Can You Freeze Impossible Meat? (Easy Guide)
Every Impossible meat package has a sticker stating a “Best By” or “If Frozen Best If Used By” date, which is usually a few months from manufacturing. Additionally, stores put on a sticker with their “Use By” date on thawed Impossible meat and other unfrozen products of the brand.
You can keep Impossible meat in the freezer if you buy it already frozen. You must, however, use the meat within 3 days if its been thawed and opened or within 10 days if only thawed but unopened. Frozen and unopened Impossible meat can be kept in the freezer till the best by date.
The shelf life of Impossible Foods’ burgers, patties, sausages, nuggets, meatballs, and pork is subject to the storage conditions at the store and your home. This article highlights the common instances you may encounter and the implications of whether you can freeze Impossible meat.
How Long Can You Freeze Impossible Meat?
You can freeze Impossible meat up to its best by date if you purchase a frozen pack and don’t let it thaw before storing it in your freezer. Generally, Impossible meats have a shelf life of 6 months when frozen. This shelf life is around 10 days for thawed Impossible meat.
Frozen meats can last a long time if they’re blast chilled, sometimes up to a year or longer.
However, the foods must always be in a closed cold chain, and the freezer temperature should be below 0°F (-17.78°C). Commercially, frozen foods are kept at as low as -22°F (-30°C).
Most household freezers don’t go below 0°F (-17.78°C). Also, the Impossible meat in stores may not be kept at a consistent temperature, whether frozen or thawed. Besides, refrigerators and freezers at the stores and your home are opened and closed throughout the day, thus raising the temperatures for a while and then cooling again based on the capacity and your settings.
Therefore, you can freeze Impossible meat if you buy it frozen until its expiry date, as stated on the manufacturer’s sticker. In most cases, this duration will be fewer than six months, depending on your purchase date.
However, the meat should constantly remain frozen throughout the entire time.
You may buy frozen Impossible meat, keep it in your freezer, and thaw it in your refrigerator for around 24 hours before cooking. For Impossible burger patties, you can take a few out based on your needs and keep the rest frozen inside your freezer at all times.
Can You Freeze Thawed Impossible Meat?
You shouldn’t freeze thawed Impossible meat, whether you buy it unfrozen or allow a frozen pack to thaw in your fridge. Also, you must use thawed Impossible meat within 10 days if unopened or 3 days after opening, but never exceeding the store’s best by date.
The “If Frozen Best If Used By” date is inapplicable to thawed Impossible meat. The relevant “Best By” date is on the store’s sticker. You should refrigerate Impossible meat if you buy it in a thawed state and use it within 10 days.
Once you unseal the pack, use it within 3 days.
Freezing thawed foods, especially meats or, in this case, plant-based proteins, has its share of proponents and critics. It may be safe to freeze Impossible meat that has been thawed in the fridge, not outside, at room temperature. However, the repeated thawing and freezing will cause moisture loss, and the Impossible meat may not taste as fresh or flavorful as you expect.
Can You Refreeze Uncooked Impossible Meat?
Impossible Foods doesn’t recommend refreezing thawed uncooked meat, irrespective of it being opened or sealed. You can keep thawed Impossible meat in its sealed pack in the refrigerator for up to 10 days or the use-by date of the store, whichever is earlier.
Freezing or refreezing thawed Impossible meat is a tricky issue.
You won’t know the exact storage conditions at the store before you buy the thawed meat. Therefore, it’s better if you use the thawed Impossible meat as soon as you can. Freezing it is unnecessary as the use-by date of the store won’t be as distant as the best by date of the company for frozen Impossible meat.
In the event you don’t need to use an entire frozen pack at once, you can take out the portion you need and thaw it in the fridge then seal the rest of the pack, and keep it frozen. However, once you’ve put Impossible meat in the fridge, you must use the remaining portion before the store’s best by date or 3 days, whichever is earlier.
Conclusion
You can keep frozen Impossible meat in a freezer till its expiry date. Thawed Impossible meat has a much shorter shelf life, and the use by date is generally in a few days. Thus, make sure to cook and eat any thawed Impossible meat products within a relatively short amount of time.
Finally, you can refrigerate leftovers and uncooked portions of Impossible meat for brief periods, keeping in mind you’ll need to eat them within a matter of days.
