- Freezer door temperatures can fluctuate, making some foods more prone to spoilage.
- These include meat, poultry, fish, ice cream, leftovers, breast milk and frozen produce.
- To keep food at its freshest and tastiest, set your freezer’s temperature to 0°F.
The freezer is the perfect place for long-term storage of all kinds of foods. For instance, you can freeze bacon and sausage for up to two months, while a whole chicken can last up to a full year. But not all areas of the freezer are created equally. The freezer door and top pull-out drawer can have different temperatures from the back of the freezer, making some food more susceptible to freezer burn or loss in quality.,
To better understand which foods don’t belong in the freezer door (or top pull-out drawer) and which are fine there, we spoke to chefs and food scientists. Here’s what they told us.
1. Raw Meat & Poultry
Everything from raw whole chickens and chicken parts to ground beef, pork chops and roasts is completely safe to freeze. But location matters. So, don’t just throw that package of raw chicken wings anywhere in the freezer. “Keep raw meat in the back or lower drawers, where steady cold helps prevent thawing and refreezing that can damage muscle fibers and make meat drier and tougher,” explains food scientist Jessica Gavin, CFS, CCS.
The best way to store raw meat and poultry in the freezer is to keep it in its original vacuum-sealed packaging when you bring it home from the grocery store. Then place it in a freezer bag or wrap it in heavy-duty aluminum foil to protect it from exposure to oxygen, which can cause freezer burn.
2. Uncooked Fish & Seafood
Just like it’s best to store raw meat in the back of your freezer, the same can be said for more delicate proteins, especially raw fish and seafood. Whether it’s individual portions of salmon, a bag of raw shrimp or even whole fish, keep these foods in the deepest part of the freezer where temps are coldest, says Michael Handal, a chef at the Institute of Culinary Education. Fish and seafood are even more delicate than poultry, beef and pork, and temperature fluctuations can substantially impact their quality. Like meat and poultry, vacuum-sealing before freezing is a plus. However, if that’s not possible, store your fish and seafood in a tightly sealed freezer bag or wrapped in heavy-duty foil.
3. Ice Cream
Popping a pint of ice cream in the freezer is a no-brainer. But shifts in temperature can also create problems for most dairy products, especially ice cream. “Foods that rely on stable fat structures, such as ice cream and pie crusts, require consistent cold,” Gavin explains. “These foods depend on intact emulsions or solid fat pockets for proper texture. Even brief warming can cause fats to melt and separate, resulting in broken emulsions and poorer texture when refrozen.”
4. Leftovers
Freezer door temperature changes can cause freezer burn or even alter the texture of some foods. Leftovers, from homemade soups to casseroles, can really lose quality when the temperature shifts. “Cooked foods, such as prepared meals and frozen leftovers, should also not be subjected to varying temperatures in the freezer,” says Handal.
Prepared food also risks bacterial growth if not frozen properly. “Cooked meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, stews, soups and cooked rice are more vulnerable to bacterial growth and quality loss when temperatures fluctuate,” Gavin adds. In addition to storing these foods in your freezer’s interior, you’ll also want to set your freezer to 0°F to protect against bacterial contamination and spoilage.
5. Frozen Fruits & Vegetables
That bag of frozen peas and corn is super convenient (you can store them in the freezer for up to eight months!). When your produce drawer is empty, you can open a bag of frozen peas for a quick and easy side dish. And, of course, frozen berries and fruit are easy additions to any fruit smoothie.
However, these foods are not well-suited for the freezer door. “Temperature swings can cause freezer burn, texture damage and ice crystal formation,” says Joe Nierstedt, chef and owner of Katsubo in Charleston, South Carolina. That can take a toll on their texture, resulting in mushy fruits and veggies.
6. Breast Milk
If you store breast milk in the freezer, the last place you’ll want to keep it is in the door. That’s because the door’s warmer temperatures may encourage “microorganisms to replicate and slowly make the food spoil or unsafe over time,” explains food scientist Abbey Thiel, Ph.D. “It’s best kept in the coldest, most stable part of the freezer to preserve quality and safety.”
Things You Can Store in the Freezer Door
Fortunately, there are still plenty of foods that will keep well in the freezer door or top pull-out drawer. Here’s the short list.
Most Store-Bought Frozen Convenience Foods
Most store-bought frozen convenience foods, like waffles, french fries and frozen pizza, are perfectly fine to store in the door or top pull-out drawer, as they can tolerate fluctuations in temperature. You can even store frozen bread there (just pop it in a freezer bag first). Nierstedt describes these as “items you use frequently and rotate quickly.” They’re less susceptible to temperature changes. Plus, most people consume them in a relatively short amount of time, so freezer burn or spoilage isn’t as much of an issue.
Nuts & Whole Grains
Did you know that storing nuts, seeds and whole grains can help extend their shelf life? That’s because these foods often contain natural oils that could go rancid over time. Stored in an airtight container or bag in the freezer, you can extend their freshness. They are also fine to store in the freezer door or the top drawer, as minor temperature changes won’t have a big impact on their quality.
Butter
While most dairy products should be stored in the coldest part of the freezer, butter happens to be the exception to that rule. “Even though butter is a dairy product, its dense texture when frozen and a waxy paper covering allow it to withstand temperature shifts without ill effect,” Handal says. While you can freeze butter in its original packaging, wrapping it with an additional layer of foil and storing it in an airtight container can prevent it from absorbing odors in your freezer.
Drinks
The freezer door or top drawer is the perfect spot for alcohol or frozen juice concentrates. These items are unlikely to lose quality if the temperature changes a bit. “Reserve the freezer door for low-risk items that tolerate fluctuations well, such as bread products, nondairy condiments, frozen juice concentrates or alcohol that doesn’t fully freeze,” Gavin says.
The Bottom Line
Your freezer is an ideal place to store all kinds of foods. However, location matters. Some foods don’t do well in the freezer door or the top pull-out drawer, where the temperature can easily fluctuate. These include raw meat, fish, seafood, ice cream, leftovers, breast milk and frozen fruits and vegetables. So, keep these items in the back of the freezer, where temperatures are colder and reserve the door for low-risk items, like whole grains, nuts, drinks, butter, bread and most store-bought frozen convenience foods. Wherever you choose to store your food in the freezer, make sure the temperature is set to 0°F to keep it at its freshest and tastiest.
