How long do you keep things in your fridge/freezer?

[HipChick]

How long past the best by date? If it was never opened, is it ok? I found something in my freezer with a use by 2003 date...I do hate wasting food & money, so sometimes leftovers go straight into the freezer...and then when I eventually get around to it again, it looks not appetizing..

[struggle4progress]

1. Frozen food doesn't deteriorate very quickly: most frozen stuff I'd guess

was okay, even it if "expired" seven years ago

But it depends on how often it's been thawed in defrost cycles and so on ...

[MiddleFingerMom]

2. Go down to the "length of time" section.

.
The first one is .gov -- and this statement seems to be
key for your question: Because freezing keeps food
safe almost indefinitely, recommended storage
times are for quality only.
.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#12
.
The link takes you directly to the section you want,
but I would scroll up and start at the top -- pretty
informative.
.

[flying rabbit]

5. Thanks

good info. I was pondering this very question today.

[Bucky]

3. Oh shit!

Thanks for the reminder, Hip

[Odin2005]

4. I have noticed that frozen food tends to lose it's internal moisture over time...

...with the moisture being re-deposited as ice chunks around the food. I have especially noticed this with frozen pizza, after about 3 or 4 months the cheese has lost much of it's moisture an doesn't cook right, it burns instead of melts because the cheese is dried out.