are different for each meat. This is because the meats have different colors and textures anyway.

What you should also note is that each of these meats is still safe to eat, despite the freezer burn.

Now, let’s break down and talk about each of them.

Freezer burnt meat

It’s easy to understand why you might think your freezer burnt meat has gone bad. When we give you cues to look for spoiled meat, we often tell you to look for the color of the meat and look for specific cues. You usually don’t want to touch the discolored meat.

In the case of freezer burnt meat, the color is not an indication that the meat is bad. It is only an indication that something has gone wrong during storage.

On all types of beef, if you take the package out of the freezer and see a layer of ice crystals, it is highly likely that it has been affected.

When you remove the ice caps, if you see areas or spots that have turned brown and may appear a little hard, it’s frostbite.

If only part of it is freezer burned, you can easily cut that section off and proceed to cook with it if you really don’t want the freezer burnt section.

But again, we’d like to make it very clear that freezer burnt meat is still safe to eat.

However, you may notice a difference in both flavor and texture when you eat the meat. This may be partly covered, depending on how you season and cook the meat.

Freezer burnt chicken

Chicken is another common meat that can fight freezer burn. It doesn’t matter if you’re working with chicken breasts, thighs, legs or another cut of chicken, they’re all susceptible!

Sometimes it’s harder to visibly tell if your chicken is freezer burned, especially if it still has the skin on. You are more likely to notice discoloration in the bone (if there is bone).

Chicken is usually pink in color when raw. If you see hard white spots on the chicken, it’s probably freezer burned.

Just like with beef, you can remove the freezer burn section and never know the difference, or you can prepare it and ignore the freezer burn. You could mask the difference in flavor and texture depending on how you prepare the chicken.

Even so, that point can be altered in flavor, texture and consistency when you prepare the chicken. So be aware if you come across the odd bite of chicken!

Freezer burnt shrimp

Shrimp is another meat that can get freezer burn. It is perfectly edible despite the freezer burn. It can actually be hard to tell if this meat is freezer burned or not.

If you follow the proper freezing instructions for shrimp, you actually freeze them in a layer of ice. This is a special process for prawns and that coating of ice really protects the prawns from getting freezer burn.

If you don’t use an ice sheet or cover them all the way, they can get frostbite. Signs of freezer burn on shrimp are a dull white discoloration on the surface. It may or may not be immediately noticeable.

Shrimp are still safe to eat when they are freezer burned. You may notice a different texture. Freezer burnt shrimp may be dry or slightly tough, but they are safe to eat.

Shrimp are tricky to deal with when they get freezer burn because you can’t cut through them that easily, but we’ve got a guide for dealing with shrimp freezer burn if it occurs.

Freezer burnt fish

Lastly, freezer burnt fish is another meat you may struggle with. It can happen with any meat, to be honest we’re just touching on some of the more popular categories. There are multiple types of fish, but signs of freezer burn include grayish tints.

As with other forms of meat, freezer burn spots could be cut out of the meat. In the case of fish, most of the time it will make the fish dry in those spots and possibly a bit tough.

Freezer burnt fish is still safe to eat, but as always, you may notice a difference in quality, flavor, and texture.

How to Best Prevent Freezer Burn

Avoiding freezer burn can be quite a challenge. The key is to make sure that the meat is not reached by oxygen in the freezer. The best way to avoid freezer burn is to make sure it is well wrapped and packed tightly.

We almost always recommend at least two layers, because it’s the surest way to know that your food is as protected as possible. We do not recommend long-term freezing in supermarket packaging. They just don’t offer enough protection.

Use bags, wrappers, jars, or containers that are specifically labeled as freezer-safe. Remember that air is the enemy here, so do what you can to try to release and remove any trapped air as well.

Finally, you should let food cool down before freezing it if it is cooked, because the heat causes steam in the container and this could form ice crystals and burn your food in the freezer.

Related questions

We hope you find this guide to understanding freezer burn a valuable resource. There’s a lot to know, but in general you should know that freezer burnt foods are still safe to eat.

We invite you to review the following question and answer section for some additional details.

Can Freezer Burn Make You Sick?

According to the USDA, freezer burnt foods are still completely safe to eat.  Freezer burn does not cause foodborne illness and you should not get sick from freezer burn alone. You may or may not like the result of the food, but eating it will not harm you.

Can you eat meat stored for two years?

The short answer is yes. If the meat has been packaged and stored correctly, it is safe in the freezer indefinitely.

Certainly, there are recommended timeframes to get the best quality. Things like freezer burn are more likely to appear the longer meat is left in the freezer, but you can eat it. Just keep in mind that quality may be affected.