🧊 Food Storage Shelf Life Reference

A filterable guide to how long common foods keep in the pantry, fridge and freezer. General guidance only — always use your judgment and food safety best practices.

Filter

How the table filters

This is a fixed list of 14 common foods with pantry, fridge and freezer windows for each. The filter box does a case-insensitive substring match on the food name only, and the counter above the table shows how many of the 14 survived it.

So "chick" finds Raw Chicken and "rice" finds both the uncooked and the cooked rows, but a category word like "poultry" or "dairy" matches nothing, because those words are not in any name. Clear the box to bring the whole list back. "N/A" means that storage method does not apply, which is not the same as the two entries that say "Not recommended" - potatoes in the fridge and eggs frozen in the shell are both possible and both a bad idea.

Fridge dates and freezer dates mean different things

Fridge windows are about safety. They assume 4°C / 40°F or below, which most domestic fridge doors do not reach - keep raw meat on the bottom shelf at the back.
Freezer windows are about quality. Food held at -18°C / 0°F stays safe indefinitely. The 3-4 months on ground beef is when freezer burn and rancid fat make it unpleasant, not dangerous.
The clock starts at room temperature. Cooked food should be chilled within two hours, or one hour in a hot kitchen, and cooked rice sooner than that - spread it out to cool rather than leaving the pot on the hob.

Printed dates are the manufacturer's quality estimate, not a safety line, and "best before" is a different claim from "use by". Neither replaces the storage windows here, and neither can be checked by smell: the bacteria that make you ill usually leave no odour at all.

Frequently asked questions

How long does cooked chicken last in the fridge?

Three to four days, the same as any cooked meat leftover, provided it went in within two hours of cooking. In the freezer it keeps two to six months.

Can you eat food after the best before date?

Usually yes - best before is about texture and flavour. A use-by date on chilled meat, fish or ready meals is the one to respect, and unopened canned goods run one to five years regardless.

Why should potatoes not go in the fridge?

Cold turns their starch to sugar, which makes them sweet and gives them a dark, acrylamide-heavy crust when fried. A cool dark cupboard keeps them one to two months, away from onions - each makes the other sprout faster.