Six year old beef lurking in the freezer.

Why would you take the risk?

I tried making pulled pork with what I got out of the freezer. But no amount of slow cooking would tenderise it and I just had to throw it away.
You are right about chest freezers!

Absolutely we would eat it.
We enjoyed a turkey crown this Christmas that was date marked 2012!
It was utterly delicious and no one was any the wiser.

Good for you Bunty. Waste not, want not- words I remember from my childhood. I hate waste, particularly of food - and even more so when it’s food that an animal has produced or given its life for.

When I had a chest freezer, which was as recently as a year ago. It needed defrosting so whenever I did that, I checked the contents, mainly to see what restocking was needed.

I now have a frost free upright freezer, but I still do an inventory every few months for the same reasons as before, to check what is running out. I tend to buy three to six months supply of meat at a time, so need to check when the next trip to the farm shop is due.

Mr Dog 'helpfully' defrosted the freezer when I was out, and threw out anything with a sell-by date before 2023. I've never seen it so empty😡.

He meant well, but honestly!

Doodledog

Mr Dog 'helpfully' defrosted the freezer when I was out, and threw out anything with a sell-by date before 2023. I've never seen it so empty😡.

He meant well, but honestly!

My MIL's home help used to go through her freezer and throw out anything more than a month or so old.
We'd go and stock MIL up with easy meals which could be microwaved then they'd disappear.
We think she took them home.

I have a six year old lamb shank, vacuum packed so might slow cook that with lots of herbs etc?

I'd thaw it out and if it smelled and looked OK I'd offer a small piece to the cats. If its the slightest bit 'off' cat's won't entertain it.
If they gobble it up and ask for more I'd consider it safe to eat - but I wouldn't cook it rare - I'd make sure it was really well done all through.
Birds would eat it, especially carrion like crows and magpies - they love decaying meat. But be careful about leaving it out in the garden, rats would eat it too.

My uncle was in the Selous Scouts and as part of their training they had to cook various dead animals which were absolutely rotten and stinking. The point of the exercise was to show that the meat was okay to eat as long as it was thoroughly cooked through to a high temperature. So I wouldn't worry about something in a freezer😁.

ExDancer

I'd thaw it out and if it smelled and looked OK I'd offer a small piece to the cats. If its the slightest bit 'off' cat's won't entertain it.
If they gobble it up and ask for more I'd consider it safe to eat - but I wouldn't cook it rare - I'd make sure it was really well done all through.
Birds would eat it, especially carrion like crows and magpies - they love decaying meat. But be careful about leaving it out in the garden, rats would eat it too.

Oh, I shouldn't have laughed but I thought I was going to read
"I'd thaw it out and if it smelled and looked OK I'd offer a small piece to the cats. If the cat keels over, don't eat it"

Sorry to all cat lovers 🐱

Update, today I took the 2017 frozen lump of pork out to defrost. Sad to report it was all dried out and had a bit of a green look about
it. I doubt any amount of cooking methods can save it.
After making my discoveries of old meat I’ve today sorted out my freezer foods in date order.Feeling quite pleased with myself😏