• Remember to check the thermometer periodically - the inside of the refrigerator should be cold (40° F or lower) and the freezer should be 0°F or lower.
• Once a week, throw out perishable foods or leftovers that have been in the fridge for more than 3-4 days.
• Always check the package date for specific storage information about a food - the time periods below are general storage guidelines.

Giving food the deep freeze keeps it safe to eat almost indefinitely. But if items have been in frozen animation for quite awhile, it might be time to give them the old heave-ho for quality's sake. Not sure how long is too long? Here are some additional tips:

• Freezer burn dries out food but does not make it unsafe. Exposure to air causes the food's surface to form grayish-brown leathery spots. Minor areas can be cut away before or after cooking. Heavily freezer-burned foods should be discarded for quality reasons.
• Other colour changes in food can be due to abnormally long storage, freezer burn or lack of oxygen. The bright red colour of meat usually turns dark or pale brown. This is acceptable unless there appears to be extensive freezer burn.
• Frozen vegetables or cooked foods may turn a dull colour due to excessive drying from improper packaging or lengthy storage. Again, discarding them is a matter of quality, not safety.

Freezing Cooked Foods - Storage Guide

Use this handy guide to see how long the deep freeze can last.

Tip: For best results freezing cheese, keep in its original packaging and if opened, tightly wrap in heavy aluminum foil or freezer bags with the air squeezed out. Freeze in blocks not greater than 500 g, 3 cm thick as larger pieces tend to crumble when thawed. We do not recommend freezing no-baked cheesecakes unless specified on the recipe.