A butcher has revealed the biggest mistakes Aussies are making when putting their meat into and out of a freezer.
Many shoppers might chuck their steaks, mince, and other meat products into the freezer to extend their shelf life, but there are little-known right and wrong ways to do this.
These mistakes are costly.
OzHarvest’s Australian Household Food Waste Research found Aussies threw out an average of 7.2 kilograms of frozen meat and 3.2 kilograms of meat, seafood and eggs in 2025, which worked out to be $140.52 per person going down the drain.
This was largely because people don’t handle the food properly once it’s out of the freezer.
But Jeff Renfrew, the founder of Farmstead Meats, told Yahoo Lifestyle that there are simple ways to prevent this trend from getting worse.
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What mistakes are people making when they freeze their meat?
The butcher stressed that the freezer isn’t a miracle fix, as it doesn’t kill bacteria, but just limits their growth.
He had a simple philosophy about frozen meat that Aussies should adopt.
“If the meat has only got a day left [on its Use By date] going in, it’s only got a day left coming out,” he said.
People might have all the right intentions to consume the meat once it’s out of the freezer, but life can get in the way, the meat expires, and then it has to go in the bin.
Putting meat in the freezer won’t kill bacteria, but it can delay their growth.
(Getty)
But Jeff said putting the meat in well ahead of its Use By or expiry date means you’ll have a lot more buffer time to consume it when you eventually take it out of the freezer.
“It’s going to enable you to defrost it properly over a few days,” Jeff added.
Jeff added that meat quality is also impacted by how it’s put in the freezer. For instance, if you bought 1kg of mince in a bag and popped it in the freezer as is, there’s still a lot of air in it.
“If it stays there long enough, it’s going to get something called freezer burn, which is when moisture escapes and oxidises,” he said.
“It’s not that freezer burn makes the product unsafe, but it doesn’t taste great, and you have to do a lot of trimming to get rid of the freezer burn.”
Meat should only be kept in the freezer for three to six months, depending on how often the freezer is opened.
What mistakes are people making when defrosting their meat?
Jeff said that if meat is in a huge ball, like that aforementioned 1kg of mince, it can take much longer to defrost.
While many Aussies might take out their meat and let it defrost on the kitchen bench or in the sink, the butcher said this should be avoided at all costs.
This also applies to leaving meat to thaw in warm water for an extended period.
Jeff has been advised not to let their frozen meat thaw on the kitchen bench or sink.
(Facebook/Jeff Renfrew/Getty)
“This promotes rapid bacterial growth on the outside whilst the inside is still frozen,” he said, adding that the juice from the meat going onto the bench also creates bacterial issues.
The “danger zone” for meat is 5 to 60 degrees, and that’s when bacteria that commonly cause food poisoning can start to multiply.
Jeff said the best way to defrost meat is in the fridge over a few days. But it should be sorted on the bottom shelves on a plate to ensure the juices don’t drip onto exposed food below.
The Australian Standard for fridges states that the average temperature in the fresh food compartment should be around 3 degrees to ensure bacteria doesn’t spread.
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