Seasonal food safety advice

In the run-up to Christmas follow the Freezer Fairy's tips on how to prepare your festive food in advance and reduce food waste from leftovers by making the most of your freezer. These useful tips will help you plan your meals and work out what and when to cook, freeze and defrost to help you have a less stressful and wasteful Christmas.

This Christmas, prepare in advance and reduce food waste from leftovers by using your freezer like a pause button - it's safe to freeze food up until the 'use by' date.
You can freeze meat, and meals cooked from previously cooked and frozen meat e.g. leftovers from a roast turkey. But once defrosted, the pause button is off and you should eat the food within 24 hours.

Cooking in advance

Cooking your turkey in advance could save you getting stressed out on the day and give you more time with your family and friends. Once your turkey is cooked and cooled, slice and then batch it into portions to store in the freezer. You can then take out what you need when you need it. Just remember that meat previously cooked and frozen should only be reheated once.

Cooking time

Make sure you allow time for your turkey to cook thoroughly. There should be no pink meat in the thickest parts and it should be steaming hot with juices running clear. You can use a pop-up cooking thermometer (which is left in the turkey while it cooks). This should be placed in the thickest part of the turkey (between the breast and thigh) from the start. You'll know your turkey is cooked when the thermometer 'pops' and has reached a temperature of 70°C for more than 2 minutes. 

Cooking from frozen

If your turkey is frozen and you prefer to roast it on Christmas day, make sure you check the guidance well in advance to defrost it according to its size - a typical large turkey weighing 6-7kg could take three days to fully thaw in the fridge.
Always defrost your frozen turkey fully before cooking as partially defrosted turkey may not cook evenly - this means that harmful bacteria could survive the cooking process. To avoid cross-contamination always put the turkey into a container large enough to catch the defrosted drips.

To make your festive food go further

• If you've got any leftovers, you should cool them, then cover and ensure that they go in the fridge or freezer within 1-2 hours. If you have a lot of one type of food, splitting it into smaller portions will help it to cool quickly and means you can freeze and defrost only what you need for future dishes.
• You can freeze turkey, other meat and meals cooked from previously cooked and frozen meat. But once defrosted, the pause button is off and you should eat the food within 24 hours.
• You can make your leftovers into new meals and then freeze them.
• If you make a new meal such as curry or casserole from the leftovers, then you can also freeze this, even if you are using turkey that was originally frozen.
• Make sure that when you come to use frozen leftovers, you defrost them thoroughly in the fridge overnight or in a microwave (on the defrost setting) and then reheat until steaming hot.
• If you have leftover wine you can pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze it for use at a later date in sauces, gravy or (if it's white) even as an alcoholic ice cube to chill your wine. Don't waste any fresh herbs that are leftover, you can puree and freeze them in an ice cube tray to add to dishes as and when you need them. Don't forget: leftovers should be eaten or frozen within 2 days (one day for rice dishes).

For more advice on what you can do with leftovers visit Love Food Hate Waste website                    

Further advice from the Food Standards Agency.