How to best store meat

Upon returning home after shopping for raw meat, be sure to store it in a cool place, at a temperature not exceeding 4 °C. Meat must be kept in the coldest part of the refrigerator, that is to say, on the glass shelf above the vegetable compartment.

Meat can be kept in the refrigerator, at a temperature not exceeding 4 °C, for the following periods of time:

• raw mince must be cooked on the same day it is purchased
• raw meat slices, brochettes/kebabs (on a skewer), stew: 1 day
• raw offal: 1 day
• raw steaks, whole pieces of meat or raw roast: 3 to 4 days
• raw chicken meat: 1 or 2 days
• sausages for cooking or frying: 2 to 4 days
• cooked or roast meat: 2 or 3 days

If you buy pre-packaged meat, it’s essential to respect the use-by date indicated. Obviously, meat will only keep for the period indicated if the cold chains have not been interrupted and the storage conditions have been respected.

If you want to keep your meat for a longer period, your best bet is the freezer. Should you opt for this solution, it is important to freeze the meat as soon as possible; on no account should you wait until the very last day of the use-by period.

Meat will keep for several months in the freezer:

• mince: 1 month
• pork: 4 months
• chicken: 8 months
• Veal: 9 months
• Beef: 10 months

Dry sausages and raw ham must not be stored in the refrigerator. Such products will keep for several weeks at temperatures of up to 15° C.

On account of the risks attaching to the Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria, chicken meat and turkey meat must be prepared separately from other foods, using a knife and chopping board serving exclusively for that purpose.